Residential Electricity Usage Has Doubled Unexplainably

[BBatesokc]

We've noticed that since about June of last year our OG&E energy usage has doubled - and we can't nail down the reason.

We've gone from being somewhere between 'conservative' and 'average' to now consistently 'above average' in our energy summaries from OG&E.

It seems as though it's our 'baseload' that is the major reason - but, we haven't added anything that we can think of that would be using so much energy.

EXAMPLE: Since June of last year our weekly usage averages in the 400's to low 500's kWh
Prior to June of last year we averaged 150 to 200's Kwh for the entire year.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what could be causing this or how to narrow down the energy sucking culprit ourselves?

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So far we contacted OG&E and they were very unhelpful. The just said "everything looks fine from here."

We did have some HVAC work done around June of last year (AC stopped working and they replaced some sort of coil unit (?) under our furnace that was leaking). It's a heat pump and I've read online sometimes those can be set wrong or malfunction and cause energy spikes. The HVAC guy is coming tomorrow to check it out.

We've actually had our thermostat set to off for two months now and have noticed no change in our baseload or overall energy usage.

There are only two of us in the house so the dishwasher and washer/dryer only run a couple of times a week. And, I mostly wash all the dishes by hand anyway.

I've thought about buying a plug-in electric meter and testing different things that are plugged in to see how much they are drawing.

I've also considered shutting off different breakers for a day or so and seeing if it that has any major effect on our baseload.

Just wondering if anyone has any other ideas I'm not thinking of?

[bombermwc]

Just some thoughts, check for the attic, closet, outside accent lighting that isn't off. If you meter, be sure to check your appliances in case they are the culprit. Computer equipment going crazy, etc. There are a million things that could cause it, but if you're aware of something like the HVAC that has had work done, i'd definitely look there first.

[BBatesokc]

Couple of other stats...

According to OG&E:

Yearly energy use 4/26/2016 to 4/26/2017 = 25,032

Yearly energy use 4/27/2015 to 4/26/2016 = 13,017

Yearly energy use 2/10/2015 to 2/10/2016 = 13.324

My baseload last month was $130.

[BLJR]

May have already tried this, but turn off and unplug as much as you can, and then go see if the meter is running.

[BBatesokc]

May have already tried this, but turn off and unplug as much as you can, and then go see if the meter is running.

That's pretty much the plan...

Our next step (tomorrow's project) is to cut all the power and make sure we get a zero usage result. Then, every hour we will turn on a breaker.

Then I'll check the online data (provided hourly) and see what breaker created the most baseload and go from there.

Odd thing is, OG&E swears our smart meter has been in place since 2011. Yet, last summer when I came home one day a person identifying himself as an OG&E employee was at our meter (attached to our house) and said he was either installing our smart meter or upgrading it (I can't remember which). OG&E says they have no record of that. (hmmmmm)

[BLJR]

BBates, Curious to see what you find out. Please let us know. The mystery OGE guy sounds fishy......

[mkjeeves]

I would call the HVAC company and ask them if they remember exactly what they replaced. They probably don't, unless they keep really good records. I'm not an HVAC guy, but the only coil I can think of at a heat pump furnace other than the refrigerant coil is the electric heater coil that kicks in when the temperatures outside are too low for the heat pump to work. That should not be running during the summer. Should not be running any other time of the year except when it's really cold outside. Is it running, making heat that has to be offset by cooling? Per the following story, that heat strip or heat coil may be on a breaker by itself. Find it, turn it off and see if things change. Here's a story about that: http://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/7...h-Energy-Bills

You might also check out myOGEpower to look at your usage: https://oge.com/wps/portal/oge/save-...vZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

You can check plug-in appliance usage with a Kill A Watt meter. I think they have those at Home Depot or Ace. I have one and did not buy it online: https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec...NG15FK8WRXBTKT

You can get a whole house electric meter to read inside like this but you will need an electrician to install it: http://www.powermeterstore.com/categ...r-of-the-house

[BBatesokc]

I would call the HVAC company and ask them if they remember exactly what they replaced.

Luckily they are going to come out and "take a look" - whatever that means.

Our AC was not cooling last summer and when they came out they said we had a coolant leak. They found the link in some sort of very large coil that sits underneath our furnace. Was not a cheap fix as they had to replace the whole thing (which would have been under warranty had the previous AC people simply registered the unit).

You might also check out myOGEpower to look at your usage:

That's how we discovered the irregularity. We will also use that portal as we trip breakers tomorrow.

You can check plug-in appliance usage with a Kill A Watt meter.

Picked one up at Home Depot. Trying it on different devices now.

You can get a whole house electric meter to read inside like this but you will need an electrician to install it

Couldn't tell how that would be any better than the OG&E online portal. Seems they both provide the same info.

