outrageous power bills

[strahd71]

i live in north judson NWI

we bought our house a year and a half ago. the budget billing for NIPSCO started out around 180 a month then jumped to 300, and is now after the increase last november it is now 420 a month. this is for for both electric and gas.

this is killing us!

our house is 2700 sq ft. two story brick. older house so not sure about insulation, radiant heat. no AC (we run two window units in the summer) other than those rooms we suffer.

all of our light bulbs are those funny looking twisty florescent ones for the most part.

anyone got any suggestions?

jake

 

[Rookie]

It's kind of hard to figure out where you're spending the money when you're on budget Billing.

 

[jeremy]

i live in north judson NWI

we bought our house a year and a half ago. the budget billing for NIPSCO started out around 180 a month then jumped to 300, and is now after the increase last november it is now 420 a month. this is for for both electric and gas.

this is killing us!

our house is 2700 sq ft. two story brick. older house so not sure about insulation, radiant heat. no AC (we run two window units in the summer) other than those rooms we suffer.

all of our light bulbs are those funny looking twisty florescent ones for the most part.

anyone got any suggestions?

jake

Know how to read your Meters...

 

[gunman41mag]

How the hell can that be, My house is 2,100 sq. ft. & my highest bill has been $100, but most of the time it's between $67 to $70, & I run my "N E W" central A/C all the time

 

[strahd71]

Know how to read your Meters...

vaguely.

jake

 

[Stschil]

When I lived in Winamac, I always sent my checks payable to RIPSCO.

Thieves, all of them.

 

[strahd71]

How the hell can that be, My house is 2,100 sq. ft. & my highest bill has been $100, but most of the time it's between $67 to $70, & I run my "N E W" central A/C all the time

i dont know.!

 

[strahd71]

It's kind of hard to figure out where you're spending the money when you're on budget Billing.

you are so right the bill just doesnt make a lot of sense!

jake

 

[threefiftyfour]

I once read an article about the new twisty bulbs costing people more to heat their houses due to the lack of heat they produce. I also remember someone very important saying that his policies would make your energy prices "necessarily skyrocket". I guess he started with you???

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I know your pain.

REMC rates are $0.13/kwh and they eat us alive. Examine your usage history. I imagine you suck the energy in the winter time. Has your usage spiked at the same time as the rates have increased? Last year we had a contractor stick on the kids' AC unit so the backup heat was on all the time-even while the AC was running.

May be time to upgrade some appliances. Heat, AC, and water heater are usually the biggest hitters. Look around for air leaks in your house, letting the heated air out, etc.

 

[Lucas156]

Well stuff that is plugged in still pulls power even if you dong use it. Maybe you have something you're not using that's pulling a lot of power. Lol I don't know just tryin to help

 

[gunman41mag]

i dont know.!

FPL has replaced all the older meter with digital ones, cause too many people were putting magnets on top of the older meters to stop or slow them down

 

[knoxace]

you can always do an amp draw test on each breaker add it up then test at the shut off next to the meter . You know just to make sure no one is tapped in to your power

If its gas that you speek of you have a leak RUN !

 

[4sarge]

I know your pain.

REMC rates are $0.13/kwh and they eat us alive. Examine your usage history. I imagine you suck the energy in the winter time. Has your usage spiked at the same time as the rates have increased? Last year we had a contractor stick on the kids' AC unit so the backup heat was on all the time-even while the AC was running.

May be time to upgrade some appliances. Heat, AC, and water heater are usually the biggest hitters. Look around for air leaks in your house, letting the heated air out, etc.

I have the same Rip Off REMC

 

[88GT]

Have you done an energy audit? What's the insulation situation in your attic? Do you have well-sealed windows and doors? What about the window openings for the A/C units? Brick homes built before 1980 don't generally have insulation in the walls unless someone did it after construction during a room remodel when the sheetrock was replaced. Brick was considered enough of an insulation itself, I guess. I've lived in nothing but brick homes and not a single one had wall insulation installed at construction.

I'd be finding out what the budgeting is based on. Last year's totals or the projected costs for future months? If they're predicting a spike in natural gas prices this coming winter, you might be paying for it now. As an example.

Any chance you've actually used more energy too? Where's the thermostat and which rooms are you trying to manage for temp?

Any "estimations" in the billing? Indy Water has a nasty habit of estimating every other month based on the last 3 months' usage. If you have a high month, that will affect your average for a while. Eventually it works itself out and you end up getting bills where you don't owe at all for a few months, but paying $60 bucks for a vacant unit? That's insane.

