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OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
#7623356
10/04/19 12:13 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,113
Flashprism
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My cabin has a chest freezer outside and a side by side Refrigerator inside. I have a water tank for game outside. Except for the stove clock no other power is on. Water heater is off when we leave. When not there I use 5.5 to 6 KW a day or 180 to 200 kw a month. So May, june July August was 170 to 200 KW each.I checked with the power company and I used 33 KW for the last 6 days. Normal now
When I get my bill for September I used 378 kw. I'm thinking a critter chewed my hose to the water tank and my well ran till it froze or it over heated and the breaker shut down.
Depressed I'm thinking I have a big project next week when I go up fo the deer season
I call a friend who is farming 50 of the 160 acres and ask if he could check my well. He tells me all is fine the stock tank is full the float valve is working.
He says the door is secure on the cabin so it doesn't look like someone was inside.
What could have spiked my power by 100%???? it occured between 8/18 and 9/9 21 day at 15KW a day
I am so glad my wellis OK but I am baffled at the surge and now all seems fine.
Any Ideas???
Last edited by Flashprism; 10/04/19 12:19 AM.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623369
10/04/19 12:29 AM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,683
krmitchell
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They didn’t read the meter wrong did they?
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623371
10/04/19 12:32 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,113
Flashprism
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KRM
Its one of those new remote read. That may be the case but after my 3 calls to them and detailed reviews I hope they would have owned up to that.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623379
10/04/19 12:39 AM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,683
krmitchell
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I doubt they read it wrong if it is automated.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623424
10/04/19 01:19 AM
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 4,136
Dalee7892
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Would the electric company pro rated?
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623427
10/04/19 01:22 AM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 4,422
jeffbird
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Was the A/C left set low?
Could someone with an RV have plugged in? Saw that at a lease once.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623502
10/04/19 02:37 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113 |
Meter misread or misinterpreted at some point.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623580
10/04/19 11:11 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 5,045
David Maas
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Smartmeter Texas, sign up and you can read your meter yourself, has plenty of tracking/sort options, by the hour, day, week etc
NRA Endowed Patriot Life Benefactor GOA Life Member TSRA Life Member NSCA Life Member
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623586
10/04/19 11:29 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,113
Flashprism
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Air conditioner is off . If it was on I'd have high usage every prior month and Gates all locked as my friend verified during his visit so no access to house power
I'll be heading up next week so I hope I can see something that caused this huge jump. Misreading the usage would make sense but it's an advanced remote unit and I've been talking to a customer service rep and they have not raised this as a possibility.
David my neighbor in corpus advised me of smart meter and I will be signing up. Thanks
Last edited by Flashprism; 10/04/19 11:30 AM.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7623865
10/04/19 05:43 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,481
redchevy
THF Celebrity
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You say they just put in a new meter that reports itself.
Any chance they were just charging you an average before the new meter based on your prior use and now the new meter is a more correct representation? I know we had some disputes from power company at my grandmas old farm/farmhouse when we transitioned from a meter that they had to manually read (and only read every once in a while) to the new automated ones.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7624025
10/04/19 08:41 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,113
Flashprism
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Red not new about 1 year old and no previous issues, They claim actual readings. Next week I will review all possibilities maybe meter is screwed up
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7624454
10/05/19 01:15 PM
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15
ConfederateRobot
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15 |
Could be someone trespassed and didn't close the outside freezer. Then your friend checked it and closed it. Could be the angle of the sun changed, to hit both the inside and outside freezer. Could be the compressor or thermostat or pipes going bad in either freezer. It seems like a lot of electricity, and you say it is all coming from the two freezers so far as you know. If it is all coming from the freezers, and a mechanical problem can quickly change the load from the freezers, it is probably a freezer. If the load is normal now, could be the compressor died and is no longer running hot.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7624462
10/05/19 01:26 PM
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15
ConfederateRobot
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15 |
Long story short, you need a new chest freezer.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: ConfederateRobot]
#7624522
10/05/19 03:16 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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Long story short, you need a new chest freezer. ^^^^ Dang....I'd say you have a lucrative future in front of you. Being able to conclusively diagnose appliance issues from a remote location. Got to be a market for that kind of talent.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: flintknapper]
#7624582
10/05/19 04:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15
ConfederateRobot
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2019
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Long story short, you need a new chest freezer. ^^^^ Dang....I'd say you have a lucrative future in front of you. Being able to conclusively diagnose appliance issues from a remote location. Got to be a market for that kind of talent. It is called ESTCP. https://www.serdp-estcp.org/About-SERDP-and-ESTCP/About-ESTCPDOD paid for it. Lot of old equipment burning electricity on military bases.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: ConfederateRobot]
#7624811
10/05/19 08:58 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113
flintknapper
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Long story short, you need a new chest freezer. ^^^^ Dang....I'd say you have a lucrative future in front of you. Being able to conclusively diagnose appliance issues from a remote location. Got to be a market for that kind of talent. It is called ESTCP. https://www.serdp-estcp.org/About-SERDP-and-ESTCP/About-ESTCPDOD paid for it. Lot of old equipment burning electricity on military bases. That's called 'when your only tool is a hammer, everything problem looks like a nail'. OP's issue could be any number of things (to include your assessment). I wouldn't be too quick to "Long Story Short" anything.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: flintknapper]
#7624817
10/05/19 09:08 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,655
colt45-90
Texas colt45
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Texas colt45
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,655 |
Meter misread or misinterpreted at some point. this
hold on Newt, we got a runaway
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7624892
10/05/19 11:30 PM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,030
spg
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Could have a critter across your meter connections or a high resistance short in a circuit somewhere. Check all your receptacles and compare voltage readings with all appliances off, if there's high resistance short that's not tripping a breaker the voltage on the circuit should be lower than the other circuits. First pull your meter and see if there is anything like a nest or critter that fried itself that's drawing amperage. You can also feel the breakers to see if one is hotter than the other and that will be your problem, either the circuit or the appliance on the circuit.
