On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:12:57 -0400, "NJC" wrote:

I had the same issue last fall. My wife has been home raising the kids for
the past 5 years, but now they started school and my wife just got a job at
the school. So now no one is home from 7-4 leaving every light and TV in
the house on like they have been for the past 5 years. Also I replace every
single bulb in the house with the CF bulbs. I was expecting a nice 20% or
more drop in KWH on my Sept bills on. - WRONG

My electric bill went UP 15% more KWH than the previous year. I called
National Grid to complain that the meter had to be screwed up or something
because I know they do not estimate in my area. They have meters with those

They list on the My Bill part of the webpage if the bill is estimated,
and I too have the radio meter, so either they just have to drive by,
or they don't even have to leave the office.

The online bills here are just pdf files that are identical to the
printed bills that they mail, but I have the printed bills too. I
just have to find them all and put them in order.

electronic devices so the people reading don't even have to leave the car to
get a reading unless the radio is dead. Since I am never estimated and the
biggest energy wasters (the kids) are not home for 8+ hours a day now and
there had been no change in appliances or other factors there is no way it
could have gone up.

Yes, your story does sound a lot like my story. Even if the details
are different.

Since I don't know what National Grid is, you're probably not in
Baltimore (which is where I am), but the purpose of conventions is
partly to share trade secrets.

They said that they doubted it because everyone elses bills went up in usage

Why would anyone's usage in KwH go up, unless it was colder in the
winter or hotter in the summer than normal? I guess plasma tv's use
more electricity and bigger screens use more, but none of this affects
every home or could equal 15% for anyone.

about that amount so mine should have. Then I hit them with "Did everyone
else's family start leaving their house vacant for over 45+ more hours a
week than mine?" Of course not so they started to make even more excuses as
far fetched as "sun spots" affecting my usage.

I really think that the do something very fishy there because I complained a
few times and they said they were not going to check unless there was a
drastic circumstance that they could know 100% that something was wrong. I
lied and I said that I was going away on vactaion for 3 week in March and
turning off the fridge, not using the dryer, the water pump, TV or even
leaving lights on so my bill should be squat.

Good idea to tell them that.

And btw, if I do go away next year, I think I'll turn off the
refrigerator. I think I froze a half gallon of milk just before I
left, and drank it when I got home, but with a trifle extra planning,
there doesn't have to be any food left to spoil. If I go for Feb,
March, and April (a possibility**) and the furnace is set at 45, I
would think it wouldn't run at all the last month or two. Then there
should be almost nothing on.

I'm going to have to start verifying the meter readings also. Maybe
in general and before and after the trip. There are many far more
important reasons to go on this trip, (and to stay home) but somehow
the notion of checking up on them seems very important right now.

Well guess what? I did not go away and they did not say they came out, but
right after I told them that something was coming up that was going to nail
them on a busted meter or a screw up, my bills since then went dow about the
expected 20%. Isn't that amazing.

Quite amazing. Sounds hinky.

NOT, I"m sure you mean.
I am doing anything more than I was
before, but all of a sudden after the threats my bills magically drop the
20%.

I would have emailed you a copy, to make sure you saw this, but no big
deal.

**This time I'm going to try to rent a room in someone's apartment. I
don't know yet how much that would cost, maybe 300 or 400 a month?
Maybe young people. (If I were a little younger than I am, I could
date their friends.)

The last trip, for 9 weeks, cost me 5000 dollars for everything for
one person, including airfare, a 250 dollar camera and a 150 dollar
camera, and a professional 3-day/2-night tour to some historical city.
I know some people spend 5000 for a 2 weeks.

"mm" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:36:26 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:09:53 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:


There is one caveat. If your water heater is so poorly insulated or so
unfavorably situated that the water temp inside returns to supply
ambient before those ten hours elapse, then you'll save. Since you're
obviously energy conscious, that caveat likely doesn't apply.

I've turned off the electricity to my water heater and it stays pretty
hot for 3 days iirc. And it would stay hot a lot longer if I weren't
using the hot water. The major thing cooling off the water is the
cold water going in when I use hot water.


Usage is very strange. I went away for November and December (and my
billing periods were from the 15th to the 14th, and my bill was almost
the same as the previous year when I was here the whole time.

The water heater was off, and empty. The furnaace was down to about 45
and it's oil so it only used electricity to run the ignition and
blower, and the furance fan.

About 4 lights were on timers, but I leave 3 of them on timers even
when I'm home.

It was not an estimated reading.

I still haven't figured it out.

We love a good mystery. I'm sure you know that for comparison, it's
kilowatt-hours that count, not dollars. How old is that refrigerator?

Yeah, I forgot to say that I compared KwH, not dollars.

The fridge is only 29 years old, but when I was away, I didn't open
the door at all, so however high the electric usage it was, it should
have been less, a lot less, when I was away.

If I'm lucky I may go away for 2 months March and April of next
year**. I'll try to do a better job, if possible, of comparing then

**Prior to last years trip I hadn't been anywhere except to visit my
brother in 10 years. Plus I'm trying to sell a project on these trips
(but haven't attempted to deduct even a fraction of the costs. I don't
think I can since I've not gotten any revenue.)