Finally bought my first home but have no idea if my electricity use is normal or not, it seems off to me. Any electricians out there that can suggest if it seems normal?
My electricity provider says that we typically use 30-40kwh per day with some days up to 80kwh. I have no idea why the usage is so high. Almost all of the lighting is LED, and almost every appliance is natural gas. The only appliance that is electric is the clothes dryer.
Natural gas furnace, fireplaces, hot water tank, stove, etc.
It seems to be higher usage in the winter despite having three r2d2 air conditioners running in the summer time and almost all of our heating being natural gas in the winter. We have one plug in oil filled heater outside in the detached storage / workshop area.
We do have a well for our water system and that involves a water softener and UV filter and whatnot. Not sure how much power a well pump uses.
Does 30-40kwh average use with up to 80kwh sound normal or on the higher end?
I worry that something on the property might be siphoning power or something. We also suspect the previous owners of the property were probably growing pot, the outdoor workshop has a 200amp service and a breaker box with like 20 empty breaker slots that were filled in with just 3-4 remaining for the lights and plugs.
Any info appreciated!
ETA I just checked and with an EV (short trips) my house averages about 25 a day (past month only no heat no ac) of which 16 is the overnight car charging rate. I’d be tearing the place apart looking for a server rack.
Outdoor workshop having 200a service isn’t that surprising. It’s a shop, you need power for things. Maybe they planned a big electric heater and a dozen big power tools like saws and or lathes. Or welding. Chances are the cost between 100A and 200A wasn’t much. Saved money not populating breakers.
Figure out how to read the meter; they usually have some kind of display for instant consumption. Turn all the breakers off - that should be zero. Flip them on one by one and watch for spikes. The noninvasive option is to buy a clamp meter but you have to know how to use it and how to be safe in a live panel.
Non-LED lighting can add up fast. Electric clothes dryers are arguably the least efficient use of electricity in a home. Portable AC is pretty bad too. Well pumps can draw quite a bit - make sure the pressure tank is working and the well pump isn’t running a lot. There’s efficient models but they’re expensive. Side note - put that UV on a battery backup. It doesn’t need to be much but any water usage during an outage, or simply a longer outage means the lines are potentially contaminated and need to be disinfected. You could have a fridge that has bad seals or a freezer that’s set too cold - I pushed my freezer one setting cooler and it runs A LOT so I set it back to default.
Things like older TV can draw more than you think. Passive draw from standby appliances can add up but you still need a lot to make a difference. The blowers on the furnace and water heater if you don’t have a chimney are going to be pretty beefy. Old furnaces have fans that are not too efficient.
Hour by hour analysis could be useful to look at. Look for a Green Button in the billing portal.
You could also enter the dark side and set up something like the Emporoa Vue and Homeassistant and get all the data.
Excellent point about the well, if the bladder isn’t holding pressure right it could be coming on constantly to repressurize the tank.