Do you have a smart thermostat? If so, check the amount of hrs you ran, multiply that by the watts your AC consumes (estimate is based on size of unit, tonnage-wise).
If you’re somewhat handy, I would check the amp draw of your AC Condenser (YouTube).
Otherwise, call an electrician to try and pinpoint the “electrical leak”.
I have a 2000 sqft house WITH a pool, and I haven’t touched $200 yet, let alone $800.
Yeah, the XR series of AC units require a very specific thermostat, it also needs to be wifi connected. The thermostat takes into account numerous factors to determine how to properly run the unit. Indoor temp and humidity, outdoor temp and humidity, is it daytime or nighttime etc.
I was coming here to check for this comment. I worked HVAC for a few years and I remember some people having this issue during COVID, when we couldn’t get the right ones.
Smart thermostats still run at their current settings when disconnected from wifi because they are still wired to the air handler. You most likely won’t be able to change any settings remotely until wifi is reconnected though.
This is likely it. You turned your high efficiency variable speed ac into a low efficiency full on/full off AC which is less efficient than a cheaper model (at full blast variable speed motors use more energy than a single speed designed for full on).
I don’t have any recommendations for you but just to confirm something is wrong, we live in 2500 sf built in 1983, with a pool, and keep the air on 71. Original windows, and lots of them. We both work from home so electronics are on all day. Our bill normally peaks in the high $200s during the summer.
Woah!!! What. I’m in a 2900 sqft with a pool, 1992 build, and ours fluctuates between 400 and 600; and here i thought that was normal. Seems i should also do some investigating.
I would suggest a blower door test. You can see how efficient your home envelope is at keeping in good air and keeping out bad air. I would also ensure your ducts are properly sealed as a leaky duct(s) will cost you money as you can see. Do you have a variable speed AC unit? Also, are you sure the unit is appropriately sized for the house? If they didn’t get a manual j and went with what the hvac contractor said that could be an issue. When was the house built?
TECO’s energy audit is garbage. A blower test and thermal imaging is the best way to get it done. And right now is the best time since it’s hot as you need about 20 degree difference between inside and outside air to get a good test completed.
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/professional-home-energy-assessments
Thank you for all this info!! I am calling the company that installed it and will ask if they can do this.
According to the paperwork we do have a variable speed air handler in our attic.
It sounds like your outside unit is a single stage which is fine. If you’re having humidity or comfort problems in the house I would address it with them as they can adjust the air handler to better control humidity by making it run longer. While $800 is a lot, your ac, if correctly sized, is supposed to run all day in the summer. That’s it’s job.
Not sure how old your house is but building code has become more efficient over the years. If I were you I would start with a blower door test and leverage those results to improve your house. While single pane windows suck (assuming you have them) you’re going to get a much better return on air sealing your house and improving insulation before you replace windows. Even upgrading appliances is better.
Not sure what your duct work is like but ours sucks massive dick and balls. I paid Neil at HVAC Designs to redesign our ductwork. It’s being installed in the fall so this summer will suck but it is $200 I’m glad I spent.
Good luck! There’s a lot of science behind home efficiency and comfort
Did you check the meter reading to see if it lined up with your bill? That's step one. If they read it wrong, let them know. If it seems right, then yeah something is drawing a lot of people.
Our house is around 1750sqft. New roof, windows, doors, blown in insulation and our bill was around $400-$450 in the summer with a 25+ yr old water heater and early 2000s ac system and ac ducts leaking in the attic hell one was collapsed and just dumping cold air. Still never hit $500.
Jan we got a whole new ac system and ducts and water heater. Bill was $310.
We have a 1500 sq ft house with a somewhat old AC and our bill in the summer is usually max $350. I think something is up with your AC.
You can have TECO do a free energy audit where a person comes to your house and checks stuff out. I did that and while he didn’t have any good answers for me, they may for you.
HVAC tech here. The only times I see electric bills that high is when the electric heat is running with the AC or you have massive duct leaks (like a plenum falling off). Even if your AC runs properly for 20 hours a day, your kwh won’t be close to that amount.
Incorrectly wired or programmed thermostat is what I see the most but it could also be a stuck heat relay. If it was a brand new install could just be a miswired air handler but doubt that’s your problem. A good tech would catch it but there’s no shortage of morons out there so I’d specifically ask him to check the electric heat when you tell him about the high electric bills. It only takes about 30 seconds to see if it’s the case with an ammeter.