Last edited by spg; 10/05/19 11:33 PM.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7624927
10/06/19 12:26 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,954
huntwest
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Are you in some social rate plan? We had the same happen called them and was told that the rate was not honored when a power emergency was called. They charges us about 100% more for those months.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7625514
10/06/19 09:14 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,113
Flashprism
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Appreciate all the inputs. Will bring my meter and check all suggestions. Again all power off except well, chest freezer outside, Side by side refrigerator inside. Micro wave, electric stove plugged in but no usage as far as I know. Been very consistent for years at 5 to 6.5 KW a day. From 8/18 to 9/9 used 296 kw or 14kw per day. I was sure that the well which is connected to my stock tank by a hose was chewed or ruptured and the well ran to over heat or froze however by friend confirmed stock tank is full and well is OK.
Access to land is via gates with hardened chains and secure combo locks. Friend confirmed no gate tampering or cut 5 wire fence. Lost a trailer 3 years ago so made it much more difficult to break in.
Baffled to say the least
Again appreciate all your thoughts.
Last edited by Flashprism; 10/06/19 09:17 PM.
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: David Maas]
#7625700
10/07/19 12:19 AM
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 6,000
tlk
THF Trophy Hunter
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Posts: 6,000 |
Smartmeter Texas, sign up and you can read your meter yourself, has plenty of tracking/sort options, by the hour, day, week etc THIS
You can't fix stupid
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: tlk]
#7625818
10/07/19 02:01 AM
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Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 309
oldrancher
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 309 |
Notify the electric utility if you plan on cutting the seal and pulling the meter. Electric utilities have different policies on how they handle a customer doing this. Some allow it but most require a serviceman to come to the location and disconnect it. Liability reasons. I don't know how sophisticated your utility's meter reading software is but some alert if power is disconnected from the meter. A broken seal is an indication of tampering and they may have a policy to bill you an additional charge to send a serviceman out to check the location. I would call them ahead of time and explain your situation and what you plan to do before you do it. I'm just trying to save you a headache with the utility company.
I don't have an explanation for the additional power usage unless livestock used your water trough for a period of time while grazing in your area. Our cattle rotate to different parts of the ranch and will stay for several weeks and then move on to another part of the ranch.
There are several device specific electrical monitoring devices on he market now. One is Kill-A-Watt but their are others. You can plug your freezer into it and then into the wall outlet and it will give you the Kwh used by that appliance during a period of time. If you use several of these units, it may give you a clue which appliance may be the culprit. The water well is probably on a separate breaker however with the Kill-A-Watt devices you should be able to subtract the usage from your appliance usage and get a close idea of well usage.
My experience? 30 years in the electrical utility industry in billing systems, SCADA systems, customer service and computers. and best of all - Retired
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7628047
10/09/19 01:07 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 662
rob valle
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Tracker
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Hmmmm.......any chance tweakers are running an extension cord to your place and stealing power? Don't laugh! It happens more than people realize
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: Flashprism]
#7628291
10/09/19 04:32 PM
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,924
gtrich94
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just a wild guess, but could you have a running toilet that is causing your well pump to run more than usual.
Thanks, Rich
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Re: OK Need your thoughts as I had a 100% increase in power consumption at my cabin from 8/6 to 9/9
[Re: rob valle]
#7629109
10/10/19 02:04 PM
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15
ConfederateRobot
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 15 |
Hmmmm.......any chance tweakers are running an extension cord to your place and stealing power? Don't laugh! It happens more than people realize If it were bitcoin miners, the bill would be way higher.
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