600+ electricity bill - What do I do now?

electric fireplace 32 image

Eliza

We have lived in our house for a year and a half now and have had no problem with our monthly utility bills. Every month we have approximately the same bill, going up slightly in the colder months (100-200 per month depending). Last month we received a bill for almost 300 dollars but decided it must have just been very cold that month. However, a few days ago we received our electric bill for November - 593.00.

I assumed this must be a mistake; a faulty reading, a computer error, something! When I called Appalachian Power to find out what was happening they instructed me to go out and check the meter. So I wandered out into the snow in my slippers and finally found the little gray meter box and read her the number on the front. She was silent for a few seconds and then said..."yes, that's the reading we have as well"..Needless to say our house was pulling enough electricity to run a small factory.
She told me that if the current usage patterns continued our bill for december would be over $1,000.

She instructed me to turn off the breakers to the heat pump because this was usually the culprit for such a large amount of useless wattage. I finally located the correct breakers and heard the fan stop running. An hour later I checked the meter again and the usage had gone down to a fairly normal (but still more than i would have expected without heat) rate.

A few days before this fiasco I had called our Landlord (Chris) to explain/complain to him that the heater would not heat the house over 64 degrees. He brought us some gas for the fireplace to keep it warm in the living room but didn't bother to check the heat pump as "Heat pumps can have a hard time in the cold weather".

So I called him after discovering the heat pump was using ~1000 dollars a month to attempt to warm a 1000 square foot space to over 64 degrees and he "explained" to me that it must be something else and that his electric bill had also doubled this month.
He then reluctantly came down to the house and brought us a brand new filter! However, upon turning the breakers to the heater back on and watching the meter, it was still pulling almost a kilowatt a minute (a LOT). Needless to say, I turned the power to the heat back off.
When I called back our thoughtful landlord had left for vacation with his girlfriend.

Here I am, two days later, sitting next to the gas fire huddled up with my 1 year old daughter trying to keep her warm.

The power company agreed to send someone out to do an 'energy audit' and check the meter again sometime next week. until then, I am stuck either footing 1000 dollar bill from the power company or not moving away from this fireplace ever again.

What would you do?

Answer
I agree with several answers here that the Heat Pump is not going to help as well at temperatures below 32 degrees. And here's why, the heat pump is only capable of raising the temperature around 40 degrees above the outside temperature. At that point the heat strips kick in to assist. the heat strips are what is causing the high electric bills. given that, you may also have a low Freon level in your heat pump. that will reduce the design temperature difference from 40 degrees to something significantly less. Possibly only 10 degrees which means the heat strips may be coming on when the outside temp is only 60 degrees instead of 32 degrees.

Other items that will help if the Freon is at the correct level:
1) change those filters
2) Clean the condenser coils
3) make sure there is no air flow blockage to the return vents

The best thing to do right now is to get the landlord to call an experienced HVAC service company to check it out.

Going camping.. is there a safe kind of heater for a tent?

Kimberly

it is a 2 bedroom tent, 6 ft high... not sure of other dimensions, but it is large. I'm in PA and tonight it will be in the low 40's. Is there such a thing as a safe tent heater? (we will have electric)

Answer
I have a 18' X24' canvas wall tent with a "stove jack" built into it for a fireplace/wood stove for winter heat and my wood stove works very well for this tent. But even flameproofing for canvas isn't always flameproof. With the modern vinyl tents made now adays there really isn't a safe heater to use. Buy a good sleeping bag with a rating below 20degrees F to keep you warm and toasty. I have a mini Dachshund that insists on going camping with me and he works way better than any heat source available to man. He literally roasts me out of my sleeping bag every time since he sleeps inside my bag with me at my feet. The most economical way to go in my opinion is the colder rated sleeping bag for several reasons including you don't need to carry extra bedding material with you, no water to heat up, no flame/fire danger, and it is a renewable overnight heat source good for many camping trips so its economical! The 40's arn't to cold to deal with when it comes to overnight temps. You can go to Wal-Mart for a cheap bag rated at 32 degrees but again I would suggest spending a little more for a better bag but, that's up to you. Good Luck

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