I Think Someone Is Stealing My Electricity … or the Power Company Is Making Up Numbers
Okay, it’s not that I think someone is stealing my electricity per se, it is that I have eliminated nearly all other possibilities and have narrowed the situation down to a handful of unlikely scenarios that are the only ones left left on the table. At this point, I’m simply baffled and unable to make the numbers work which is, itself, an unusual experience for me.
Let me back up and provide some context. As part of the technology and minimalism projects, I’m getting all of my household data consolidated into a single place, where it can be accessed on demand, in a few seconds. As I do it, I’m using it as an opportunity to run an analysis on things and find out if I can be more efficient, freeing up more investment cash to fund blue chip stocks, bonds, real estate, or whatever else is going to throw off dividends, interest, and rents while I sleep, go on vacation, read, or play video games. The small things add up over time, and I’m always looking for a way to pull one of the two levers I have at my disposal.
Examining my kWh usage from the electric utility, I noticed something is going on with my household energy usage that makes no sense. I don’t think it ever crossed my radar because in terms of dollar costs, the annual electricity bills are a rounding error; literally less than a fraction of 1% of my household income per year. Plus, electric energy is stupidly cheap in the Midwest (power from an electric utility costs 10.38¢ per kWh while an equivalent amount converted into natural gas from the gas utility costs 1.9¢ per kWh). But now that I see the actual energy usage figures, it’s driving me nuts because the numbers indicate something is happening that isn’t being accounted for in the analysis. I have been walking around for the past two hours, measuring appliance usage and writing it down in a book, calculating everything that is using electricity or could use electricity (even plugged in but turned off as it draws power from the wall).
Here is what the power company says shows as my draw from the electric grid over the past 24 months:
They say that over the past 12 billing cycles, my household used 19,901 kWh of energy, or roughly 54.82 kWh per day. That’s 54,820 Watts. That means I’d have to be running 2,284.17 Watts, at all times, 24 hours a day, 363 days in a row.
These numbers simply are not possible. First, we only rely on electricity for part of our energy needs; natural gas covers the rest (central heat, cooking, fireplaces). Second, not only is the house half built into the ground, requiring far less energy due to natural cooling, it’s covered with a forest on the back half so it’s always naturally shaded, it was built within the past seven years at near commercial standards (there isn’t a crack or crevice anywhere to the outside – you can sit near the windows in winter and not feel even the slightest bit cold), and has energy saving appliances (our large load energy efficient dryer requires only 1.8 kWh to be running for 60 minutes; we do 204 dryer loads per year so it consumes 374.4 kWh of energy per annum). The energy efficient washer uses 253 kWh per year, the energy efficient refrigerator uses 610 kWh per year). We turn off lights when leaving a room, several of the already-efficient appliances are on built-in timers so they turn themselves off automatically, the computer systems are the 27″ iMacs that exceed the Energy Star standards (PDF data). I don’t even have any electric clocks as there is a huge old-school style spring-wound grandfather clock in the dining room! Plus, look at the average temperature for my area.
The power company says that I’m using 500 to 600 kWh more every single month than my neighbors but I’ve run all of the numbers, everywhere. It cannot mathematically work. Even if I assume crazy inputs – like we leave fans running all day, always keep the temperature at 68 degrees, and never shut off the lights – it is still hard to get there, and none of those things are true!
The Water Heater Does Offer Some Room for Electricity Savings But It’s Not Enough
After discussing it with our friends during a game of Civilization V – I was slightly late for our regular standing online meeting as I was too busy running kWh numbers – they suggested we go look at the water heater. This was sage advice. Sure enough, the house has an 80 gallon water heater that consumes 5,106 kWh of energy per year, which accounts for 25.66% of the household electricity use over the past twelve billing cycles. Were I to buy a gas or hybrid unit, I could easily drop that to 1,884 kWh per year, saving 3,222 kWh per year. At 10.38¢ per kWh that is $334.44 in savings annually, plus I’d get a one-time $300 tax credit on my Federal tax bill as an energy incentive. In any event, it’s a no-brainer that this now has to happen, especially when I can buy the water heater through Upromise at Home Depot or Lowes and get 10% cash back using the incentive programs I utilize.