[BBatesokc]

BBates, Curious to see what you find out. Please let us know. The mystery OGE guy sounds fishy......

Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of that. Wish I would have taken his photo. I just remember pulling up and seeing the gate to the master bedroom patio open. I walked back there and some guy was messing with the Smart Meter. He said he either installed it or upgraded it.

We have security cameras pointed at that area, I'll have to see if the backup to my cloud server still has it.

[Snowman]

Do you have an electric water heater? In college one of my apartments had the thermostat go bad on an electric one, our electric usage the month it went bad was somewhere between two or three times the prior month's bill with everything else being pretty consistent on usage otherwise.

[BBatesokc]

Do you have an electric water heater? In college one of my apartments had the thermostat go bad on an electric one, our electric usage the month it went bad was somewhere between two or three times the prior month's bill with everything else being pretty consistent on usage otherwise.

Water heater is gas.

Neighbor said the culprit could be my well water pump or my septic aerator if either is faulty.

[BBatesokc]

Well, we've been shutting off breakers in hourly increments since 6am. The baseload was constant all night long (and high - so, something is running non-spot). From 7-8am we shut off the AC and Water Well (on the same split breaker).

Just checked MyOGEpower and the baseload dropped by about 70%. Considering I've had the AC off for a couple of months now, it must be the water well.

Going to continue with my breaker tests jus to see if I have any other culprits.

Just putting this out there in case anyone else experiences something similar.

Probably also a good idea to check the OG&E portal from time to time to look for any irregularities.

[BBatesokc]

Any electric minded folks know the answer to this... If we cut off all the breakers in the house for an hour (MyOGEpower provides hourly data) should we get a 0 kWh reading for that hour?

We ran some errands and cut off all the breakers for an hour 9am-10am (actually 8:45-10:15), but the myOGEpower data shows 0.20kWh used during that time. Would that be normal?

[SSEiYah]

Any electric minded folks know the answer to this... If we cut off all the breakers in the house for an hour (MyOGEpower provides hourly data) should we get a 0 kWh reading for that hour?

We ran some errands and cut off all the breakers for an hour 9am-10am (actually 8:45-10:15), but the myOGEpower data shows 0.20kWh used during that time. Would that be normal?

If you have all the breakers shut off, the meter should not be spinning or I guess with the digital ones, the value should not be increasing. I'm not sure on the accuracy of myogepower.com when it comes to the hourly data but the monthly data should match what your bill says.

[StuckInTheCapitol825]

I'm being a tad facetious, but it sounds as if someone is stealing your power or OGE (and their "smartmeter") is taking you for a ride.

[tfvc.org]

Maybe you are paying for the energy the smartmeter uses.

[mkjeeves]

Depending on how much your house has been worked on, jake-legged, homeowner wired, bootlegged without permits, remodeled and so on, it's not unusual for someone to tap-on at the meter box after the meter, or at the panel ahead of your breakers, and add circuits. That usually happens when the panel is full and there's no more spaces to add breakers but sometimes happens when the panel is inside and they want to add something outside. The added circuits sometimes go to an outside AC unit, pool, added kitchen equipment, outbuildings, wells, and so on. It's not supposed to be that way but it happens. Almost always there is another small breaker box or disconnect next to the meter or next to the panel it is tapped from but sometimes the tapped on breaker panel or disconnect is farther away.

[BBatesokc]

...The added circuits sometimes go to an outside AC unit, pool, added kitchen equipment, outbuildings, wells, and so on....

Thanks for that idea. When i get home I'm going to see how my septic aerator is wired in. I could see it having a breaker on the outside.

Some point when I'm going to be out of the house for several hours I'll cut all the breakers again and get a reading over say 2-5 hours for comparison.


That said, since getting the well pump serviced, my baseload appears to have dropped significantly. Won't know for certain until a couple of weeks have gone by.

Thanks for all the tips.

If nothing else, it has made me more aware of my consumption.

[Servicetech571]

Did you ever figure out the problem with the high energy use?

My question is why do you have a Heat Pump if you have Natural Gas in the house?
And yes, an improper coil changeout
can certainly increase the energy bill. System charge has to be perfect on heat pumps for proper capacity/efficiency.

[BBatesokc]

Did you ever figure out the problem with the high energy use?

My question is why do you have a Heat Pump if you have Natural Gas in the house?
And yes, an improper coil changeout
can certainly increase the energy bill. System charge has to be perfect on heat pumps for proper capacity/efficiency.

Heat pump was already installed when we bought our house.

The high energy use was the faulty water well pump. Baseload has remained very low ever since having the pump serviced.

Shocked our bills weren't even higher last year considering the pump failed in June of 2016 and we were on SmartHours pricing all summer. Even with that, and double energy usage, OGE shows our highest bill ever was only approx. $250. Which I considered still not outrageous since we live in a 2-story home built in '64 and have lots of stuff plugged in.