any electricians out there????

overkill131313

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my power bill just went through the roof......any one know what could be wrong besides my meter?

my power bill has not changed per kilowatt.......
my power was $100-110 a month during the winter with electric heat
the last 2 months my heater has been shut off which is about $75 a month to run my heat alone........so my bill should be $25-$30 a month just for my 4 lights, TV/computer/hotwater tank (I use propane stove).......I have ran a power tester on every circut and I get a total of just under 10 000 watts a day or 10 Kilowatt at .87 cent a kilowatt......so it should cost me 87 cents a day or $26.10 in 30 days......just got a bill for $310 for 2 months or $155 a month......WTF???? all most 6 times what it should be.......NO I DONT HAVE A GROW ROOM! the power comes off of my cousins house and goes into a meter just for me.......and has been accurate to my power consumption calculations......but now with my heat shut off it went up 50% ($100 to $150 ish) but should have gone down 75%......($100 to $25 ish) what could be wrong???? HELP!

please no funny jokes about grow rooms or any thing about me living in a RV.......I'm just trying to figure this out because at $150 a month for not running anything big like a stove or heat or a dryer......this sucks!
 

Summiteer

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Check your bill and see if usage was actual or estimated. The power companies like to save money by not sending meter readers out every month and 'estimating' your bill.(funny, it seems to happen in the spring when usage drops off so they get your money for an extra month). What changed on the bill? KWh or $per KWH?
 

overkill131313

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Check your bill and see if usage was actual or estimated. The power companies like to save money by not sending meter readers out every month and 'estimating' your bill.(funny, it seems to happen in the spring when usage drops off so they get your money for an extra month). What changed on the bill? KWh or $per KWH?

well my cousin got the bill.....we read my meter and did the math for the last two months........and my Kilowatts on my meter went through the roof........only thing I can figure out is my meter went screwy! does this happen?
 

Summiteer

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I've never heard of a meter failing and reading high, Doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Does the meter show real time consumption? If it shows a steady consumption, start shutting off breakers until it stops. I'd start with electric Hot Water Heater.
 

TROLLCAT

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is it an old school meter or digatal , you have to read the numbers on the old school meter from right to left very easy to make a mistake
 

woody_tobius_jr

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my power bill just went through the roof......any one know what could be wrong besides my meter?

my power bill has not changed per kilowatt.......
my power was $100-110 a month during the winter with electric heat
the last 2 months my heater has been shut off which is about $75 a month to run my heat alone........so my bill should be $25-$30 a month just for my 4 lights, TV/computer/hotwater tank (I use propane stove).......I have ran a power tester on every circut and I get a total of just under 10 000 watts a day or 10 Kilowatt at .87 cent a kilowatt......so it should cost me 87 cents a day or $26.10 in 30 days......just got a bill for $310 for 2 months or $155 a month......WTF???? all most 6 times what it should be.......NO I DONT HAVE A GROW ROOM! the power comes off of my cousins house and goes into a meter just for me.......and has been accurate to my power consumption calculations......but now with my heat shut off it went up 50% ($100 to $150 ish) but should have gone down 75%......($100 to $25 ish) what could be wrong???? HELP!

please no funny jokes about grow rooms or any thing about me living in a RV.......I'm just trying to figure this out because at $150 a month for not running anything big like a stove or heat or a dryer......this sucks!

Same thing happened to my parents, power bill was triple what it was supposed to be. They phoned Epcor and they were told that somebody must be plugging in to their outside plug in. They fought over this for a couple of monthes before Epcor finally came out and changed the meter. Problem solved. :) :beer:
 

imdoo'n

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shheeet gary how many plants do you still have under the lamps. maybe you missed counted? or your girl friend still has her toys pluggeg in and that explains the constant buzzing in your head. or maybe you still have the heater going under the trailer, for the grow op.
had to ask


friggin grow lights.:d
 

overkill131313

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was reading a few site on the internet......hydro figures that 1/3 of all non digital meters are out......sposted to be -2.5% to +3.5% is what I read some where......but I feel mine has gone 600% more than what it should be the last two months! scared to have summer come with the A/C on!
 

overkill131313

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anyone know how to test for a power leak? I heard my power could leak to ground and my meter measures the power that goes to my breaker box and ground......any info on testing for this would be great!
 

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anyone know how to test for a power leak? I heard my power could leak to ground and my meter measures the power that goes to my breaker box and ground......any info on testing for this would be great!