Still, this would only lower our electricity usage to 16,679 kWh over a twelve month billing cycle, or 1,390 kWh per month. That’s 45.7 kWh per day. That’s way too much for half our energy needs. I’m telling you, I’m looking at the figures and this is not in the realm of mathematical possibility.
The natural gas bill makes much more sense. I understand the numbers. One Therm, or CCF, represents 100 cubic feet of natural gas. This time of year, we might use 8 CCF per month. A single CCF is roughly 29.3 kWh for comparison, which would work out to 234+ kWh equivalence. Since natural gas is almost free, it doesn’t even register, hardly – they are charging us $0.56529 per CCF. As I mentioned earlier, that works out to $0.019 per kWh. In other words, electricity through the power company is 546% more expensive than energy brought in from the natural gas utility based on this month’s rates.
In fact, natural gas is so ridiculously cheap due to the discovery of huge reserves north of here in the Dakotas that during the heart of winter, when it is -10 degree Fahrenheit windchill outside, we’ll turn on the fireplaces by pressing a button and burn them all day instead of using the central heat much. This results in 154 CCF of energy usage per month. That works out to 4,512+ kWh equivalence. I’ll gladly pay $85 a month or whatever it is for a few months out of the year to have multiple fireplaces roaring at full blast as the Christmas trees twinkle and the snow falls outside. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. (Even our Christmas lights are LED, by the way, so this is what I mean when I say the power utility figures cannot be real.)
I pulled another chart that shows, over a 24 month period in a slightly different presentation.
Having run the numbers myself, looking at the energy efficiency of our light bulbs and appliances, building spreadsheets … I think there is a very real possibility that someone is either stealing electricity from us (doubtful – it would be hard to get access to the property and not be caught), there is a neighborhood power drain being recorded on our meter, or the meter itself is broken. There are people in my town with houses 2x the size, much older, with far less efficiency, that are 100% electric using barely more kWh than we are.
I’m going to get to the bottom of this because it’s the only thing I can think about right now. And what’s worse, even the large fluctuations make no sense – look at 04/19/2012 through 06/21/12. There is nothing to account for that variance. In fact, that was the period when we were renovating the house, so there were more lights on, not less, as people were coming in and working all the time.
I’m at the end of my analytic rope. This is not possible. Not even remotely. In fact, I just went and flipped the master breaker switch on the house and went outside, with an LED lantern, to look at the meter. It stopped spinning, so there’s no direct connection that has by-passed our breaker box.
I realize the potential savings here are, at best, $1,000 per year, which would result in an extra $15,000 to $17,000 in wealth over the next decade if I were to put it to work at average rates of return. It may not be a huge amount but if this is a mistake of some sort, it’s stupid to just leave that cash sitting on the table. I don’t care how successful I am, to walk by that when it’s just there, waiting to be pocketed, is dumb.
I have to solve this mystery. This whole experience also has an odd side-effect: I’m half tempted to go replace the already efficient appliances with gas versions. It would drop the expense of a single dryer load from the $0.1868 it costs now to $0.034 + a few extra pennies for the electric systems to run on the circuits, which is still a large reduction. I doubt it would ever have a good enough pay back period to justify it though as we’re talking about degrees of perfection here. But that’s secondary. First, I have to find the reason for this massive discrepancy. I’m at the point of thinking there is none. I’ve exhausted nearly all avenues of possibility.
You can look at the per-state average monthly consumption in kWh (the data is two years old, but it’s what the U.S. Energy Information Administration has finalized), in this great Excel spreadsheet. They should be on your bookmarks, anyway, if you have an interest in viewing data on topics as fun as coal extraction rates.
Update: The energy investigation continues! …
Update II: Almost a year later, we’ve significantly cut our energy usage! …
Reader Comments (23)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Alan
September 20, 2013
Joshua,
Perhaps you might have a vampire load - that's a wall-wart or appliance that has a defect and is wasting energy.
Try isolating each breaker. Or if that doesn't work, try investing in a TED 5000 monitor. They only cost about $200 and you will surely track down the culprit.
Alan
Richard Garand
September 21, 2013
Sounds like it's time for some experiments! How long would it take or you to see if the meter is running noticeably slower when things are on?
I can think of two ways to narrow it down. If you record the usage every 2-3h you can see if certain times of day have unusually high loads. Or if you can find a breaker or set of breakers that make a difference that will make your search easier. For the later you could do a binary search to get the fastest results.