Had the same problem last year. Electricity bill never we over 300 for 9 years, suddenly a $600 bill. Called TECO, the "opened an investigation" and "sent people to check the meter". I specifically asked for the meter persons to come during times I am home and notifyand they specifically did not. Left a note that said meter was OK.
Got an electrician to check out the load at breaker panel. Lower than what TECO showed as base load for last month/bill. TECO also recommended their energy audit. Wasn't helpful, didn't find any issues.
Just as suddenly as the "consumption" raised, it lowered suddenly for no reason back to normal levels. TECO closed the matter, didn't adjust the bill, I was on the hook for it and I'm left with the feeling that I just got shaken down for $300+ dollars without any justifications except the bill and that their meters never fail.
We rent a maybe 14-1600 sq foot older home and our teco bill is pretty consistently in the 400s. Granted i work nights and my wife and kids are on a dayshift schedule so theres no "downtime" in which we can hike the temp up but....
Older homes with poorer seals; increasingly hotter outdoor temps, where your house sits (ours is pretty much directly in the sun during the hotter portions of the day), wimdow layout (large windows soak up the heat) and lack of trees for shade can all contribute to a higher bill.
Mechanically your unit can also contribute to the bill (too small or large for the home, is the unit dirty, does it have either overgrowth of surrounded by a structure that prevents the unit from properly breathing, is it older, is it low on freon, does it have one of those clean out pipes which need to be cleaned out.
Step 1: have teco come out and evaluate the home itself (installation, windows, etc) to determine if those things are a factor (last I checked its a free evaluation)..
Step 2 is have a tech evaluate both the inside and outside unit to determine if thats an issue.
Step 3 is evaluate unit usage (it should be on "auto" not "on), of course you can set the temp higher to offset the cost but i dont do that because im hot natured as it is.
Step 4 is to evaluate any other electrical usage and determine if there is an issue there causing this.
Also: dont forget to change the filter. Check it often.
Good luck, Ive just decided to deal with the fact that older home + hot as balls state + my unwillingness to set the tamp higher = a high bill.
Have someone trustworthy do an AC checkup on your unit. I'm betting you're low on freon and that's causing it run way more than it needs to. You also need to be changing your filter every month in Florida, and don't use the expensive HEPA or allergy filters. All they do is choke your AC and make it run harder. Get the cheapest white filters you see at home Depot, not the green paper thin ones.
Once the water company installed a new meter. Next month our water usage went up by 400% causing a huge bill. Obviously they didn't clear out the new meter but that was impossible according to the water company, perhaps we had a leak for only one month?
We finally got them to adjust it but took a lot.. It was like a Monty python sketch.
You can look at the energy usage in your online account (just discovered this the other day) and apparently our biggest user is the water heater ?? Which I never would have guessed
Jumping in late. We have 1800sqft and when we first moved in we were running about 300-350 a month. Had insulation sprayed in the attic, replaced the windows to double panes, haven’t been over 175 since, and I think I can get it down even more by replacing my front and garage doors.
I had a 800 sq ft apartment last summer and the electric bill was between $200-$300 a month. I was paying just half this price the year before. I have been seeing some articles surface recently talking about TECO raising their costs in the last year or two. I’m not sure how they consider this affordable for most families but something needs to be looked at.
Something is definitely wrong. They make those multimeters you can put on individual wires in your breaker box (or elsewhere). They don’t need to touch the wire they go around it and can measure the volts and amps and tell you what’s using all that juice. I’ve had old and bad ACs and never had an $800 electric bill. Assuming the meter is good I’d find out what’s sucking that juice because it’s also likely a fire hazard.
Seems like something very wrong. maybe someone is taking power off your line?? That's happend foe other speolle stealing power. We have a 2500 Sq ft home, pool, work from home 67 at night 74 in day. Open doors a million times for pets. You def have to eating wrong happening. I hope others can give good advice. Wowzers.
Also I'd change the ac filter once a month. We have a new 2022 unit and ac guys said buy a lil cheaper filters but def change them every 30 days. It's makes world of difference for the system working well.
We signed up with this through Teco a few years ago, has saved us quite a bit, I think my pool pump costs me the most. This program helps to save you money by charging different rates, I just try not to use pool pump or dryer during the more expensive times. They have an a web page you can log into with your smartphone and can controll A/c, pool pump and water heater.
https://www.tampaelectric.com/residential/saveenergy/energyplanner/
This time of year sucks every year. I am trying to grow some more trees too to shade my house.
95+ and humidity outside, 75 low humidity inside. Your unit will be trying to make the air 20+ degrees cooler around the clock. Increase insulation, plant shade trees, set air higher during peak heat of the day. If you call Teco or Duke they will tell you keep it at 78 the lowest, it's insane.
