KentStateTsi Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 Or maybe someone that had a similar issue that can help. Purchased this house last year and I was hesitant about it being all electric but we went for it. May-December were "normal" usages per google searches and were anywhere between 900kwh and 1400kwh. Jan-Mar have been 2700, 4300, and 4400 kWh respectively. WTF?! No I don't have a grow operation as that seems to be the first response per google. I run the AC way more than I do the heat. Majority of the house is LED. I run my work lights in the garage maybe 2hrs a day. I rarely weld. I've checked the water heater coils as that came up a common thing as well. I would look into a home energy monitor but the chain stores only sell ones that monitor the two busses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 It hasn't been that cold, so I'd say you definitely have something running more than it should. One way to narrow it down is to look at your meter, and pay attention to the rate it's spinning. Turn breakers off in the house until it slows noticably. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloSVTruck Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 This has to be something to do with your HVAC system.... especially since your all electric. Im guessing you have a heat pump?? To me it sounds like for some reason your heat was running on emergency heat instead of the regular heat pump. That will make your bills outrageous very quickly. There are only a few things in a house that will cause your usage to increase that much.... and its going to be the big huge appliances/electrical draws that will cause it. Just went through this with a lady on a house... she obviously didnt know how a heat pump worked..... showed up for service call and she has the a/c/heat pump breaker turned off..... so system is always running on emergency heat..... she says she thought it would save money to have a/c not running all the time...... yea if only you knew how a heat pump worked..... Anyway HVAC guy also showed up for the service call and told me something i didnt realize.... that basically just never turn it to emergency heat unless your heat pump is broke for some reason. He said the emergency heat coils have a built in sensor to where if the thermostat is set for say 80 and the air temp is 65 then they automatically turn on to help the heat pump heat things up faster.... but as long as the temp is within 3 degrees or so then the emergency coils never come on. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentStateTsi Posted April 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 Thanks for the replies guys. I do have a heat pump. Took my air handler covers off last night and saw some resistor elements. I'm guessing these are the emergency heat parts. The outside unit runs with heat and electric it just changes the way heat is dispersed. I do leave the thermostat on auto mode but I turn it off when it has been nice enough to open the windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloSVTruck Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 Yea those are the emergency heating coils. If those are on and hot thats where your power consumption is from. It sounds like your running it like you should be.... unless something is malfunctioning and causing the elements to turn on more then they should..... say maybe the heat pump is not actually producing hot air like it should be.... then the emergency coils are kicking on and doing all the heating instead. This is more along the lines of an HVAC guy to check. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRocket1647545505 Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 Do you have a smart thermostat? My HVAC is a dual-fuel system (Heat Pump/Propane assist). My Thermostat isn't one of the newer ones, but it does have some scheduling features and such. I do know the system has a thermometer outside to tell it when to kick in the propane. Apparently, heat pumps lose efficiency when it's really cold out, so the system senses this and kicks in the propane to assist if necessary. I would assume your system is probably the same way. A few cold nights causing it to kick in the emergency system would rack up some KwH pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versluis Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 I have two residential electricians that I can refer to you. I work closely with all of them so I would recommend both. It is pretty busy right now FYI but both good companies. Weekley Electric Countryside Electric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentStateTsi Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Confirmed with Consolidated Electric that its over twice what it was last year with the previous owners. Power consumption is down 40% since Saturday only thing I did was flip breakers to check components. I did read somewhere that buildup on breaker contacts will do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloSVTruck Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 Confirmed with Consolidated Electric that its over twice what it was last year with the previous owners. Power consumption is down 40% since Saturday only thing I did was flip breakers to check components. I did read somewhere that buildup on breaker contacts will do that. Typically breakers going bad won't cause power consumption to go up..... you have to have some sort of high amperage draw device causing this... Very rarely do breakers go bad.... only thing that may cause then to go bad is if they are overloaded, have been shorting out, or have been tripped out numerous times.... Perhaps you reset something with your furnace or heat pump when you cycled the breakers off and on..... You are an all electric house correct? No gas/propane? Still leaning to something acting up with hvac system causing this. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentStateTsi Posted April 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 All electric. Guy gave me the expected run around about the meter. "Our equipment is 99.96% correct. " since its a digital meter he told me to have my wife watch it while I flip breakers. Guess he didn't understand the fifth time I told him I'm a single dad right now and I don't think my 4 year old would sit still that long. Purchased an amp clamp today and I'm going to poke around. There is a stack of old hvac work orders where they had the equipment tested and I'm going to check the numbers. Trying to weigh the order in which I call for help. If I call an electrician he wont work on hvac or water. Hvac wont work on electric or water. Plumber wont work on electric or hvac. YAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentStateTsi Posted April 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 Measurement update. With just basement lighting 4-5 cfl bulbs and a tv for the kids total draw was 4.5A. Heat pump draws 15.5A. Aux heat brings it way up to 90A! Something is telling to kick on the aux so maybe the outside temp sensor or thermostat maybe. I may just remove the aux command wire since it's getting warmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRocket1647545505 Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 For what it's worth, my outside thermometer isn't that accurate. It trends correctly, but isn't close to the right temp. Im also not sure at what temp it tells my propane assist to kick in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentStateTsi Posted April 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 For what it's worth, my outside thermometer isn't that accurate. It trends correctly, but isn't close to the right temp. Im also not sure at what temp it tells my propane assist to kick in. Mine was set to assist when 30 or below. I changed it to 20 but I may just nix it. HVAC on the way tomorrow I will see what they say before I do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloSVTruck Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 Measurement update. With just basement lighting 4-5 cfl bulbs and a tv for the kids total draw was 4.5A. Heat pump draws 15.5A. Aux heat brings it way up to 90A! Something is telling to kick on the aux so maybe the outside temp sensor or thermostat maybe. I may just remove the aux command wire since it's getting warmer. Exactly what i was thinking.... aux/emergency heat is not working like it should..... you really have to be careful here because the heat pump and emergency coils are suppose to work in conjunction with each other. As said earlier if there is a big temp difference the aux coils will kick in temporarily to help the heat pump catch up to the temperature the thermostat is set at. Honestly this should all be covered under an HVAC persons description... any good tech should be able to find the issue and resolve it for you. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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