"DK" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 01 Jan 2007 20:07:42 -0800, Rob wrote:

I recently moved into my house and I got my first full month's electric
bill and was floored. It was almost $150! I have never lived somewhere
with a bill over $80 for a single month. On top of that, this house does
not have some of the common big time electric drawing appliances. My hot
water heater, dryer and home heating are not electric. The only electric
appliances that run often are the fridge, the sump pump and a portable
dehumidifier in the basement

Anyway, I want to see if I can determine what the primary culprit is in
this very high meter reading. I am thinking it might be the
refrigerator. The fridge is an older, built-in Sub-Zero model which,
while nice seems to run a lot. Long story short, is there a device I
can purchase to put between the fridge's plug and the wall outlet that
will measure it's electric usage over a period of time, say a day? If
not, what is the best way to guage the usage of this appliance? I don't
have a backup fridge to use while I turn this one off for a month and
see what next month's bill looks like, so I'm looking for an
alternative.... Also, I looked up the model on the web, but did not find
any info on it related to electrical usage, so that is not an option...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,

Rob

You don't need to wait an hour to get your usage. Just turn on the
appliance and count the rotations of the wheel in the city meter.
Call the utility and tell them what meter you have and they will give
you the usage per rotation.

Time to get a new fridge. The new side by side use a fraction of the
power that my old one did.

All my lights are florescent, too.

A new fridge is probably a good idea, but as an interim measure, OP may want
to get the current one serviced or cleaned. Those built-in ones often
collect a whole bunch of gunk (dust, cooking grease, etc) on the coils. Also
need to do the 'dollar bill' test on the gasket- it may be getting tired.
The freon may have leaked down a tad, as well.

Of course, if OP has to pay someone to do that, it may be a significant
fraction of the cost of a replacement. Standard logic about repair costs
versus expected remaining lifespan, compared to replacement costs and
increased energy efficency, apply.

aem sends...