Electric Bill High

[Wayned24]

Hi, All. Still trying to figure out this OWB thing. Recently moved into a house with a Hardy H4 and this is my first winter using it. It's been a trying time getting it set up, but through the help of "woodcutteranon" we figured it out...Or so I thought.

Last month my electric bill was $328..I was running the woodburner constantly and keeping the fire going, but for some reason my AUX heat would kick on and off like crazy. Woodcutteranon and myself figured out that my taco pump wasn't working properly, we fixed it, and ever since then, the AUX heat has stayed off.

This month my electric bill was even higher! $338. I contacted the old owner who told me that his was always around $200 in the winter when using the OWB. The furnace isn't running, only the blower. The heat pump MAY kick on early in the morning if the fire has gone out and the water isn't warm enough, but once I get the fire going again, the heat pump doesn't run.

I guess my question is this: Why am I not seeing any relief in my electric bill? Everything seems to be working properly, but obviously I must be messing something up still. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[NSMaple1]

You can get an electricity monitor and watch your use in real time. Then shut breakers off on at a time and see which circuits are using how much juice. Google up 'Efergy monitor'. There are others the same. Got mine off eBay.

 

[cantoo]

How about checking your kilowatt useage instead of the Dollars? Maybe the per kilowatt price has increased? We have "Smart meters" here and I think we still have different rates for different times of day. My wife does laundry, dish washing etc depending on the rates. Just got my hydro bill by email today, $178 for the month. OWB pump runs 24/7, tv on almost always, 2 water beds, and a 24x 60 shop that my son works in from 6 to 9 every night and all day sat and sunday. I never complain about my hydro bill. I think it is very reasonable for what we get. ( half of my family works at power plants).

 

[Jere39]

As mentioned, your Kwh usage would be a better comparison to consider. But, at that rate, it sounds like a serious user, perhaps an aux heat circuit in your heat pump is kicking in. I imagine you already know this, so sorry if it is a little basic, but in this recent weather, the heat pump is unlikely to be able to deliver warm enough air without running an aux resistance heat coil. Even worse, the heat pump compressor circuit may be dead, making the back-up resistance circuit generate all the heat when your OWB is not providing enough. On my daughter's heat pump intelligent thermostat there is an indicator that reports when the back-up resistance circuit is operating. I am not sure all thermostats would show that.

 

[Conquistador3]

Check the hot water pump. When they cavitate for one reason or the other their power consumption goes through the roof and they do use a lot of power even when everything is working.

 

[Guswhit]

 

[Mustang71]

I know they like the electric company likes to raise my rate per kwh all the time. It's never the same. One month my bill was 50 dollars more than the last month with about the same usage. I questioned them about it and they told me that they have no control over what they charge because that's the price they buy it for.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

Also curious...could this month's bill be an estimated usage? Next month will be an actual?

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Electric clothes dryer burnt a wire on one heating coil and made my electric bill go up.

 

[sunfish]

Wow, I'd cut the electric wire if our bill got that high!!!

 

[J.W Younger]

My hardy h2 has a huge firebox and the h4 should have one too...there should be no reason for the back up system to kick in before morning.
I'd seriously consider unplugging that heat pump and loading more or denser wood in the owb.

 

[Mustang71]

Even 200$ seems like a lot. Mine was 156$ this month and I think that was one of the bills that goes way up because of the Christmas lights.

 

[Wayned24]

Thanks for the replies, guys. It was, indeed, an actual reading. We had several below 0 nights this month, but the woodburner never forced the AUX heat to kick on. I think I'm going to flip the breaker to the heat pump and the hot water tank to see if that helps. All the lines are closed off to the DHW, but maybe still having power to it uses a lot of electric? Are there any other breakers you guys turn off when running your OWB?

 

[J.W Younger]

Thanks for the replies, guys. It was, indeed, an actual reading. We had several below 0 nights this month, but the woodburner never forced the AUX heat to kick on. I think I'm going to flip the breaker to the heat pump and the hot water tank to see if that helps. All the lines are closed off to the DHW, but maybe still having power to it uses a lot of electric? Are there any other breakers you guys turn off when running your OWB?

I think something that would make a system more efficient, which I don't and you may not have, is a timer where the pump runs and has the heat exchanger up to temp before the blower kicks on.
This may be a standard thing now but my system is 30+ years old.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Wow, I'd cut the electric wire if our bill got that high!!!

What I was thinking! My bill in the winter is usually around $70 which I thought was high!

 

[NSMaple1]

We average 20kwh/day.

Seriously, get an Efergy or similar monitor.

 

[Wayned24]

According to our electric bill, we are using 76 kw/d...I just checked our meter and since the last time it was read (12 days ago) until now, we are only averaging 45 kw/d. Not sure why there was such a difference? The bill says "actual reading" and not estimated. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on my meter, but I'm also going to get an energy monitor as well.

 

[timbrjackrussel]

According to our electric bill, we are using 76 kw/d...I just checked our meter and since the last time it was read (12 days ago) until now, we are only averaging 45 kw/d. Not sure why there was such a difference? The bill says "actual reading" and not estimated. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on my meter, but I'm also going to get an energy monitor as well.

Is your heat pump in the cooling mode?

 

[anlrolfe]

OWB depend on pumps to work. If you're using a heat exchanger and forced air system add a fan. The boiler probably has a combustion air fan and now you're running at least 3-motors to get the job done. Every solenoid valve that you keep pulled in and every relay sucks current lowering system efficiency. If you've got endless cordwood to burn I guess this is the way to go but to me there's just too much that can go wrong.

 

[avason]

When it is really cold my airhandlers are constantly on. My electric bill in the winter and the summer are pretty damn high. December’s bill was around $220.00. At first I didn’t think it was that high but when they kept sending a quarterly letter comparing me to my neighbors, that got my attention. Ever-source stated that I used 70% more than my neighbors. That really got my attention. The only thing I can attribute it to are my airhandlers. Central ac in the summer and hydro air in the winter. My house is about 12 years old. I thought it was pretty energy efficient but I guess not. I’m going to pay the $150.00 for an energy audit to see where my heat and cooling losses are. I have a gas fireplace and am guessing they didn’t insulate the lower portion of the doghouse that kicks out. I’m going to be motivated this summer to tear into that. I feel the same pain as the OP.