Get your service provider to pull the meter, shut off all your breakers and meggar your cable from the meter base to the main panel. Test both phases to ground.A meggar tests conductor insulation.
 

FTBeaver

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I bought a mobile home years ago in the winter. When spring hit I ended up with a $400 power bill. Normal bills through the winter were only around $125. I phoned the power company and they said they would send someone out to check the meter. Never heard back from them then the next month comes and I get my new bill with late charges on the original bill so now I owe like $900. I finally look into things and find an electric heater under the trailer to keep the lines from freezing. There was a splice in the cord that was shorting out on the wet ground. I argued with the power company and they knocked off the interest charges. At least I got something out of them. That's what I get for being young and dumb and not checking things out before I bought. Oh well I only paid $7000 for the place.
 

snopro

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See any big extension cords going out to a rock? Maybe the Freak is bleeding you dry?:d:beer:
 

my mod

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The meter is just for the RV?
either unplug the RV or turn of the main breaker then check if the meter is still turning or "creeping"
if it is still turning with main breakers turned off, you might have a bad meter or a connection or splice is failing. between the meter and the main breaker.
Is the meter on the power pole or at the house or RV?
 

bigz64

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well my cousin got the bill.....we read my meter and did the math for the last two months........and my Kilowatts on my meter went through the roof........only thing I can figure out is my meter went screwy! does this happen?


are you saying you have 2 meters in line? 1 from the power company and 1 that you own? do you live on an acreage or in town? and which meter had all the consumption or both?

btw im a electrical/meter technologist with a power company. measurement canadas allowances are +/- 3%. and it is very very rare that meters fail. so its mostly on the customers side, thats why power companies are slow to act with concerns with this. its mostly the customer plugging something in and not realizing it uses a lot of power. the last place i went to was an apartment, they plugged in a 1500W heater and left it on well that works out to a $200 bill
 

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Hotwater tank running all the time from a hotwater pipe or tap leaking? Check under the unit for water leaks.
 

overkill131313

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I have checked power consumption on every circut.....and added it all up.......if I left every single 12 volt light on, fridge on 24 hour (not on and off like it does) hot water tank on (and never shut off) all my TV's, stereo, router, cable modem,and all my led rope lighting out on the deck......if everything stayed on for 24 hours it would pull 51.5 kilowatts a day and I pay .087 cents a kilowatt........which works out to $4.4805 a day........there is no way everything can run 24 hours a day.......so I tested every thing in my trailer and used my meter to calculate wattage used.......came up with about $1.04 a day with out my elec heat or AC.......that is about $30 a month.......not $160 like my meter said.......I have no cords under my trailer and when I shut of my main breaker......at my end it shows no power being used........I have to walk down to my cousins garage and look to see if the meter stops........I know it did when I hooked up in Sept.......basically my power should have been $60 for 2 months but the meter showed I used $316........that is a big jump from $100-$110 in the winter when I was using $75-$85 in elec heat....... elec heater were shut off the last two months so it should be down to $30 a month........I swear it is the meter.......all winter was never more than $110 a month and as low as $100 month.......now if you shut down a $75-80 month heater it should be around the $30 that I figured out today with my meter!
 
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Summiteer

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call your service provider. they may put a recording meter on your service to verify consumption.
 

bigz64

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I have checked power consumption on every circut.....and added it all up.......if I left every single 12 volt light on, fridge on 24 hour (not on and off like it does) hot water tank on (and never shut off) all my TV's, stereo, router, cable modem,and all my led rope lighting out on the deck......if everything stayed on for 24 hours it would pull 51.5 kilowatts a day and I pay .087 cents a kilowatt........which works out to $4.4805 a day........there is no way everything can run 24 hours a day.......so I tested every thing in my trailer and used my meter to calculate wattage used.......came up with about $1.04 a day with out my elec heat or AC.......that is about $30 a month.......not $160 like my meter said.......I have no cords under my trailer and when I shut of my main breaker......at my end it shows no power being used........I have to walk down to my cousins garage and look to see if the meter stops........I know it did when I hooked up in Sept.......basically my power should have been $60 for 2 months but the meter showed I used $316........that is a big jump from $100-$110 in the winter when I was using $75-$85 in elec heat....... elec heater were shut off the last two months so it should be down to $30 a month........I swear it is the meter.......all winter was never more than $110 a month and as low as $100 month.......now if you shut down a $75-80 month heater it should be around the $30 that I figured out today with my meter!

is this extra consumption reading on both meters or just the one going to the trailer? its called troubleshooting, your doing it backwards... find the problem from source first
 
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