Electric bill seems high... what am I missing?
Anh Bao
Recently became a homeowner and we are moving at the end of the month. I received our first electric bill today and I'm surprised... Since we're not living there yet.
Is it normal for electricity usage to be this high for a refrigerator being the only thing running during this time?
42 kWh from March 7 to March 21
Edit: thanks everyone for the responses. Super helpful!
Solution: That's high but not ridiculously high - a fridge should use 1-2kwh/day, probably on the lower end if it's newer and not being opened. That explains about 1/3 of the usage (3 kwh/day). Other things that might draw power:
water heater (even a gas one will often use electricity for the spark plug)
anything with a digital clock (stove, microwave)
inefficient appliances that draw low levels of power (known as 'vampire loads') even when off
smart outlets
nightlights, security systems, illuminated doorbells, motion-sensor floodlights
Overall I wouldn't be too fussed about a mystery ~1.5kwh/day total load aside from the fridge
Did you know that in 1900, a standard light bulb would use between 5 and 20 watts? Did you know that today a standard light bulb uses 60-100 watts? Did you know that an incandescent light bulb is converting only 10% of its energy into light while creating 90% waste heat? Did you know that electricity companies have to build more and more power plants just to keep up with how much energy is being used, even though most of it is wasted? When I was younger, my electric bill was $10 per month.
Learn more: How To Build A Generator
I would be surprised if that was the only thing that was connected to power.
Is your HVAC system turned on? Even if you're not heating or cooling, it's drawing power to the controller. If the blower motor is kicking on to recirculate air, that can easily add up to a few kWh over a 2 week period.
Is the thermostat on the HVAC system set at a temperature that's triggering it due to the weather? A little heat or AC can consume that kind of power really quickly; set the thermostat to 62 and it gets down to 55 outside and the heat's gonna start running.
Are you over at the house working on it before you move in? Energy efficient lights are great, but we don't think about how many there are that we're constantly using.
Are there other mechanical systems there? Do you have a washer and a dryer plugged in? Even sitting idle, anything but the dumbest of the dumb systems will sip power to run electronics.
Got a water softener? Those run on a schedule and can pull a little power.
Any grass in the yard? An irrigation system controller will often just be left running..
Someone forgets a ceiling fan or a light and you'll consume a couple of kWh before you get back to turn them off the next day.
Speaking of lights, got outdoor lights that are on at night or motion sensor lights by the garage? My favorite was I found a house with two 100 watt incandescent bulbs burning away in the crawlspace because nobody else went down there to find them and there was a secret switch we spent two days looking for before we found it at knee level in the garage.
Short version is that there are lots of little things that can draw power that you might not immediately think about, especially if you're going in and out and working on the place while you're not living there. Modern electronics will all sip power even if they're not running; if there's a newer washer/dryer or a dishwasher, they likely have electronics that are sipping on power if they're energized. Enough of those add up pretty quickly.
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