your getting screwed,we have 1800 sq foot house that we heat with wood ,2water heaters,3 friges,2 freezers,water pump for 2 houses,washer and dryer,2 small wall heaters in out building and our december bill from west oregon electric was 184.00.I think someone else is snagging power off your meter,probably grow lights

Yeah, you should at least get some free weed out of it.

There's something faulty in your apartment. I have 3 computers on 24 hours a day, an electic water heater on 24 hours a day, plenty of lights, big tvs, a HUGE refrigerator, cooking like crazy, dishwashers going all the time, and my power consumption is only about 900KWh a month.

A typical computer is about 300w @ full power (spinning disks, etc.) leave it on 24 hours a day, 30 days a month, that's still only 216KWh a month, that's if all the thing is running at full blast. Leave a 100W light on 24 hours a day, that's only 70KWh a month. How many hours a day are your lights on? 4, 5 maybe? Honestly, I'd guess you'd be closer to 300KWh a month.

There's no way you're using that much energy unless you have a short somewhere.

Comparing an Oregon or Washington bill to anywhere else in the country is not helpful, because hydro power up there is dirt cheap. A similar set up to what I have in San Francisco cost me less than a third as much in energy bills than it did in Seattle.

That last sentance should read "A similar setup to what I have in San Francisco cost me less than a third as much in energy bills when I lived in Seattle."

okay, i messed up when I told Mike how much our bill was for Dec. It cost us 190.54 for 2246 kwh and along with that we have a monthly facility charge of 17.50. I agree with Mike , there is definitely something wrong for your bill to be that much. Mike and Lance and I were sitting here trying to figure it out. Lance wants to know if you are operating any kind of grow lights. you know for your winter garden?
Annie

In December, I paid a total of 26.2 cents per kWh, while Mike and Annie paid less than 9.3 cents per kWh. I guess that's the difference between the northwest and the northeast. It's also worth noting that my gas bill, which comes over and above my electricity bill, is in the $300 range as well. Maybe I should have a look at the connections on my meters...

Felix: I live in NYC so I feel your pain - but (except in the summer when I'm running the AC as well), I tend to leave my computer on all the time, and I'm really bad at turning lights out, etc., and my electric bills have been about half of what you're paying (slightly over $100/month), so I think you're getting screwed. I have steam heat, gas stove, etc.

But I also have new/very efficient appliances. If your appliances and other stuff are old, they may be very inefficient.

Also, Microwaves suck up a ton of power - if you use yours a lot, that may be an area to cut back (my electrician ran a separate circuit specifically for the microwave so that I wouldn't blow the circuit every time I wanted to defrost something).

That all being said, I think your gas bill is outrageous - while gas has gotten more expensive in recent years, your bill almost doesn't make sense. I'd say the combination of the two indicates that you may not be the only person attached to your meters.

26.2? Whoa. Check to see if you are getting your supply through a different wholesaler. I paid $0.2018 per kWH (ConEd wholesaling).

Something seems really fishy. In July, when I was running two window A/C units (one 6,000 BTU, the other probably 3,000) at least 20 hours a day, I was using only 437 kWH.

I've got a 550sq/ft apartment. I have a computer (LCD monitor) running 24hrs a day (I don't put in in sleep mode it does have automatic power saving modes for evening), and probably 5 100W lights (10hrs daily), plus fridge. I used 199 kWH (no television or stereo) in January. My bill was $65 (incl gas).

Do you have your own boiler (water and heat) for your unit? When I was living in a share of a 2200 sf loft, we were heating the whole place, running our own water heater (incl washer and dryer) and still only getting billed about $225/mo (those were last year's rates -- electriciy in the city was about $0.15 kWH in the summer, and gas has also spiked).

Also, make sure you aren't submetering -- it's a great way to get screwed (though you commercial units are still empty in your building right? Residential usage should be pretty similar unit to unit).

What's submetering? There are 13 units in the building, all residential, and each has its own meter. ConEd charges me 22.88c for the first 250kWh, then 22.45c for the rest, plus a "service charge" of $11.39. Or rather they did last month. In December the electricity was cheaper and the service charge was higher. There's really no transparency in any of this.

I can't believe it's the appliances, unless it's the fridge, which of course is on 24/7. Other than that we don't use the appliances much, and in any case they're all brand new and therefore (one assumes) pretty energy-efficient.

I think it's the light bulbs -- we have a lot of recessed lights, and they're on dimmers, and as I understand it one uses the same amount of electricity running a bulb low as one uses if you have it on at full blast. You could account for pretty much the entire bill if you assumed 30 75W bulbs, each on for 15 hours a day.

Submetering is when one meter is being charged off to several units. B- and C-class (commercial) buildings will often only have one meter a floor, and send tenants guesstimates (a scam similar to rentable sqaure feet usually exceeding the gross square feet of a floor footprint). I think you are required to have a meter per unit residential, and I know your building was renovated, but in this town, everything is possible.

