power usage

[ryan kelley]

I rent a shop space that is run off of one 20 amp breaker. All my tools are small 120v, the table saw I know uses the most power but is also the least used. The most used are the rikon midi, the bench top belt sander and the two T-8 fluerecent lights. Somehow the electric bill came with an additional $100 this month. I spend maybe 8 hrs a week in my shop and never have two tools running at once. Does this seem alittle high or is it possible.

[glenn bradley]

Sounds like someone was guesstimating the meter for a month or two and then finally caught up(?). I've had that experience in the past when I lived in the boonies. I run my TS, jointer planer, DP's, sanders cyclone, etc. nearly every day PLUS my house and my electric the last 3 months has been about $65, $88, and $81. I'm sure the "regular" cost of electricity varies by region but, I'd have to kick on the A/C for several days per week to get near $100.

[Paul Wunder]

Are you renting space from a commercial establishment? If so, are they on a "peak KW demand" meter rather than a residential KW usage meter. Some commercial establishments are billed by "peak KW load" which is then extrapolated into a monthly bill assuming that your peak usage is your constant usage. Applying this to your situation, is it possible that you were using your table saw at the same time that your commercial landlord was at his normal peak usage? His peak plus your peak could result in a much higher bill.

[ryan kelley]

space is not comm. bur residential. Also the breaker for my shop is on box but the lanlord says he pays for that breaker. Woodworking is my hobby not my job, so no tools are running all day maybe 6 hrs a week. Something is wrong and I am paying for it, just can't seem to figure this one out.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Well, if it's all just a single 120v 20A breaker you pay for, the most power you could get from it would be 120V*20A= 2400W. 6 hours per week of that is, max, 14.4kWh. In one month, you'd use, max, 58 kWh. The US average price of residential electricity is 12c/kWh, so, at most, you could have used $7 worth of electricity in a month.

That is assuming you're using the full 20A for the full 6 hours/week. In reality, you'll be no where near that.

Obviously, service charges and the like will add to your bill, but you should be no where near $100/mo...

[John Gregory]

I agree with Dan, NO WAY could you be using that much power a month



Well, if it's all just a single 120v 20A breaker you pay for, the most power you could get from it would be 120V*20A= 2400W. 6 hours per week of that is, max, 14.4kWh. In one month, you'd use, max, 58 kWh. The US average price of residential electricity is 12c/kWh, so, at most, you could have used $7 worth of electricity in a month.

That is assuming you're using the full 20A for the full 6 hours/week. In reality, you'll be no where near that.

Obviously, service charges and the like will add to your bill, but you should be no where near $100/mo...

[Mike Henderson]

Since you only have one breaker, you could get a watt-hour meter and meter your actual usage. Something like this (http://www.amazon.com/100-Amp-DC-Watt-Meter/dp/B005534KM6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1336165654&sr=8-6)might work for you.

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

You'd have to pull 100% of the load 50% of the time to do it at residential rates. If its commercial, demand charges can be killer.

[ryan kelley]

Thanks guys I'll have to have a talk with the landlord about this.

[Charles Wiggins]

Glenn is right about the guesstimated bill. In some areas with difficult to reach customers a bill might be based on usage history rather than an actual read, with the understanding that everything will correct itself the next time an actual read is possible.

Also, depending on the type of meter that is on the property another possibility is a misread meter resulting in an overage. That is a fairly common problem with dial-type meter (http://www.glps.net/meterread.htm), especially with an inexperienced meter reader. The last reading should appear on the bill. You can compare that to the current reading on the meter and that might give you an idea if that's what happened. If that's the case, the problem should correct itself with the next reading, presuming it is read correctly that time.

[Matt Meiser]

We had a lot of problems with that a while back. I caught the reader lying about even showing up for reads, reading the meter from 80' away at a 45 degree angle, then driving on my lawn to read from 80' at a smaller angle. We'd get a huge bill then a tiny bill. The meter reader finally disappeared and the power company put in a digital meter. The new reader can drive up my driveway, slow in the circle and hold the reader out the window and capture a reading as he drives by off. And the meter is on the back of the house.

