HELP! Apartment electric bill $532.91 !!!! How?

Yum Cimil · #1 07/30/2007, 08:18 PM

1000 square foot apartment central AC. Set at 74 deg. No chiller on my 120 gallon reef with two 400 what metal halides on 12 hours a day, 1 1200 gallon per hour pump on 24/7. 150 what heater for my iguana 24/7. I don’t pay for hot water or gas and everything in the apartment except the dryer is gas. I live by myself. I don’t watch television at all. No lights other then the tank light are on. Nothing changed at all the bills went $5.33, $119.95, $42.00, $136.00, $532.91. And in six days since the last reeding I somehow managed to use 2647 KW I took this reading myself. Is this possible? The meters are kept and read by the apartment complex. Has anyone ever had a crazy electric bill and what did you do. I need help. Lol.

Minuteman · #2 07/30/2007, 08:20 PM

Confirm the meter readig with the electric company.

dwd5813 · #3 07/30/2007, 08:23 PM

yeah i would make sure that they are billing you for YOUR bill. dont know what else to tell ya about that. you do seem to have a big variance in the bills you listed too. Investigation is in order for sure. Good Luck!

Yum Cimil · #4 07/30/2007, 08:23 PM

I forgot to mention I had a house with a 180 gallon reef with four large pumps, four metal halides, 4 VHOs, a pond, a hot tub, outdoor lighting, central air, cathedral ceilings, iguana habitat like waht you would see at the zoo. Electric water heater electric stove ETC. And my bill never went over $380.00 with two people living there.

Yum Cimil · #5 07/30/2007, 08:26 PM

Can a meter go nuts? 2647 kw is a lot for 6 days.

dwd5813 · #6 07/30/2007, 08:27 PM

was that in the same town youre in now?
I would probably start looking into the charge per KWH and see if it has changed in the past few months or as long as you have records for.

Sk8r · #7 07/30/2007, 08:30 PM

Could also be they've been 'averaging' or basing it on last year, two common methods, and finally got to actually read the meter, and have caught up with the bill. You definitely have the right to ask to understand what happened.

Yum Cimil · #8 07/30/2007, 08:33 PM

No price didn’t go up, just usage. It went from an average of 25 to 30 kw a day. And shot up to 100 kw a day.

Yum Cimil · #9 07/30/2007, 08:35 PM

They have the exact readings on the bills.

Yum Cimil · #10 07/30/2007, 08:38 PM

In 6 days I used twice what I used in a month at my house.

Scuba_Dave · #11 07/30/2007, 09:04 PM

Call them ASAP & report the problem

dwd5813 · #12 07/30/2007, 10:00 PM

yeah you have the right to dispute any portion of your bill, at least in my town. I'd say this is a good time for that

Yum Cimil · #13 07/30/2007, 10:02 PM

Thanks I'm going to contact them.

hubris007 · #14 07/30/2007, 11:06 PM

A short would do that. I've seen people have bills like that after taking a really heavy load over an in-ground line and shorting it out (bleeding electricity to the ground).

If your tank has a short that's grounded out, but not tripping the breaker, it'll suck electricity like mad.....let alone potentially kill you.

Just a thought.

Raki04 · #15 07/31/2007, 11:19 AM

unplug the extention cord that's running out the door to your neighbors.........
Really I'd have the elect co. come out and do a compleet check on the line and meter.

57chevygirl57 · #16 07/31/2007, 12:02 PM

You really do need to have them out to "find out" what is going on.
Let me see if I can get this all down.
2000sq.ft 2 story house. 2 heat pumps(1 up stairs, one down stairs all set at 77..2 hot water heaters,1-50g, 1-80g.
all electric kitchen, washer/dryer.
5 people living here.3 are teenagers, with all thier electronics.
3 reef tanks.
185, 4-400 metal halides,pumps, skimmer,CA reactor,fans.
125, 4-400 metal halides,pumps, skimmer,CA reactor,fans.
54, 1-400 metal halide, pumps, skimmer, fans.
125, fresh water 120 watts of light, pumps, filter.

and my light bill was $445.00

xxpipedreamxx · #17 07/31/2007, 02:51 PM

Time to invest in a KILL-A-WATT. you can find out what is using so much electricity.

drauka99 · #18 07/31/2007, 04:30 PM

my mom and dads metter went bad once and something like that happened but nothing that extreeme. Def get them out to check it out

Yum Cimil · #19 07/31/2007, 08:13 PM

Here’s the situation now, I called them and they told me last months bill was estimated. So the actual reading was unknown so this month being hotter may be higher and I may have had a low bill due to their guessing last month. I was told that I should pay this month and if they determine they made a mistake they will make adjustments to the next bill. They are sending someone out to check the meter.

Thanks

fraggin · #20 07/31/2007, 08:18 PM

what elec co yum?
starting to wonder about my past bills.

Scuba_Dave · #21 07/31/2007, 08:37 PM

This is your 5th month there?
Have they estimated every other month?
They tried estimating at my last house & did a terrible job
They charged me more for gas usage in 1 month then I used in 6 months. I paid for what I used
They complained
I filed a complaint
It took them 6 months to straighten it out
Each month I would pay a little based on what I used
After 6 months they credited my account & rebilled me
And wonder of wonders I had a credit

The next month they did another estimate
This one closer, but still off
This went one for 2 years - I heated with wood
I don't know how much they spent sending people out to the house checking the meter, office costs to review....
They finally figured out it would save them $$ to come out & put an automated reader in at my house

I only used about $9-30 a month in gas

Keep calling & complaining if they are wrong
They won't fix a problem as long as you keep paying the bill

I have a 240g setup, (3) 250w lights, Iwaki pump in basement
2 window AC's only use them when hot, for the tank
I only set the main room one to 77/78
Bedroom I set to 73, both are shut off at night. Then we use fans
1700+ sq foot house, 2 adults & my son, MIL up 3 days a week
Pool pump runs 4-5 hours a day
My PC runs 5+ hours a day
My wife runs her PC, laptop, TV running 5+ hours - more when MIL is here
My wife uses the electric dryer 100% of all loads
Water heater is electric - and I like long showers

My bill runs about $225-250, high just over $300 in really hot weather

Christmas w/80a of lights running 5-8 hours a night for 30 days in additition to everything else my bill was "only" $650
The year before it was "only" $490 for the month

That's a TON of electricity to use in 6 days - something is wrong
They are giving you the run around, if you have used that much in 6 days your bill for the month is going to be maybe over $1000

Yum Cimil · #22 07/31/2007, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fraggin
what elec co yum?
starting to wonder about my past bills.

PECO bills the apartment complex, EMS maintains and checks individual meters of the residents and sends the residents bills and thay pay the apartment complex by what’s on their bills. So who knows if the meters are maintained and checked properly. I noticed there wasn’t a lock on the panel near the rear exit so if someone wanted to, they could turn off all the power to any apartment by the flip of a switch including mine. LOL.

MandM · #23 08/01/2007, 12:24 AM

You may want to consider moving.

TheBimbo · #24 08/01/2007, 11:45 AM

ours went up alot tooo... hubby called them and they said something about kilowatt prices increased and then they got something okay'd by the govt to go back so many months and then pro-rate it??? something along those lines anyways

they'll get ya any way they can... we keep our c/a set at about 74 steady, and run the ool, and then the tank and the regular lights/electricity usage... we have electric appliances, but also been grilling more lately, so that helps just a tad...

Christy...