Thread: Big Electricity Bill

Originally Posted by silentC

Best time of the year for a south coast holiday

What. You offering accomodation for a weekend ?????
Family of four plus a dog.

Sorry Silent... asked a question and went away.... I've been busy.

Someone else seemed to address the Halogen issue, so thats 'done'.

I share your frustration... normal usage and large spike = something wrong.
I do think you have a problem somewhere, and its only through the process of elimination that you'll find it, even with the in-line meter.

I'd isolate the main meter first.... pull your fuses and see if the meter ticks over after 1.5 hours. If not.... its 'something' in the system. Then isolate items and check... repeat cycle till you id the fault... as you seem to be doing. Have fun with the tedious job! A slow job, but quicker than waiting for the meter to be stocked.

Originally Posted by DavidG

What. You offering accomodation for a weekend ?????
Family of four plus a dog.

I've got a shed

Interesting observation over night. I switched off everything except the waterbed and the alarm clock. All appliances off at the wall, even the cordless phone and the wall oven. The dishwasher was still running, so I left it on. I isolated the shed, which also provides power to the septic system. I left the water pumps powered up, but no-one is using them overnight. I'm pretty sure they draw no current when not running because the pressure switches are mechanical.

The meter has a night rate that appears to start at 9pm and ends at 7am. Last night it registered 4 units, 2 of which were before I switched everything off at 11:00. The previous night it metered 11 units!

Tonight I'll isolate the shed again but leave everything on in the house. Then I'll have a baseline for the house. Unfortunately, I think this rules out a problem with the meter.

In case anyone is after one of those power meters, the Jaycar one is about $40 retail but now not due until August. The only other thing I can find that does the same job is the Power-Mate (Aussie invention, was featured on The New Inventors) and it retails for over $300!!

Might have to bite the bullet and buy one because I'm not getting any closer to finding out where all this power is going to.

I'm sure you can buy the same item overseas and get it sent to you. Have you tried Amazon?

There seem to be similar units available in the UK, I suppose one of them would be OK. I'd need to use a couple of plug adaptors with it.

Pull one fuse at a time until you find the loaded line.
Work along that line until you find the load.
Much cheaper than spending $300.

Pull the shed first. (Main suspect)
What is in the shed or off the shed line.

Just guesses as I have not seen your site.

Is it an old shed full of junk ???? Hidden load behind other stuff
Anything to do with chickens. ??? Incubators. Chick heaters.
Growing stuff ??? Hydroponics (Heaters lights.)


Septic pump. Motor framing (Leaking windings to earth).

Dave..

For energy metering toys available in Australia...

http://www.altronics.com.au/index.as...=item&id=K4600 for $160 plus postage and you have to assemble it!!

Or there is the Australian made Power Mate meter from the Alternative Technology Association http://shops.bizarsoftware.com.au/AT...y93/product238 for around $280. These are also available for hire from http://www.environmentshop.com.au/index.asp for $35 a week

And this one from the Rainbow Power Company http://www.rpc.com.au/catalog/energy...gesbt2jv7v69m2 for $264

A cheap clamp meter from E-Bay will cost about $30 - $40.
Measure the current flow in each item.

Originally Posted by DavidG

A cheap clamp meter from E-Bay will cost about $30 - $40.
Measure the current flow in each item.

that isn't as easy as it sounds. if he clamped it around a normal lead any current shown would actually be leakage current as it will measure the active which will be offset by the neutral, with the difference being only earth.

i've read the odd post, and only replied to correct the above, but i'd be looking around the pumps, aircon and any heaters... i'd suspect that the pumps are a higher wattage then you thought, a heater is accidently on and blowing hot air into the middle of nowhere, or you used the aircon in summer more than you realised.

i think i saw that you've only been in the house a short while? could the previous tenant/owner have used a tonne of power for their gear or is it a new home?

Originally Posted by thatirwinfella

that isn't as easy as it sounds. if he clamped it around a normal lead any current shown would actually be leakage current as it will measure the active which will be offset by the neutral, with the difference being only earth.

Duh! You have to read the active.
If you have a Clamp meter you make an extension "lead" out (300mm) of three wire so you can access each.

With an ammeter I cut the active and feed it through the meter.

Either way I find the current flow and determine what the actual load is.

Not recomended for people who do not know what they are doing as it can bite.

Originally Posted by Barry_White

Hi Darren

I've given up trying to find out how the electric supply company is ripping me off.

Our quarterly bill is/was around $300.00

Bazza,
Any chance it may be that bloody big light in your projector , how often do you have that running each day???

Also on that note, I look forward to building one of those in the next year or so when the funds allow, Im very impressed.

Cheers
Steve

Daz... you need solar powered hydro, that will cut your bill significantly. And lucky you dont play electric drums eh