Anon
September 21, 2013
This riddle would drive me crazy too. You have two solutions. One, unplug everything and have someone plug in things slowly, one room at a time, while you're on the cell phone and outside looking at the spinning meter, to see where all the electricity is coming from. Two, call up the power company and probably ask for a manager and explain your issue (maybe they can send someone out to check things out).
Anon
September 21, 2013
Replying to Anon
I've normalized your kWh usage by number of days per bill. I got an interesting chart on Excel. Looks like you spike up in June, and then in July and August you gradually go down, and then by September you're back to normal. It might be seasonal/temperature/weather related.
Anon
September 21, 2013
Replying to Anon
This reminded me of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424357/Ohio-State-students-stranger-living-secret-room-basement.html?ito=feeds-newsxml.
Anon
September 21, 2013
Replying to Anon
Also, you might inquire as to how often they bring out the meter reader. Maybe some of those months they're estimating your bill based on your prior usage history.
Anon
September 21, 2013
Replying to Anon
From the Kansas City Star: http://www.electricityforum.com/news/mar09/Powertheftsfromutilitiesincreasing.html
Anon
September 21, 2013
Replying to Anon
(Last comment/link)
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/whyhigh.html
Phyllis
September 21, 2013
For your appliances, are you using actual usage (measured using something like this http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU or usage based on the manufacturer's tags? Perhaps it's a gap between the listed and the actual usage?
Another Reader
September 21, 2013
Did your electric company recently switch to smart meters? Out here, my "usage" increased significantly when PG&E did that. The biggest power hogs here are the dryer, the refrigerator, the freezer, the ground mounted A/C unit and the computers. Try cleaning the coils on your refrigerator and freezer, cleaning the lint filter, tubing and vent for the dryer, and cleaning/servicing the A/C unit. If you find dirt and lint build-up, that is probably the bulk of the problem. Put all of these chores on a calendar and clean the dryer after each load.
Andrew
September 21, 2013
How much is your a/c using? Doesn't that typically take a lot of electricity to run?
lokgp
September 21, 2013
The water heater is a good idea, but it does not explain the wide fluctuation you see in the summer. Water heater is a daily use, unless you have lots of people staying with you in the summer, months June to September, who loves to take shower, the water heater does not fluctuate throughout the year. The cause is something else.
If I am you, I would look at items which involves cooling such as fridge, ice maker, water cooler, air-conditioning, dehumidifier that are turned on automatically in the summer, etc. Cooling equipments are the key. Or things with built in cooler.
Let me guess:
1.) You have a large fridge with lots of food stored in it.
2.) You might have a second fridge or freezer to store your kimchi. 🙂
3.) Ice maker that is running on demand all the time
4.) An electric dryer that has a cooler unit attached
Here is my theory, especially on the fridge: If you set your large fridge or ice maker to 50 F. And the general temperature is around 60, you just need energy to cool it down by 10. But when summer comes, temperature is 80 F, you lose your cooling more rapidly, and the fridge will run more frequently to cool, furthermore, it is a steeper hill to climb from 80 to 50 compared to 60. Or you have a dryer that automatically cools itself to prevent fires during summer.
Usually it is air-conditioning that takes up the most amount of energy. Especially summer, when you run the dehumidifier or air cooler. Especially if it is the old on/off conditioner. The current spikes that happens when the cooling compressor turns on and off when it tries to maintain the temperature you want it at. The automatic On/Off switching consumes more startup energy than a continuously running compressor.A DC inverter unit will solve this problem, as the compressor is running at variable speed to maintain steady cooling.
Those are my guesses. I hope it helps!
Andrew
September 21, 2013
Do you have a tendency to keep the air-conditioning really low while dressing business in the house, like long-sleeves etc? Your electric bill goes up quite a bit in the summer and back down again in the winter.
joespr
September 21, 2013
I agree with most comments, investigation is the order of the day.
Like turn off everything and the main power breaker, and watch the meter; turn things on slowly and keep watching.
Smart Meters... maybe the culprit.
Something I learned working for a company that made products for the electric industry: many electric utilities do not just charge you for the electricity you use... if you spike briefly, that highest spike point is now the level at which you are charged until the next billing cycle. So in addition to all the investigation you are doing in your home, also investigate the "tariff" (rate level) you are being changed under.