 

[scully]

I don't see how that is even remotely possible. I have a 1,800 sf tri-level and 2 months worth of your budget would cover my energy costs for a year. And with 2 adults and 4 teenagers we use too much of everything.

 

[strahd71]

Have you done an energy audit? What's the insulation situation in your attic? Do you have well-sealed windows and doors? What about the window openings for the A/C units? Brick homes built before 1980 don't generally have insulation in the walls unless someone did it after construction during a room remodel when the sheetrock was replaced. Brick was considered enough of an insulation itself, I guess. I've lived in nothing but brick homes and not a single one had wall insulation installed at construction.

I'd be finding out what the budgeting is based on. Last year's totals or the projected costs for future months? If they're predicting a spike in natural gas prices this coming winter, you might be paying for it now. As an example.

Any chance you've actually used more energy too? Where's the thermostat and which rooms are you trying to manage for temp?

Any "estimations" in the billing? Indy Water has a nasty habit of estimating every other month based on the last 3 months' usage. If you have a high month, that will affect your average for a while. Eventually it works itself out and you end up getting bills where you don't owe at all for a few months, but paying $60 bucks for a vacant unit? That's insane.

our home inspection claimed the insulation was good in the attic. thermostat is in the dinning room centrally located down stairs and seems to be in a reasonable spot. i do think we need a new thermostat tho. we set it at 80 and it only reads 70..... shouldnt be that kind of difference.

here is a question. i do know the main breaker is bad, i found that out the other day, could that affect the bill some how? i wouldnt think it would but who knows


jake

 

[strahd71]

I don't see how that is even remotely possible. I have a 1,800 sf tri-level and 2 months worth of your budget would cover my energy costs for a year. And with 2 adults and 4 teenagers we use too much of everything.

i know

jake

 

[cwillour]

vaguely.

jake

Many times high utilization issues can be traced back to a bad/dirty connection or improper grounding and typically occurs at a connection point or inside an appliance.

Side note: I once had an apartment that accumulated a dust-ball in the electric heater connection that caused it to consume $10-15/day in the middle of the summer. I had to troubleshoot it as far as identifying the heater breaker before I could finally get the apartment manager to get an electrician to diagnose the problem (find the dust ball, in this case) to get the problem resolved. Once my problem was found, the manager had his own apartment checked as he had been seeing similar bills for years. After finding similar issues in his apartment, he then authorized the company to review all the units in the complex (apparently he had received lots of complaints over the years.)

Here is an overly simple guide to troubleshooting the issue:

If yours is digital, you can simply watch the numbers pass. If it is analog, the faster it spins then the more you are using.

1) Start by getting a baseline feel of your flow rate (KW usage)

2) Turn off all appliances and kill all your breakers individually and then kill the main panel, check the meter for 5 minutes -- it should show no movement

3) Turn on the main panel, check the meter for 5 minutes

4) Turn on each breaker one-by-one, checking the meter for 5 minutes each time

5) If you find one breaker that trigger consumption, note it and kill it again before continuing.

6) Check appliances one-by-one in similar fashion to checking the breakers

Hopefully, this will help you nail down your consumption problems.

 

[strahd71]

Many times high utilization issues can be traced back to a bad/dirty connection or improper grounding and typically occurs at a connection point or inside an appliance.

Side note: I once had an apartment that accumulated a dust-ball in the electric heater connection that caused it to consume $10-15/day in the middle of the summer. I had to troubleshoot it as far as identifying the heater breaker before I could finally get the apartment manager to get an electrician to diagnose the problem (find the dust ball, in this case) to get the problem resolved. Once my problem was found, the manager had his own apartment checked as he had been seeing similar bills for years. After finding similar issues in his apartment, he then authorized the company to review all the units in the complex (apparently he had received lots of complaints over the years.)

Here is an overly simple guide to troubleshooting the issue:

If yours is digital, you can simply watch the numbers pass. If it is analog, the faster it spins then the more you are using.

1) Start by getting a baseline feel of your flow rate (KW usage)

2) Turn off all appliances and kill all your breakers individually and then kill the main panel, check the meter for 5 minutes -- it should show no movement

3) Turn on the main panel, check the meter for 5 minutes

4) Turn on each breaker one-by-one, checking the meter for 5 minutes each time

5) If you find one breaker that trigger consumption, note it and kill it again before continuing.

6) Check appliances one-by-one in similar fashion to checking the breakers

Hopefully, this will help you nail down your consumption problems.

hey thats good info! thanks!

jake