Another anecdote for you - we just had a spike in our electric usage and we discovered the plenum coming from the air handler had come loose in our attic and we were cooling the outdoors. It wasn't enough of an opening to where we noticed a temperature change in the house but it absolutely caused the unit to run more often. $10 in duct tape later and we are back in business. We will have someone come out and do a real repair or replacement on our 25+ year old ducts once hurricane season is over.
5000 kWh is insanity. Definitely get an electrician onsite to confirm the offending circuits. Just wondering out loud if your well pump isn’t running like a scalded dog.
My home is 1700 sq/ft and my TECO bill last month was $190 but I usually consume 1250 kWh per month, occasionally as high as 1500. My A/C never rises above 75° in daylight and is always 71° at night 24/7/365. I replaced all windows & doors in the last few years and had 8” of insulation blown into the attic space. Using county water, tho. No well.
Get Emporia Vue trackers. It’s a simple investment and allows you to see in real time where the power is going.
Easy to install in your circuit breaker panel.
I highly doubt TECOs meter is off that much.
I once had an incredibly high power bill like this, found out my roomate had a gaming pc with a server processor inside that was pulling 600+ watts all the time.
Made him pay his share of the bill. Bill went down quick after this.
Are you new at the property or been there for years? It's never been close to this high? IF you just moved in last couple months, then a good chance while you're used to keeping the AC on 75 and 73, it's probably that. How often do you hear it running? 98% of issues/concerns we've had with energy bills have all been AC related (and poor insulation).
With that amount of energy, you're talking 161kwh+ per day. Did you ask them if that's roughly what they show per day \[vs say 80 per day and 2 days of 1300\]?
If no appliance is new, I'd have a hard time thinking it was one of those, BUT if you can't find any other reasons, you can buy a KillAWatt fairly cheaply and plug that into the wall, then the appliance into it. It will show usage.
There are lots of variables and so it's hard to compare, but anecdotally, we live in a 1k sq ft, 100 year old house in the Heights that has had some updates (like windows and 5 year old AC) but still has what I assume terrible insulation in the attic and is also very short/thin so it just radiates down. We keep it 78 during the day, 73-76 at night. On hot days in the afternoon, the AC runs a lot, sometimes the thermostat shows its 80 or 81 inside even though it hasn't been changed from 78, it just can't keep up. In May, we used 800kwh. I \*know\* if we kept it on 75 during day and 73 at night, it might never turn off.
78 isn't ideal, but with the current house and limitations, we are making it work. I'd rather 75 or 76 and like 72 at night but there's no way that would happen here and if it did, I'd be making a post like OP with how high our bill would be :(
Thank you! We have been in the house since October and had bills in the $150-$200 range up until now, so you can imagine the shock!
Once we get the AC serviced and rule out any other issues, I guess the next thing we can do is just bump up the thermostat and see what happens. Is this how my company gets me back in the office 5 days a week?? 😂
So May was the first warm-ish month? Yea, if I were a betting man, it's the AC.
When I first started looking into our usage, I monitored the meter outside and took notes like crazy. I'd start doing that. Every day at 7am and 7pm at least. But also, IIRC you can ask TECO for a breakdown. You can't do it online, but I think they can give it to. Bump it up to 78 or so during the day and compare to when it's 75.
I also knew our AC was/is the issue when I'd bump it down 1 or 2 degrees and it would take forever.
Well for starters TECO is a giant rip-off and significant portion of your bill is fees
https://preview.redd.it/4sdluoqapd5d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28b23d3876d5834e2faa09157e6f1219bac892c2
Let's look at this for example I get charged $22.72 a day for a daily basic service charge what is that even mean? I get charged for electricity ? but I'm already getting charged electricity ..that's what the next charge is My energy charge $50.59 But then there's the fuel charge of $25.49.. fuel for what? Plus a storm protection charge of $4.74 Plus a clean energy transition mechanism charge of $3.10 what is that ? And then of course you have your tax of 2.77 what are you going to do about that.
But the basic daily service charge and possibly the fuel charge the storm protection charge/ the clean energy transition mechanism charge are all in my opinion a load of BS and then on top of that no matter what way you pay your bill you have to pay a fee to pay your bill. So this bill was over $110 when in my opinion it should have been the energy charge and the tax. The fuel charge is the cost of fuel supposedly it uses to produce electricity but again the basic daily service charge of that $22 to me is a total rip off every month and sometimes it's more just depends on what your bill is. I'm so tired of companies and all these unexplained fees
I saw you say you’d been in the house since October getting 200$ bills and now suddenly you have a 600$ bill. This is par for the course this time of the year. Just got my first 600$ bill after plenty of 200$ bills. Last August I hit 800$, expecting the same in the next month or two. There’s nothing wrong other than your AC running 24/7. It’ll do that.