DidacticDude
September 21, 2013
Here's a long shot: poorly terminated wiring can produce parasitic resistive loads (essentially electric heaters). In extreme cases, these start fires. The easiest way to find a poorly terminated wire is with a non-contact thermometer (non-contact thermometers can also be handy at Thanksgiving when evaluating the doneness of the turkey).
Judging by the discrepancies you're seeing, I would first have a look at the high amperage loads: air conditioner/heat pump, dryer, hot water heater, range. With the appliances on, point the non-contact thermometer at the outlets and at the breakers. If you've got a problem, the temperature will be significantly above ambient.
Bill
September 21, 2013
Joshua,
The only sure way is to install usage monitoring at the individual circuit level at your main panel.This company sells a nice package and reasonable cost to accomplish this monitoring: http://www.brultech.com/default.htm
Bill
J
September 21, 2013
I don't recall you mentioning this specifically, but have you physically read the meter yourself over the course of several days (or a full billing cycle) to verify it is recording the same high level of consumption you have found to be impossible? Given your attention to detail my guess is you have. An error between your meter and your bill doesn't seem likely anyway.
Sam A.
September 22, 2013
It looks pretty simple to me. Your neighbors probably run natural gas water heaters and clothes dryers. That pretty much closes the 500-600kwh gap you have. Your use also goes up significantly once the average temperature goes above a certain point. This most likely means the extra draw is from your air conditioner. Central A/C is easily a 5kw per hour appliance. As for your weird consumption patterns involving construction, it could be any number of factors but I wouldn't waste too much of my time over a one-time thing that isn't representative of normal patterns.
Sam A.
September 22, 2013
Replying to Sam A.
I got a little bored today and looked at your energy use. It is absolutely (numerically) beautiful. Check out the chart below. It is your daily energy use, corrected for # of days per month, at various average temps. I did remove your outliers from the set. The black is a trendline. As you can see there is a nice curve going on there. In the middle, during decent weather, you aren't using A/C and your water heater isn't working too hard. As temperature goes up your energy usage rises quickly due to A/C use. As temps go down, your water heater has to use more energy (plus you probably have lights on more during the winter too).
Ian Francis
September 23, 2013
Well the 500 to 3000 kWh difference is almost definitely due to them estimating your usage for May 2012. They average out to 1750 kWh per month which seems reasonable based on the other data. I see the normal increase in the summer due to your air conditioner, and none in the winter since you use gas for heat. The issue you seem to be having is total usage per month. As we said before, the water heater is going to cover a lot of that, but the label on the water heater is only part of the story. What you really need to gauge is the following:
1. What temperature is your water heater set at? The recommended temperature is 120 degrees, and every 10 degrees higher will raise your bill around $1 to $2.5 per month. It isn't a lot, but it your heater is set to 150 or 160 degrees, you are talking about $3 to $10 per month extra, or around 30 to 100 kWh more per month. You said you are going to switch to gas, however, so that would be even cheaper. energy.gov reference
2. How much hot water do you actually use? That estimate on the heater assumes some level of use, but if you are exceeding it, you can be working the heater more than assumed. That of course includes showers, dishwasher, clothes washer, sinks, etc. Your water bill might shed some light, though it will not differentiate between hot and cold water.
3. What temperature do you normally set your thermostat to in the summer? 78 degrees is recommended during the hot months and 68 degrees in the winter. Anything lower in the summer can waste electricity. energy.gov reference
-Ian Francis
Ian Francis
September 23, 2013
FYI, I compiled my electrical usage data and put together a small write-up on it. Hope this helps give you a comparison.
-Ian Francis
Lee
December 19, 2014
have you checked the meter number on your bill compared to the meter on your house? it could be a crossed meter, you paying for your neighbor and they are paying yours. Here are some billing error: Billing error includes, but is not limited to, incorrect meter
reads or clerical errors, wrong daily billing factor, incorrect voltage discount, wrong
connected load information, crossed meters, an incorrect billing calculation, an
incorrect meter multiplier, an inapplicable rate, or PG&E's and/or the ESP’s failure to
provide the Customer with notice of rate options in accordance with Rule 12.
Lee
December 19, 2014
http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_RULES_17_1.pdf