SAS
Member
I have a medium sized house in Maryland. When we moved in we immediately noticed that our electrical consumption seemed unreasonable. But we also had my 90+ year old father in law and a full time aide living with us. In addition to keeping the heat running late into the spring, he also ran multiple space heaters - sometimes even in the summer. He also required frequent laundry cycles. And in the summer we have a medium sized pool and run the filter most of the time.
Now, however, my father in law has passed away and it's just my wife and me. Our consumption in October, when neither the heat nor the AC were run much if at all was 2,489 KWH! I took a clamp meter and measured the amperage in the cables feeding the main, 2 on each of 2 panels. In total it averaged right around 10 amps over several readings. I recognize that when the well pump or the refrigerator compressor, or indeed the heat pump, kick in those readings will go up, but if I assume a steady state of 10 amps, then I've got roughly 900 KWH for the month. (10*120/1000*24*31). It's hard for me to see how I get up to 2,489 KWH.
Any suggestions? I know it's unlikely that the meter is bad, but what am I missing? Is there some fallacy in how I am calculating usage? I had my wife turn on appliances of known wattage and validated that I saw an increase in amps on the meter that corresponded with the stated amperage of the device.
Now, however, my father in law has passed away and it's just my wife and me. Our consumption in October, when neither the heat nor the AC were run much if at all was 2,489 KWH! I took a clamp meter and measured the amperage in the cables feeding the main, 2 on each of 2 panels. In total it averaged right around 10 amps over several readings. I recognize that when the well pump or the refrigerator compressor, or indeed the heat pump, kick in those readings will go up, but if I assume a steady state of 10 amps, then I've got roughly 900 KWH for the month. (10*120/1000*24*31). It's hard for me to see how I get up to 2,489 KWH.
Any suggestions? I know it's unlikely that the meter is bad, but what am I missing? Is there some fallacy in how I am calculating usage? I had my wife turn on appliances of known wattage and validated that I saw an increase in amps on the meter that corresponded with the stated amperage of the device.