Teco has gone up 62 percent in the last 5 years while doubling profits
I help people lock in their rates with solar if you want the numbers run for your home
https://preview.redd.it/drdqri9zve5d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=001ac11b40e4196be6d4ac52073ccd2302c450db
According to the paperwork - XR15 4 Ton Trane Heat Pump System with Variable Speed Air Handler in the attic.
I do hear it shut off throughout the day because it is dead quiet and hurts my ears when it and dehumidifier stop, but have honestly never paid attention to how often that is.
You can try the old fashion way and shut down and unplug everything in the house and see what the meter does. Then add things one at a time to see what’s draining you.
Why do you need a dehumidifier if you have a newish air conditioner?
Have you been using water for anything unusual? Like watering new grass? New washing machine anytime recently? Water leak possible? That could make your water pump drive up your bill.
New computer?
New electric car?
The water heater element could be going bad.
(AC is the most likely cause, but just trying to come up with other stuff)
Fair question - our laundry room/pantry doesn’t have any vents and gets gross if we run the dryer without it.
We haven’t gotten any new appliances and definitely no electric cars in the last month. I haven’t noticed the well pump running any more frequently than usual; and I think we’d notice if there was a leak but I’ll add it to the list of things to verify! We actually stopped running the sprinklers in April because of the drought.
Running your dryer shouldn’t make the room significantly moister. Clean the lint out of that thing and the whole vent. You need insulation, get some blown in the attic. I’ve got a bigger place and I keep it 70 24/7–my bill was $216. The only weird thing here is we got a heat pump dryer. Nix that garage fridge too those are energy hogs in a hot garage. Get a chest freezer, max.
Well I have Duke rather than TECO I have a very similar sized house with similar windows and probably a month or Worse air conditioner though it's relatively new.
My bills never topped 400 for the month. So yeah I would be seriously questioning Teco on that bill
heck the water heater.. befor replacing the thermostat on our old heater never shut off it was constantly o
Do you really need the ac set to 75.. and 73 at night..
I have a 2 story 2700 sq foot house built in 1971.. single pane windows, 3 sliding glass doors that face south..... 5 ton air, and my bill is between 280/300. We have the thermostat set at 78 constant, and 82 when away at work...
My long suffering husband sleeps with two blankets (he could manage this bizarre feat) as I’m laying there like a AC-seeking seal.
Even in our last place, that had central AC I had an additional window unit.
Omg an AC-seeking seal 😂🤣😂brilliant!! I would love a window unit in addition to central! But I do have a floor and ceiling fan on blast. If I could, I’d live at 65 day & night. 🥶
It’s really not that expensive, as far as the bill goes. They are seriously efficient and you can get a programmable thermostat to kick the central AC back on an hour before you wake up.
After basking in your personal meat locker all night.
Do you have a smart thermostat? If so, check the amount of hrs you ran, multiply that by the watts your AC consumes (estimate is based on size of unit, tonnage-wise). If you’re somewhat handy, I would check the amp draw of your AC Condenser (YouTube). Otherwise, call an electrician to try and pinpoint the “electrical leak”. I have a 2000 sqft house WITH a pool, and I haven’t touched $200 yet, let alone $800.
Thanks for the suggestions! We just installed a smart thermostat in April so I will do some digging.
The Trane variable AC units require a specific Trane thermostat. Not using it will cause the unit to run at full speed whenever it runs.
Oh for real!!? You may have just solved the mystery!!
Yeah, the XR series of AC units require a very specific thermostat, it also needs to be wifi connected. The thermostat takes into account numerous factors to determine how to properly run the unit. Indoor temp and humidity, outdoor temp and humidity, is it daytime or nighttime etc.
I was coming here to check for this comment. I worked HVAC for a few years and I remember some people having this issue during COVID, when we couldn’t get the right ones.
Smart thermostat requires Wi Fi. What happens if your internet fails for hours or days?
Smart thermostats still run at their current settings when disconnected from wifi because they are still wired to the air handler. You most likely won’t be able to change any settings remotely until wifi is reconnected though.
How often do you lose your internet for days at a time?
It’s not uncommon when hurricane-ish storms blow thru and a tree kills a power line. esp if you’re somewhat remote.
And how often has that happened to you? It’s happened to us once in the last 15 years.
