Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Dec 04, 2013 1:25 pm I have just gone thr'u our past and present electricity bills and noticed a weird thing - since moving into the new house, our actual usage (kWh) has DOUBLED. However, nothing in our 'habits' has changed, nor we have started using more power (at least not that I am aware of). The only changes are: - our oven is now electric ( ) - we now have 3 phase power (supposedly was needed for the Air Con) - we have water tank (which I think uses electrical pump every time we flush toilets and run garden hose) - we have automatic garage door openers (2). We don't use AC more than we used to in the old house, and we don't ues the toilets that much and I don't water the garden from the tank any more ... Anyway, apart from the oven, I simply cannot figure why the usage has doubled. Could it be something wrong with the setup of the 3 meters in our meter box??? Has anyone noticed this dramatic increase? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 2Dec 04, 2013 1:35 pm You can get devices that measure usage either at the meter box or ones to put into every outlet. Before you do that though you might want to check if they are providing you with an actual reading or an estimated reading. On both accounts you may want to double check. We've had estimated reading when we first moved in to our last place but they were way off. Similarly the guys that come to do the reading often get it wrong - we were routinely charged about double our usual usage because of incorrect readings. Even if you do send them a photo of the meter they wont accept it. They send someone out to do a second reading, if they agree it was wrong its free. If you've requested another reading and the first was correct you get charged for it. Best of luck http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 4Dec 04, 2013 2:19 pm I would definately check the figures on the meter(s) against what it says on the bill. The electric oven would certainly increase your suage if you cook in it every day, but I wouldn't expect it to double usage. I assume 3 Phase power requires 3 meters and 3 meter readings, they may only have read one of the meters and estimated the other 2 based on that first one, but if one phase is used only for the aircon, that one would have completely different usage than the others. In our old flat a few years ago we had off peak hot electric hot water, which basically meant the hot water was on a different meter, that supposedly only provided power in off peak times, ie. overnight. When I looked at the meter it was an ancient thing probably installed in the 50's or 60's, it was basically a rotating 24 hour timer with an ON and OFF tab that could be moved to the desired times, and I assume when it rotated between the ON and OFF the circuit was complete and allowed power, it was set to something like 8pm ON and 6am OFF, however it said the current time was several hours off, probably because whenever there was a power failure in the area the whole thing would stop rotating. As a result, we were getting charged off peak rates for the hot water system, even though it was heating at peak times. You needed a special key to unlock and reset it, I assume it was probably the meter reader's responsibility to fix these, but that was probably multiple decades and multiple electricity companies ago and nobody had the keys anymore, or the knowledge they had to do anything at all. Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 5Dec 04, 2013 2:27 pm Uh ... Ok, firstly, no, the old house had a basic meter (45-50 year old brick house). Secondly, I do believe that they actually read the meters every time. Our bill does not show it (Origin), but from memory I think I saw somewhere "your bill might be estimated" but can't see it now on the bills. But this is now consistent - on average, it's double the usage, and it's been so for the last 3 years ! Where do I get those devices that measure usage either at the meter box or ones to put into every outlet? Are they running on batteries? Anyhow, the more I look into it, the more I think it's the stoopid oven, by and large. However, I have not been using it lately at all, so we'll see if it makes any difference. (althought with Xm coming ... ) Oh, and I just found our old bills from the rental house (no gas there!) and the usage was astronomical!! On average, it's a bit more than double our current average! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 6Dec 04, 2013 2:41 pm Yes, 3 separate meters and 3 separate readings. I just went over them and they are very consistent for each meter and for each billing period. So, I'd say there is a fair chance that their readings are fairly accurate. The smallest readings are for the AC. I have no idea why do we have 2 other meters, I guess they were randomly connected to certain appliances / lights etc just so they can both be used hhaha my knowledge of this subject is mindblowing My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 7Dec 04, 2013 2:53 pm Have a look here there are some models tested: http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-te ... mpare.aspx you don't have to buy the most expensive apparently to get a decent reading. