EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Conservation
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-07-09, 06:50 PM   #1
SVOboy
Administrator
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 291
Thanks: 3
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Default Got a question through the site about phantom power use

Quote:
Help!
I'm single and conserve energy, yet my usage is 2,300 kilo for 28 days. I live in an apartment that was built in 2006. My highest usage in a similar apartment was 600 kilo in the middle of winter. I have been tracking usage daily and I use 80-90 kilo compared to the 12-16 kilo that is the daily average in 15 other apartments in my apartment complex. I use this amount without heat or air conditioning on. The electric company tested the meter and found it to be working fine. I had a renters advocate test all the appliances for usage. They found no problem. We suspected the water heater, when because when I turned the water heater breaker off the usage went down to 13 kilo per day. My landlord replaced the water heater thinking this could be the problem. No change. When I turned the main breaker off for the whole apartment for five hours, the meter did indeed stop, so its the correct meter. I tried using nothing in my apartment except for leaving the refridgerator and water hea!
ter on and I still used 69 kilo in a day. What do you recommend?
Any ideas?

SVOboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-09, 08:32 AM   #2
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

If you used 69 kWh with just the water heater and refridgerator running, and the refridgerator is new, I would suspect something is wrong with the refridgerator. You could very easily test this with a killawatt. However, I would also look at lowering your water heater's temperature and insulating it with a water heater blanket.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-09, 09:55 AM   #3
groar
X-Frenchy: very
 
groar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Toulouse, France
Posts: 153
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Default

First you should try to see if the over-consumption is a constant one or an intermittent one. 69kWh in one day is a constant 2.8kW consumption ie 1Wh consumed every 1.25s. My meter flashes every 1Wh consumed.

At home, I have a main circuit breaker and several local circuit breakers. If it's the case then you should try to disable them one after the other until the scheme disappears.

You can also disconnect everything, socket after socket, and see when the scheme disappears. If the scheme repeats when everything is unplugged then it's an hardwired appliance, I have the oven, the dish washer, a cooker and the water heater that are hardwired.

Do you have peak and off peak rates ? My water heater starts only at off peak hours : a signal is broadcasted. I can consume at most 9kW and I have 8 hours of off peak hours per day, which would be 72 kWh/day and 2,016 kWh/28days. If you have off peak hours, did the tests simulated them ?

Finally this may be someone stealing your electricity. If it's someone growing plants that make laugh... you may see a 24/7 light under the door of a neighbor's door and his apartment may be overheated.

Hope it helps...

Denis.

__________________
Earth absorbs 1.8 t CO2/head/yr, while a French generates 6.2 t CO2/yr
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
  • kg saved 06/08-08/09: 1816.9+382.9 (ecodriving / 1420mi not driven) = 2199.8
    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
    (2.66 kg/l diesel)
  • kg saved by 3kWc photo-voltaic solar panels : 187 kg/yr
    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
    (59.1 g/kWh)
Radioactive wastes saved by 3kWc photo-voltaic solar panels :
  • Long life (>100,000 years) : 2.85 g/yr (0.9 mg/kWh)
  • Short life (<300 years) : 31.7 g/yr (10.0 mg/kWh)
Based upon "official" French figures...
groar is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:38 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design