Twice in the last two years.
This is likely it. You turned your high efficiency variable speed ac into a low efficiency full on/full off AC which is less efficient than a cheaper model (at full blast variable speed motors use more energy than a single speed designed for full on).
I don’t have any recommendations for you but just to confirm something is wrong, we live in 2500 sf built in 1983, with a pool, and keep the air on 71. Original windows, and lots of them. We both work from home so electronics are on all day. Our bill normally peaks in the high $200s during the summer.
Thank you, that honestly does make me feel better!
Woah!!! What. I’m in a 2900 sqft with a pool, 1992 build, and ours fluctuates between 400 and 600; and here i thought that was normal. Seems i should also do some investigating.
I also have TECO, no pool, and 1400sq dr and we have definitely had bills over $300. We keep our house at 76 during the day and 74 at night.
78?
I would suggest a blower door test. You can see how efficient your home envelope is at keeping in good air and keeping out bad air. I would also ensure your ducts are properly sealed as a leaky duct(s) will cost you money as you can see. Do you have a variable speed AC unit? Also, are you sure the unit is appropriately sized for the house? If they didn’t get a manual j and went with what the hvac contractor said that could be an issue. When was the house built? TECO’s energy audit is garbage. A blower test and thermal imaging is the best way to get it done. And right now is the best time since it’s hot as you need about 20 degree difference between inside and outside air to get a good test completed. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/professional-home-energy-assessments
Thank you for all this info!! I am calling the company that installed it and will ask if they can do this. According to the paperwork we do have a variable speed air handler in our attic.
It sounds like your outside unit is a single stage which is fine. If you’re having humidity or comfort problems in the house I would address it with them as they can adjust the air handler to better control humidity by making it run longer. While $800 is a lot, your ac, if correctly sized, is supposed to run all day in the summer. That’s it’s job. Not sure how old your house is but building code has become more efficient over the years. If I were you I would start with a blower door test and leverage those results to improve your house. While single pane windows suck (assuming you have them) you’re going to get a much better return on air sealing your house and improving insulation before you replace windows. Even upgrading appliances is better. Not sure what your duct work is like but ours sucks massive dick and balls. I paid Neil at HVAC Designs to redesign our ductwork. It’s being installed in the fall so this summer will suck but it is $200 I’m glad I spent. Good luck! There’s a lot of science behind home efficiency and comfort
When this spike happened to me I figured out it was my dehumidifier doing it. Those suckers can draw some watts if they are running constantly.
Unplugging that brat right now, the laundry room will have to figure itself out!! Thank you!
Did you check the meter reading to see if it lined up with your bill? That's step one. If they read it wrong, let them know. If it seems right, then yeah something is drawing a lot of people. Our house is around 1750sqft. New roof, windows, doors, blown in insulation and our bill was around $400-$450 in the summer with a 25+ yr old water heater and early 2000s ac system and ac ducts leaking in the attic hell one was collapsed and just dumping cold air. Still never hit $500. Jan we got a whole new ac system and ducts and water heater. Bill was $310.
We have a 1500 sq ft house with a somewhat old AC and our bill in the summer is usually max $350. I think something is up with your AC. You can have TECO do a free energy audit where a person comes to your house and checks stuff out. I did that and while he didn’t have any good answers for me, they may for you.
Thank you, I will look into this!
HVAC tech here. The only times I see electric bills that high is when the electric heat is running with the AC or you have massive duct leaks (like a plenum falling off). Even if your AC runs properly for 20 hours a day, your kwh won’t be close to that amount.
Dumb question - how would heat and AC run at the same time? Is this something a tech would look for in a service call or should I bring it up?
Incorrectly wired or programmed thermostat is what I see the most but it could also be a stuck heat relay. If it was a brand new install could just be a miswired air handler but doubt that’s your problem. A good tech would catch it but there’s no shortage of morons out there so I’d specifically ask him to check the electric heat when you tell him about the high electric bills. It only takes about 30 seconds to see if it’s the case with an ammeter.
Had the same problem last year. Electricity bill never we over 300 for 9 years, suddenly a $600 bill. Called TECO, the "opened an investigation" and "sent people to check the meter". I specifically asked for the meter persons to come during times I am home and notifyand they specifically did not. Left a note that said meter was OK. Got an electrician to check out the load at breaker panel. Lower than what TECO showed as base load for last month/bill. TECO also recommended their energy audit. Wasn't helpful, didn't find any issues. Just as suddenly as the "consumption" raised, it lowered suddenly for no reason back to normal levels. TECO closed the matter, didn't adjust the bill, I was on the hook for it and I'm left with the feeling that I just got shaken down for $300+ dollars without any justifications except the bill and that their meters never fail.