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 8Dec 04, 2013 3:24 pm The Aircon must have the potential to draw enough power at peak useage it likely would trip your safety switch on a hot summer afternoon if you had any other appliances on in the house, so it needs it's own phase. They could have hooked up the other 2 phases in a number of ways. For those that don't know what the 3 phases are: If you live in a suburb with above ground power lines you will generally see 4 wires in a row, 3 phases (I think labelled A, B and C and you can sometimes see the labels at regular intervals) and one neutral line. (you will probably also see above or below it a telephone line and a foxtel/optus cable) The reason they are called phases is that at the power station each generator has 3 coils that are rotated 120 degrees from each other (3 x 120 = 360deg = complete circle) so each line has AC current of electrons that is going in a sine wave with a frequency of 50z but all 3 waves are out of phase with each other. The good thing with 3 phase power is that often when there is a minor outage, only 1 phase goes out, so you look down the street and only SOME houses are without lights. If you have 3 phase power when this happens you still have some power. You could get an electrician to setup 3 power points somewhere easy to cable (so it doesn't cost too much), 1 on each phase, and label them A B and C, then if one or 2 phases go out you just need to find which one is still working and you still have at least 1 power point you can use to boil some water or charge your phone etc until the power is back on. Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 10Dec 05, 2013 7:09 pm Do you have a pool ... But, with the LED lights, solar HW, solar electricity, aspect etc etc, I felt ours would be lower. Is it the carbon tax ? Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 11Dec 05, 2013 7:16 pm But - on our last account we had 3 basic errors: 1. They gave us a discount for paying early - then added it back in to their calculations. 2. They overlooked our solar discount - ie gave us nothing for the feedback. 3. Overcharged us for our usage. Our previous account read that we had paid to a certain amount - then the latest one had a figure that ignored our previous account !!! It added the usage for both periods into the latest account. I was told I couldn't have a new account issued but by the time I got to point 3 they said they'd issue a new one. 3 - 4 weeks later - no account. I'm in Qld and use Energy Australia. I rang them and was told there was nothing they could do - I just had to wait. The area you speak to that raises the order to correct the mistakes does not / cannot speak directly to the area that fixes the mistake - so its just bad luck. I have to wait. I explained I'd soon be getting my next account and it would be wrong too. The woman told me this was just bad luck - I'd have to ring again if this happened. Talk about customer service. Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 12Dec 05, 2013 8:15 pm Go to your states Electricity Ombudsman. You will find that any complaint goes to a next level area, and in theory are more competent. Also they pay more attention as each complaint to the Ombudsman costs them money!! Have done this a number of times and they respond fairly quickly. Settlement 1/2/12 New Shed 23/3/12 Slab poured 27/3/12 Frame complete 4/5/12 Roof complete 1/6/12 LOCKUP 29/6/12 Our new build blog http://kareenhillsownerbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 14Dec 14, 2013 9:48 am Saint Mike Do you have a pool ... But, with the LED lights, solar HW, solar electricity, aspect etc etc, I felt ours would be lower. Is it the carbon tax ? JB1 How big is your old and new house. Also what is your average kW usage per day? Not sure why is the physical size of the houses is important when we still have the same appliances and their usage frequency and pattern (including the usage of all lights!). Oh, and we now have ALL energy saving bulbs, which should be helping!! and which are ALL still used exactly the way we used them before (hehehhe, some ppl's lives never change ). I think it's mostly the oven and the larger AC (but the AC is read in a separate meter so its usage is pretty clear) ... it is hard to pinpoint. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 15Dec 14, 2013 12:45 pm Hang on, you're comparing current house costs and those from your old house from over three years ago? Could it not just be the major increase in electricity prices we've had recently? Have you got a new fridge or is the old one leaking? New TV and computers than aren't being turned off etc? Hmmm... Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 16Dec 26, 2013 7:12 pm EmyN Hang on, you're comparing current house costs and those from your old house from over three years ago? Could it not just be the major increase in electricity prices we've had recently? Have you got a new fridge or is the old one leaking? New TV and computers than aren't being turned off etc? Hmmm... Lex ... our actual usage (kWh) has DOUBLED. ... All your other answers are already there as well but thanks anyway My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 17Dec 26, 2013 7:52 pm Yes would you believe I realised after posting then couldn't be bothered editing or deleting hahaha. Brain had a moment obviously. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in electricity us 19Dec 27, 2013 9:44 pm Lex, I have a couple of questions for you. Is your current hot water heater gas or electric? In your previous house, was your hot water heater gas or electric? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Just to makea point about this, an approach that some people have found sucessful in negotiating these rises down, Is to provide some workings to the builder, specifying… 4 81704 Fair Trading can issue orders to rectify and complete but once the matter goes to NCAT these orders are automatically vacated. You will have to terminate contract and sue… 21 29709 How are you doing Ben? Extremely interested in hearing what you are doing or plan to do! 12 15143 |