Why is my power bill so high?

[elektra]

I know I should already understand this but I just do not know why my latest power bill was the highest it's been since we moved in in May. I always thought the air conditioning was the biggest power drain but our Dec/Jan bill was higher than our summer bills! Maybe because I was super careful about only running the A/C during certain times (and roasting alot of the time because of it!)
Are we running the heater too much (it only comes on a few times at night usually)? Did the Christmas lights get us? (But we were nowhere near XMas Vacation style- just one string across the line of our roof, along with additional lights in 2 bushes and various ones inside too.) More lights on in general with the shorter days?
Is there a way to tell from the bill?

I just don't know where to cut back!
Thanks.

[clb]

Did your rates go up? We are not in your area, but there were rate increases in our last utility bills.

[vludmilla]

Another possibility is that it was an estimated bill and it was an overestimate. In the past when our bill was inexplicably much higher, it was because of an overestimation of our use. We ended up being credited on future bills.

[ThreeofUs]

Another possibility is that it was an estimated bill and it was an overestimate. In the past when our bill was inexplicably much higher, it was because of an overestimation of our use. We ended up being credited on future bills.


When we were living in CA, this happened to us a couple of times. Another thing that happened was grounds crews plugging into our outlet, lol.

Just call your power company and talk to them - they might be able to point you in the right direction, or pinpoint a problem on *their* side.

[3blackcats]

Make sure cell phone chargers are unplugged.
What about any new electronics that you got for the holiday? Could you be running the washer and dryer more causing the hot water heater to have to do more work?
Our outside light gets left on more frequently because of how early it gets dark and we want to be able to see when we come in.:)

Oh at my house, DH lately has been leaving tons of lights on It just started and I have no idea why, lol.

[rlu]

Ours is a gas and electric bill. Is yours also combined? I noticed it was our gas that went sky high lately. I know we are using more hot water for baths (reduce congestion) and washing towels (kill cold germs) plus running the dishwasher to sterilize dishes rather than hand wash. I think our heater is electric - not sure about that - but we were running it higher to keep BBD comfortable at the end. (And we do not quite Tim Taylor style Xmas decor, so we brought this on ourselves in that aspect).

We're considering the program they have for bill averaging where they average your bills over time so you pay roughly the same amount each month, with adjustments each quarter to better reflect actual usage. I think you need to be with them for a certain amount of time before they can do that though.

eta: and our rates went up and we got a fish tank and I leave the bubbler/lights on more than I need to.

[sariana]

My first thought when I read your post was that your rate may have gone up. Ours did recently. Definitely call the power company. They should be able to help you at least to determine how your usage compares with others in your area (including seasonal ups and downs).

Good luck.

[momtoonegirl]

I noticed that there is a seasonal rate difference in our area. There is a Spring/Summer rate, that lasts approximately from April-October, and a Fall/Winter rate that lasts from November-March that is slightly lower. The spring-summer bill usually is way higher than the fall-winter for us due to base rate being higher, as well as the air conditioning. Could it be that because of the Holiday lights and/or maybe cooler temperatures than normal that could have caused an unexpected increase in your bill?

Another thing I also noticed on our bill is that there is a category called "peak" and "off-peak" electricity usage. The peak time is from 10am-6pm Monday-Friday, and is more expensive per unit (kWh?). All other times are considered off-peak, and runs less $$ per unit. I actually shaved off $50-75 from our electricity bill by not doing laundry, not running the dishwasher, and being really conscientious about turning off lights, etc. during peak hours.

I would also consider the possibility of a rate increase, and contact the electric company to check.