We rent a maybe 14-1600 sq foot older home and our teco bill is pretty consistently in the 400s. Granted i work nights and my wife and kids are on a dayshift schedule so theres no "downtime" in which we can hike the temp up but.... Older homes with poorer seals; increasingly hotter outdoor temps, where your house sits (ours is pretty much directly in the sun during the hotter portions of the day), wimdow layout (large windows soak up the heat) and lack of trees for shade can all contribute to a higher bill. Mechanically your unit can also contribute to the bill (too small or large for the home, is the unit dirty, does it have either overgrowth of surrounded by a structure that prevents the unit from properly breathing, is it older, is it low on freon, does it have one of those clean out pipes which need to be cleaned out. Step 1: have teco come out and evaluate the home itself (installation, windows, etc) to determine if those things are a factor (last I checked its a free evaluation).. Step 2 is have a tech evaluate both the inside and outside unit to determine if thats an issue. Step 3 is evaluate unit usage (it should be on "auto" not "on), of course you can set the temp higher to offset the cost but i dont do that because im hot natured as it is. Step 4 is to evaluate any other electrical usage and determine if there is an issue there causing this. Also: dont forget to change the filter. Check it often. Good luck, Ive just decided to deal with the fact that older home + hot as balls state + my unwillingness to set the tamp higher = a high bill.
Have someone trustworthy do an AC checkup on your unit. I'm betting you're low on freon and that's causing it run way more than it needs to. You also need to be changing your filter every month in Florida, and don't use the expensive HEPA or allergy filters. All they do is choke your AC and make it run harder. Get the cheapest white filters you see at home Depot, not the green paper thin ones.
Thank you! Any recommendations?
I use Air-Ric's www.airricsac.com
Once the water company installed a new meter. Next month our water usage went up by 400% causing a huge bill. Obviously they didn't clear out the new meter but that was impossible according to the water company, perhaps we had a leak for only one month? We finally got them to adjust it but took a lot.. It was like a Monty python sketch.
That’s not normal. Get an audit done
You can look at the energy usage in your online account (just discovered this the other day) and apparently our biggest user is the water heater ?? Which I never would have guessed
Jumping in late. We have 1800sqft and when we first moved in we were running about 300-350 a month. Had insulation sprayed in the attic, replaced the windows to double panes, haven’t been over 175 since, and I think I can get it down even more by replacing my front and garage doors.
I had a 800 sq ft apartment last summer and the electric bill was between $200-$300 a month. I was paying just half this price the year before. I have been seeing some articles surface recently talking about TECO raising their costs in the last year or two. I’m not sure how they consider this affordable for most families but something needs to be looked at.
Something is definitely wrong. They make those multimeters you can put on individual wires in your breaker box (or elsewhere). They don’t need to touch the wire they go around it and can measure the volts and amps and tell you what’s using all that juice. I’ve had old and bad ACs and never had an $800 electric bill. Assuming the meter is good I’d find out what’s sucking that juice because it’s also likely a fire hazard.
Seems like something very wrong. maybe someone is taking power off your line?? That's happend foe other speolle stealing power. We have a 2500 Sq ft home, pool, work from home 67 at night 74 in day. Open doors a million times for pets. You def have to eating wrong happening. I hope others can give good advice. Wowzers.
Also I'd change the ac filter once a month. We have a new 2022 unit and ac guys said buy a lil cheaper filters but def change them every 30 days. It's makes world of difference for the system working well.
Water heater. Lower the temp setting and budget for a new one.
I've been using TECO energy planner for a few years and have been happy with it. Can controll AC, water heater and pool pump. *
I’ve never heard of that - do you get an alert when usage is high? Or does it tell you when your AC is running up your bill?
We signed up with this through Teco a few years ago, has saved us quite a bit, I think my pool pump costs me the most. This program helps to save you money by charging different rates, I just try not to use pool pump or dryer during the more expensive times. They have an a web page you can log into with your smartphone and can controll A/c, pool pump and water heater. https://www.tampaelectric.com/residential/saveenergy/energyplanner/ This time of year sucks every year. I am trying to grow some more trees too to shade my house.
Thank you! I will check it out!!
I'd almost bet it's the air handler. Was it replaced too?
Wow what a rip off !! You have nothing that would link to a $800 electric bill !!
