How do I figure out why my electric bill is so high?

Yes, you can get a watt meter and install it on the big appliances (dryer, hvac, water heater). Desktop PCs and coffee makers are negligible – don’t even bother with stuff like this. Focus on the HVAC and water heater, and if you have an old washing machine and dryer then that could be contributing also. Everything else drawing electricity in a typical household pales in comparison to these.

Also, check to make sure the price per kWh hasn’t gone up.

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Also, sometimes utilities give an estimated bill, it should say something like ‘estimate’ or ‘actual’. Maybe it’s an estimate and they erred on the high side.

Your electric heatpump is the main villan. when the wind blows cold, your electric meter spins out of control and into outerspace. just watch it sometime. if your electric heatpump is not in perfect working order, your electric will be out of sight. you are not alone. my bill normally runs around $130.00 even in the coldest weather. this month, its $275.00 dollars. to check your meter against your electric bill, go outside and locate your meter. write down the numbers you see, starting from left to right. write the lowest number, not the highest. if the pointer is between 2 and three, write two not three as an example. take these numbers and compare to whats on your electric bill. they should come fairly close to each other. if not, call your electric service.

Have you cleaned your electric water heater?

You don’t have Reliant do you? There have been a lot of complaints (here are some) since they just switched to digital meters that people’s energy bills soared, and many are questioning the accuracy of the meters.

I would give you electricity company a call. They are usually pretty happy to send someone out and see what is going on or they will tell if if there was a rate hike and if you trend with everyone else.

About 15 years ago we got a crazy ass bill. We got water through the same company that did electric. Turns out the line leading into our house sprung a leak and watered our lawn really well. They were nice enough to fix it and reverse the charges.

Do you have electric heat? That can add a lot to the bill. Look at the kilowatt hours used and compare it with last year. Check the price per kWhr too. That might have gone up.

We have two electric heat pumps, one for each floor, on separate thermostats for each level. One was installed this past summer, I don’t recall the age of the other one but it is relatively recent. The house is 19 years old and everything is getting replaced slowly as the house ages.

The water heater has NOT been cleaned and that is a very good idea. Thank you