[Thomas Bank]

It sounds like your usage isn't metered? That this is a residential service with one meter and one breaker feeds the space that you are in? If that is the case, how is the landlord estimating your usage? If he says he used xxx in March and now there is a $100 increase in April and that is your cost, who is to say he didn't turn on the A/C (or whatever) and your use is $20 and HIS OWN increase over the previous month is $80? I'd discuss how the bill is being estimated and talk about putting an actual meter on your supply.

You can get submeters: http://amzn.com/B0055D346E

That one is likely overkill. Your local electrical supply house could probably set you up with what you'd need. If the landlord is looking to charge you $100 a month, it would even be worth paying a couple hundred up front and would pay for itself in a couple months with more realistic electrical bills.

[John Lifer]

I've a separate shop with its own meter. On a commercial rate, no demand charge. Got a small chest freezer out there which is only usage that is continual. If I don't get in shop in a month, then minimum charge is at about $12. If I work for a week on items, 4-6 hours a day, maybe 24-30 hours in a month, with high TS and RAS usage along with 2 hp cyclone when either is running, or 1 hp sander along with cyclone, minimal lights as skylights provide 90% of lighting, my cost goes up to about $25. Never have had over a $30 bill in a month. You are paying for HIS power usage. My guess is you have maybe $10 in use.

[Bud Millis]

Ryan, I'm not really sure about the rental space and how the electric works. However, I have a 2-story house, a guest house and a 2-story shop. Depending on the time of the year, my electric bill changes. The most current one that ran from 3/23 to 4/23/2012 was $79.05.

For a while we had problems with the meter reader doing "guesstaments." Although about 7-8 yrs ago they put in these high tech readers and the truck just drivers down the road and it reads the meters. They don't even have to come to the house anymore.

[ryan kelley]

Good news, talked to the landlord, and I showed that I pay for the electric so that is settled. Bad news, he thinks that I am running a "business" so he upped the rent $40.

[Steve Meliza]

Looks like it is time for some new digs.

[Stan Krupowies]

average price of residential electricity is 12c/kWh,

Hmmph, obviously they don't include Connecticut in their calculations. Our residential electric rate is north of $0.16/kWh

[Jim Neeley]

Ryan,

Look at your bill from the electric company carefully, for it should show a number of itemized charges adding up to the $100. I expect there will be a monthly "admin" fee, this tax fee, that tax fee, maybe more feees, and a usage fee with a number of kwh and cost/kwh.

In Alaska I pay $0.17/kwh. For the usage fee to reach $100 I would have to use 588kwh/month. With 720 hours in a month (30days*24hours/day) I would have to average 816 watts continuously. At the other extreme, if *all* power was turned off except when I was there I would have to burn that in 32 hours (8 hrs/wk*4weeks), requiring me to burn 18,375 watts continuously while I was there. You can't sustain anywhere near that through a 20A breaker.

In order for the $100 usage to be legit, there'd need to be some more power, wired through a different breaker that serves your shop. Likely candidates to contribute to that could include electric room heaters, air hand units, exhaust fans, AC and hot water heaters. Otherwise, as others say, something is wrong (and it *can* be your meter).

The meter the power company bills you from, they own. If you confirm there's a problem with their meter, you can call them to check it. In most places there's only a charge for this if the electric company checks it and finds it was good to begin with.

Next I'd hire an electrician to check the wiring from the meter inward to see if other loads are hung off of your meter. For example, I once owned a duplex that shared a common natural gas furnace. It wasn't until my tenent had their power cut off that I learned the electricity for the shared furnace was on their meter. It didn't stay that way for long. <g>

Another test would be to turn off your one breaker when you leave for a month and if it doesn't drop you *know* something is wrong as you can't draw that much in usage fees in 32 hours of shop time.

Jim

P.S. I'm a registered Electrical Engineer which doesn't make me smarter about this than everybody else but shouldn't make me dumber than everybody else either. :)