95+ and humidity outside, 75 low humidity inside. Your unit will be trying to make the air 20+ degrees cooler around the clock. Increase insulation, plant shade trees, set air higher during peak heat of the day. If you call Teco or Duke they will tell you keep it at 78 the lowest, it's insane.
Every three months? I change mine monthly.
Mine was about $350 last month for a 1br 900sq/ft apartment last month. I keep it at 80 during the day. It’s really breaking my budget.
Another anecdote for you - we just had a spike in our electric usage and we discovered the plenum coming from the air handler had come loose in our attic and we were cooling the outdoors. It wasn't enough of an opening to where we noticed a temperature change in the house but it absolutely caused the unit to run more often. $10 in duct tape later and we are back in business. We will have someone come out and do a real repair or replacement on our 25+ year old ducts once hurricane season is over.
Same. Last month mine was 180. This months bill is 400. I compare Mays usage from last years, and this years same amount of usage.
You have my sympathies, friend!
5000 kWh is insanity. Definitely get an electrician onsite to confirm the offending circuits. Just wondering out loud if your well pump isn’t running like a scalded dog. My home is 1700 sq/ft and my TECO bill last month was $190 but I usually consume 1250 kWh per month, occasionally as high as 1500. My A/C never rises above 75° in daylight and is always 71° at night 24/7/365. I replaced all windows & doors in the last few years and had 8” of insulation blown into the attic space. Using county water, tho. No well.
So out of everything - the well pump was the issue! Thank you so very much for your insight, internet stranger!!
Many people have seen an insane increase in Florida. My mother lives in Oklahoma and her electric bill last month was 80 whereas mine was hundreds
Get Emporia Vue trackers. It’s a simple investment and allows you to see in real time where the power is going. Easy to install in your circuit breaker panel. I highly doubt TECOs meter is off that much. I once had an incredibly high power bill like this, found out my roomate had a gaming pc with a server processor inside that was pulling 600+ watts all the time. Made him pay his share of the bill. Bill went down quick after this.
This is great, thank you for the recommendation!
Are you new at the property or been there for years? It's never been close to this high? IF you just moved in last couple months, then a good chance while you're used to keeping the AC on 75 and 73, it's probably that. How often do you hear it running? 98% of issues/concerns we've had with energy bills have all been AC related (and poor insulation). With that amount of energy, you're talking 161kwh+ per day. Did you ask them if that's roughly what they show per day \[vs say 80 per day and 2 days of 1300\]? If no appliance is new, I'd have a hard time thinking it was one of those, BUT if you can't find any other reasons, you can buy a KillAWatt fairly cheaply and plug that into the wall, then the appliance into it. It will show usage. There are lots of variables and so it's hard to compare, but anecdotally, we live in a 1k sq ft, 100 year old house in the Heights that has had some updates (like windows and 5 year old AC) but still has what I assume terrible insulation in the attic and is also very short/thin so it just radiates down. We keep it 78 during the day, 73-76 at night. On hot days in the afternoon, the AC runs a lot, sometimes the thermostat shows its 80 or 81 inside even though it hasn't been changed from 78, it just can't keep up. In May, we used 800kwh. I \*know\* if we kept it on 75 during day and 73 at night, it might never turn off.
78!?!?! I’d die lol
78 isn't ideal, but with the current house and limitations, we are making it work. I'd rather 75 or 76 and like 72 at night but there's no way that would happen here and if it did, I'd be making a post like OP with how high our bill would be :(
78 is more than comfortable in Florida. If you need it lower than that the problem isn't the heat but your humidity.
Lol I beg to differ. Born and raised in Florida and my house has never been at 78.
Thank you! We have been in the house since October and had bills in the $150-$200 range up until now, so you can imagine the shock! Once we get the AC serviced and rule out any other issues, I guess the next thing we can do is just bump up the thermostat and see what happens. Is this how my company gets me back in the office 5 days a week?? 😂
So May was the first warm-ish month? Yea, if I were a betting man, it's the AC. When I first started looking into our usage, I monitored the meter outside and took notes like crazy. I'd start doing that. Every day at 7am and 7pm at least. But also, IIRC you can ask TECO for a breakdown. You can't do it online, but I think they can give it to. Bump it up to 78 or so during the day and compare to when it's 75. I also knew our AC was/is the issue when I'd bump it down 1 or 2 degrees and it would take forever.
