Has your electricity bill gone up or do you just suspect that it has always been too high? If comparing your average spending on electric power with other people’s rates confirms your suspicions, it’s probably time to find out what’s amiss. No one’s too happy to spend that extra buck with no good reason.
Introduction About Why is my electric bill so high
Scores of home owners contend with high and ever increasing electricity costs. While it’s easier to blame the increasing costs on hiking power rates, the truth could actually be much more likely to be because of high usage. In that case, the first action you can take is to compare your electricity usage to what's considered “normal”. There are many factors that can influence the size of your electricity bill. If your bill seems higher than normal or is ever increasing, there are a few variables you probably need to take into consideration. This article I aimed at exploring the possible causes as to why your electricity bill is so high.
Where’s all the electricity going?
A typical family uses roughly 850 kWh per month; that is in a three person household. The Department of Energy estimates that figure to be the average standard “normal”. Normal however doesn’t mean acceptable considering most households waste lots of electric energy. The "Why is my bill so high?" question is quite common but most people don’t go on to establish the facts.
Below are some possible explanations to what’s draining all the power;
Appliances Left Plugged In
The main reason which could be the single biggest contributor to your fat electric bill is that you may have a habit of leaving your appliances or electronics plugged in; whether in use or not. Most modern appliances and electronic devices continue to draw electricity even when turned off.
The reason behind this is, most modern day appliances never really power down.The "Power" button only transitions most appliances to a standby mode allowing it to be turned back on quicker.
Today’s television sets are a great example. They allow continued use or carry out a scheduled tasks such as recording TV shows.It’s all quite comfortable and handy I agree; the problem however is that, while these appliances are sitting idle, they are in actual fact still running on electricity while awaiting commands or waiting completion of scheduled tasks.
Any appliance with a clock, such as microwave ovens need power to keep time when turned off.
Old Appliances And Electrical Devices
Using old appliances is another reason why you are paying more on your electric bill. The plain fact is that old appliances use more electric energy compared to new energy efficient models. Your old retro refrigerator or oven could be the reason your electric bill is through the roof. The Energy Star rating system didn’t commence operations up until sometime after 1997. Newer energy efficient appliances have been noted touse about four times less electricity than an older generations.
Faulty Wiring
Nothing is worse than having to pay hefty bills for power you cannot really account for. Faulty wiring could potentially be inflating your power bill large by quite a large margin. Establishing whether or not faulty wiring could be the culprit is an easy process.
First, you’ll have to make sure your electricity meter doesn't continue to run even when everything is turned off. This makes sure that when you plug in your appliances, you can measure their electric use.This way you, can be confident that you are only measuring specific appliances and not some other ghost appliance appliance as well.
To begin, turn OFF every single appliance in your household and ensure you unplug every single one from the wall. As mentioned earlier simply turning off some appliances isn't good enough. Remove all the light bulbs from the socket/holdersand turn off the switches.
Once you are certain that everything is turned off or unplugged, flip down your circuit breakers and check your meter. If the meter is still running then it's quite possible that you have faulty wiring which is causing an electrical leak. This could in turn translate to high electrical bills. Schedule an electrician visit and have your house checked for faulty wiring.
Energy-Hungry Appliances
Truth be told, your appliances could be the reason you’re paying more and more in power bills. Energy-hungry appliances are pure evil. Well, almost. The real issue however is that heavy appliances use electricity by the buckets. Items such as dishwashers, washers and dryers consume a great deal of power alone. Other items such as heating bulb are a whole other issue. Energy Star ratings for the last generation of lighting bulbs aren’t exactly what you’d call pretty. Newer energy-saver bulbs have since been introduced into the market. Consider replacing your bulbs.
The Remedy; What You Need To Do
Having established what the root cause of your inflated electricity bill is, it’s time to act upon it with extreme prejudice. For starters, concerning heavy appliances such as washers, schedule usage times to reduce the number of times these machines are used. This will greatly reduce the overall amount of energy being used.
Second, consider replacing all your appliances with new energy efficient models. This might seem like a costly affair at first but trust me, it’ll be worth it in the long run. Unplug any appliances not being used to reduce background power usage. Lastly, concerning faulty wiring, entertain the idea of having a routine wiring checkup at least once or twice a year.
Conclusion
When it comes to bills, the fewer the better; for most people at least, myself included. This however isn’t always the case so the next available option is to make sure you spend as less as is comfortably possible. This is especially the case where electricity bills are concerned. Paying keen attention to where most of your electric power is going can save you a great deal of money.
I sincerely hope that you have found this article enlightening. Feel free to share your thoughts, comments and suggestions in the space provided below. Share and spread the word. Save more on your electricity bills.
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