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| water heater using too much electricity | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 01:33 am |
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1st Post |
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dallas2099 Member 
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I recently bought a house and just got the first month's electric bill. It was about three times the amount that I am accustomed to. (In previous homes my bill ranged $30-100, this one was $258!!) While trying to narrow it down I shut off all the power to the house and turned on circuit breakers one at a time. When I turned on the water heater the meter began spinning rapidly. So I believe it is the culprit. It is a 50 gallon GE Smartwater manufactured in 2003. There are no leaks, the tank appears to be in good condition, it is not hot to touch, I turned the thermostats down to 120 degrees. The energy guide does show that it is at the higher end of the energy use scale. When I had the house inspected I noticed that the water heater circuit breaker was off and I turned it on to make sure it worked. Looking back I feel the seller knew it was a problem. So anyway, it is possible that the thermostats are not working properly and are constantly heating or something like that? Any suggestions on what could be the problem or what I can do?
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| Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 04:21 am |
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2nd Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: Normal elements in a water heater draw 4500 watts. This will make the meter spin happily  If there were a leak in the hot side piping, it would force the heater to operate too much. Check your water meter when no water is being run to see if it is moving. Otherwise I'm not sure the heater is a culprit. It's normal to turn water heater breakers off when nobody is living in a house.There is a nifty device called a Kill-a-Watt meter. It can tell you to the nearest watt what energy various appliances are using. Also, don't go by dollars spent, rather look at KWH (kilowatt hour) numbers. That is the real measure of energy used. Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 12:08 pm |
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3rd Post |
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energyexpert Member
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To expand on Larry's comment: A contractor asked me to go with him to look at a new house where the homeowner had just received a $256 electric bill. As Larry said, it's the energy not the dollars to look at. This home owner lives about 15 miles from me. He pays over $0.11/kWh on an electric membership coop while my last bill showed $0.057/kWh on an investor owned utility. If you think a WH spins the meter, turn on the heatpump and the backup strip heat (10 to 15 kW). Or a "whole house" tankless electric WH at 28 kW. You don't have to watch the meter spin; you can feel the house shaking! Enough levity. Monitoring devices (http://www.theenergydetective.com) help you determine where you are using electricity. Then you are consience of usage and maybe can use less. I use an Energy Sentry demand controller together with Progress Energy RTOUD (Time of Use) rates. I have a 105 gallon WH and heat water off-peak only. Rather than using less, I buy electricity at sales prices. (http://www.brayden.com) David
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