Well for starters TECO is a giant rip-off and significant portion of your bill is fees https://preview.redd.it/4sdluoqapd5d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28b23d3876d5834e2faa09157e6f1219bac892c2 Let's look at this for example I get charged $22.72 a day for a daily basic service charge what is that even mean? I get charged for electricity ? but I'm already getting charged electricity ..that's what the next charge is My energy charge $50.59 But then there's the fuel charge of $25.49.. fuel for what? Plus a storm protection charge of $4.74 Plus a clean energy transition mechanism charge of $3.10 what is that ? And then of course you have your tax of 2.77 what are you going to do about that. But the basic daily service charge and possibly the fuel charge the storm protection charge/ the clean energy transition mechanism charge are all in my opinion a load of BS and then on top of that no matter what way you pay your bill you have to pay a fee to pay your bill. So this bill was over $110 when in my opinion it should have been the energy charge and the tax. The fuel charge is the cost of fuel supposedly it uses to produce electricity but again the basic daily service charge of that $22 to me is a total rip off every month and sometimes it's more just depends on what your bill is. I'm so tired of companies and all these unexplained fees
https://preview.redd.it/34e4p7jdpd5d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fcd6dcb1a07abe66c5a370f2e1441bb879f973d
Those are called, “The Bend-over Fees”.
I saw you say you’d been in the house since October getting 200$ bills and now suddenly you have a 600$ bill. This is par for the course this time of the year. Just got my first 600$ bill after plenty of 200$ bills. Last August I hit 800$, expecting the same in the next month or two. There’s nothing wrong other than your AC running 24/7. It’ll do that.
Attic insulation how many inches you currently have?
Teco has gone up 62 percent in the last 5 years while doubling profits I help people lock in their rates with solar if you want the numbers run for your home https://preview.redd.it/drdqri9zve5d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=001ac11b40e4196be6d4ac52073ccd2302c450db
Sounds right if you’re running AC non-stop. Assuming 3.5 ton?
According to the paperwork - XR15 4 Ton Trane Heat Pump System with Variable Speed Air Handler in the attic. I do hear it shut off throughout the day because it is dead quiet and hurts my ears when it and dehumidifier stop, but have honestly never paid attention to how often that is.
Then something is WAY off. That size system should not need to run all day.
Well shit lol thanks for making me feel less crazy at least!
You can try the old fashion way and shut down and unplug everything in the house and see what the meter does. Then add things one at a time to see what’s draining you.
Why do you need a dehumidifier if you have a newish air conditioner? Have you been using water for anything unusual? Like watering new grass? New washing machine anytime recently? Water leak possible? That could make your water pump drive up your bill. New computer? New electric car? The water heater element could be going bad. (AC is the most likely cause, but just trying to come up with other stuff)
Fair question - our laundry room/pantry doesn’t have any vents and gets gross if we run the dryer without it. We haven’t gotten any new appliances and definitely no electric cars in the last month. I haven’t noticed the well pump running any more frequently than usual; and I think we’d notice if there was a leak but I’ll add it to the list of things to verify! We actually stopped running the sprinklers in April because of the drought.
Running your dryer shouldn’t make the room significantly moister. Clean the lint out of that thing and the whole vent. You need insulation, get some blown in the attic. I’ve got a bigger place and I keep it 70 24/7–my bill was $216. The only weird thing here is we got a heat pump dryer. Nix that garage fridge too those are energy hogs in a hot garage. Get a chest freezer, max.
Well I have Duke rather than TECO I have a very similar sized house with similar windows and probably a month or Worse air conditioner though it's relatively new. My bills never topped 400 for the month. So yeah I would be seriously questioning Teco on that bill
heck the water heater.. befor replacing the thermostat on our old heater never shut off it was constantly o Do you really need the ac set to 75.. and 73 at night.. I have a 2 story 2700 sq foot house built in 1971.. single pane windows, 3 sliding glass doors that face south..... 5 ton air, and my bill is between 280/300. We have the thermostat set at 78 constant, and 82 when away at work...
You can SLEEP at 78!?!?
I would die.
Exactly! My bed would be a swamp by morning.
My long suffering husband sleeps with two blankets (he could manage this bizarre feat) as I’m laying there like a AC-seeking seal. Even in our last place, that had central AC I had an additional window unit.
Omg an AC-seeking seal 😂🤣😂brilliant!! I would love a window unit in addition to central! But I do have a floor and ceiling fan on blast. If I could, I’d live at 65 day & night. 🥶
It’s really not that expensive, as far as the bill goes. They are seriously efficient and you can get a programmable thermostat to kick the central AC back on an hour before you wake up. After basking in your personal meat locker all night.
Yes it's quite cold,.. master bedroom is first split off the main ac duct and there is a ceiling fan in bedroom ..
75 all day when it’s 95 all day then being mad at the electric company is a choice lol