You are correct about the rehostats, the power savings is not straight line (that is, reducing light 50% doesn't reduce consumption the proportionate amount), though there is some savings. Are the recessed lights incandescent or low voltage? Low voltage fixures are more effective (you can have a more directed cone of light -- incandescents are diffuse and you end up with more fixtures than you might need) and use less energy (but the bulbs cost more, and don't necessarily last longer). If you have a dozen incandescent lamps, probably 75-125W for recessed fixures, you are eating a lot of power.

You mentioned in another post about having an architect -- if they did some lighting design, I'd post a note about this issue. They could answer more effective the impact of your lights (my skilz are clearly a little rusty). A handful of recessed fixtures will not make you consume five times the power I did.

u r getting screwed. ConEd charged me $420 for my first month in Brookers. I complained, they credited me all bar $100. they kept assuming similar usage till I rang them up enough times to explain they were wrong.

But sounds like u have other issues:

1) Meter is fucked
2) Someone's tapping into your electricity for free - and gas, by the sounds of it

I'd call them, insist they come and check out the system. There is no way your lights would account for such a large bill.

Are the subsequent readings for actual or estimated use? Ihad the same problem and solved it by trotting down to the basement and checking the meter.

I just got a new bill for $600 from ConEd, based on estimated use, which I'll be wrangling with tomorrow, cause that is NUTS.

I would suggest this.

Be sure that the breakers/fuses in your electric service are going to your place only.

Make ConEd check out the meter, they break down just like anything else.

How old is your fridge?

Power down any remote controlled stuff when not in use. R/C tv's vcr, dvd cable box, etc draw a lot of juice even when they're off.

Shut down your computer at night.

Use florecent bulbs where possible. They suck but not as much as paying a ton of cash.

ConEd dosen't start with Con for nothing. All power companies make 'mistakes' and guess what,
if you don't complain they keep the money.

Felix - Ampex has some good suggestions. Here's one more: turn off everything in your apartment, every single thing, and then check your meter to see if it's still registering electrical flow.

Most meters have a disk that turns to indicate any current passing through it. It's usually got colored marks on the edge so that it's movement is obvious. With everything in your apartment turned off, it should nearly stop moving. If you've got everything turned off and it's still moving noticeably, then there is some other apartment piggy-backing on your meter.

I don't think it can be bad wiring, etc., or there'd be another sign of that, for instance your apartment building would burn down. Electricity doesn't "leak" like water, after all.

That's more than I pay per month in my house running 3 full time servers...

Could another apt. be taping your line? A friend's line was taped by "Mistake" and he only found out when he blew the Jumper and his neighbor complained (He had no idea either).

Items that just sit there as chew up an electric bill on that illusionary environmental term called "stand by". Here's a list of everything that sucks juice while "off".

- televisions
- fax machines
- cordless telephones
- microwave ovens
- battery chargers for portable devices (such as mobile phones)
- anything with a remote control
- any appliance which does not have an "off" switch
- computer scanner
- Computer printer

Weird thing is I hooked up a little gadget I use called a "Kill-o-volt". Out of all of my appliances that chewed up the most amount of juice was my Cell phone charger, in one month just being plugged in it blew the DVD/VCR combo out of the water at 15 watts versus 6 watts.

If you want to stop paying for this drain, buy a power bar and plug as much as this stuff into it and when you are not using it unplug the power bar from the outlet. My bill at the end of a month with everything running was about $110, WITHOUT everything running it was $45. I leave the computers running (two of them) along with the fridge, freezer and the stove.

Items that just sit there as chew up an electric bill on that illusionary environmental term called "stand by". Here's a list of everything that sucks juice while "off".

- televisions
- fax machines
- cordless telephones
- microwave ovens
- battery chargers for portable devices (such as mobile phones)
- anything with a remote control
- any appliance which does not have an "off" switch
- computer scanner
- Computer printer

Weird thing is I hooked up a little gadget I use called a "Kill-o-volt". Out of all of my appliances that chewed up the most amount of juice was my Cell phone charger, in one month just being plugged in it blew the DVD/VCR combo out of the water at 15 watts versus 6 watts.

If you want to stop paying for this drain, buy a power bar and plug as much as this stuff into it and when you are not using it unplug the power bar from the outlet. My bill at the end of a month with everything running was about $110, WITHOUT everything running it was $45. I leave the computers running (two of them) along with the fridge, freezer and the stove.

Here's a good analysis of power consumption by crap we watch.

http://homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/99/990510.html

i've been worried for some time now that our coned bill is erroneously high, so i'm throwing this out there for comment:

four bedroom apartment in queens, gas heat and completely normal electricity use. for february, 85 dollars for electricity, 230 dollars for gas! we keep the thermostat set at 68 degrees and RARELY use the gas range in the kitchen. how could this cost possibly be accurate?

any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

Paul: do you have double paned windows (heat loss from badly insulated windows can be extraordinary)? $230 sounds about right, assuming you are in the 1800-2000 sf range. I lived a space of similar size, with only two people showering irregularly and doing laundry at home, and we were paying $175 a month (and that was a year ago -- gas has gone up 40% this year in some areas).

If you've been in the apartment for a while, Paul, just look at what your gas consumption was last year. Don't look at the dollar amount, look at the cubic feet used. That should give you a very good idea of whether there's an error in the numbers this year.