Electric bill doubled

[Lazy8s]

Here is the deal. I have been living in the same apartment for 2 years now. Our electric bill has never gone over $130. In Feb. I got charged $99.11. My March bill came in today, 7 days after it was due and it is $301!! I called Alabama Power and their explanation was in Feb the meter was misread by $100. So the bill is for the $100 to make up for Feb and $200 for March. I understand the math, but that is double what I was paying last year!

So I went outside to read my meter and I am already up to about $210 worth of electricity for April's bill and I still have 5 days left!! There is no way this is right. We went on spring break this month and took both computers home and turned the heat off all 9 days! If we keep going I am looking at almost $300 worth of electricity this month.

I went outside and turned everything off but one computer and the disk takes about 8 seconds to go 10 units. I came inside and turned the heat on and the disk spins SO FAST that I can't even see the markings on it! I then turned the A/C on and it takes about 1 second to go 10 units.

Any ideas what is going on here? Is my heater broken or something? I have lived in this place for just under 2 years and we have paid about $100mo. average and in all 7 years as an apartment tenant I have never had a bill just double. I wish my meter had been read correctly so I could have caught this last month. x(

Edit: Edited to clarify it was the electric bill.

Also, we have not purchased any new electronic devices.

For those of you saying "Pay it and enjoy heat or don't pay and shut it off" I am not complaining about saying for electricity I use, I am trying to figure out how the heck the bill doubles all of a sudden with no use change.

 

[mugs]

You're in an apartment - ask a neighbor if you can see how fast their meter spins when the heat is on

 

[Capt Caveman]

What was the gas rate this year compared to last? I'm guessing it's gone up significantly.

 

[Demo24]

Your bill could be an estimated bill. Georgia power did that to me recently but I went and looked at the meter and noticed it was lower than my bill. They sent me a new bill.

 

[Newbian]

So wait... are we talking about the heating bill that most places cover in rent or electric?

You say two different things.

 

[ScottyB]

My shoe bill came out to $84 once. It is usually only $42. Shoe bill doubled. I asked the man in the suit department why my bill doubled, and he said that they only charged for half the cost of alterations last time, so they added into the bill for this month. I went to tie my shoes and the lace was acting normal, but the threads in my pants were sewn in two places instead of the normal one. Why are my shoe prices so high?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
What was the gas rate this year compared to last? I'm guessing it's gone up significantly.

Sounds like electric heat

Originally posted by: DEMO24
Your bill could be an estimated bill. Georgia power did that to me recently but I went and looked at the meter and noticed it was lower than my bill. They sent me a new bill.

He checked his meter and he's already up over $200 for this month.

 

[ElFenix]

what was the rate per kwh this year and last?

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: mugs
You're in an apartment - ask a neighbor if you can see how fast their meter spins when the heat is on

Not a bad idea.

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
What was the gas rate this year compared to last? I'm guessing it's gone up significantly.

It is all electric and it has stayed the same from my calculations. (Alabama power doesn't put the rates on the bill, I just divided pre-tax bill by KWH)

Originally posted by: Newbian
So wait... are we talking about the heating bill that most places cover in rent or electric?

You say two different things.

I am talking about my electric bill that my apartment does not cover. I have an electric Heat Pump in my apartment. I have never lived anywhere that the apartment pays your heating and air conditioning bill. Please let me know where you live!!

 

[Newbian]

Sounds to me like you need to call them to test things out since something is wrong somewhere.

Just leave my spliced connection in please.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
My shoe bill came out to $84 once. It is usually only $42. Shoe bill doubled. I asked the man in the suit department why my bill doubled, and he said that they only charged for half the cost of alterations last time, so they added into the bill for this month. I went to tie my shoes and the lace was acting normal, but the threads in my pants were sewn in two places instead of the normal one. Why are my shoe prices so high?

Re-read before you fail at making an OP look stupid. I understand $100 of the $300 was for last month; I even state that in my OP.

 

[keird]

Put on a hat!

 

[trmiv]

Is the air coming out of the vents much warmer than the room temp when the heater is running? If so maybe you have the emergency heat turned on on your thermostat? Check it to make sure that is not set. Or maybe the heat pump isn't working correctly and the heating coils are turning on all the time to compensate? I had this happen recently when our heat pump decided to stop turning on. I didn't notice it for a good three weeks since the heat pump is pretty quiet anyway. It ran my bill up $100 that month.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
what was the rate per kwh this year and last?

Since they don't list it on the bill I did the math. Last year I used 782 KWH and paid 11cents per. This year I used 1,758 KWH and paid 11cents per. (The taxes and fees push it over $200).

I do not see how this is possible in a 700sqft apartment. I used 1,100 in November, 1,058 in January then all of a sudden 1,740 in feb and 1,758 in March and now I am over 1,800 this month and have 5 days left.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: Lazy8s

Originally posted by: mugs
You're in an apartment - ask a neighbor if you can see how fast their meter spins when the heat is on

Not a bad idea.

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
What was the gas rate this year compared to last? I'm guessing it's gone up significantly.

It is all electric and it has stayed the same from my calculations. (Alabama power doesn't put the rates on the bill, I just divided pre-tax bill by KWH)

Originally posted by: Newbian
So wait... are we talking about the heating bill that most places cover in rent or electric?

You say two different things.

I am talking about my electric bill that my apartment does not cover. I have an electric Heat Pump in my apartment. I have never lived anywhere that the apartment pays your heating and air conditioning bill. Please let me know where you live!!

It's just that you said heating bill when you should had said electric bill that confused me since in many places they are different unless of course you use electric heat.

But you live in Georgia so how much do you actually need heat anyways.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

utility bills are very hard to dispute

 

[Modelworks]

Call them and they can pull the records from last year and the year before, etc and see what the trend is for those months. If it is different then have them replace the meter. Some companies will just replace it other will place a special device on there that audits the meter.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: trmiv
Is the air coming out of the vents much warmer than the room temp when the heater is running? If so maybe you have the emergency heat turned on on your thermostat? Check it to make sure that is not set. Or maybe the heat pump isn't working correctly and the heating coils are turning on all the time to compensate? I had this happen recently when our heat pump decided to stop turning on. I didn't notice it for a good three weeks since the heat pump is pretty quiet anyway. It ran my bill up $100 that month.

The air coming out is warmer than would be comfortable if the entire room was filled with air that hot, but whether I turn my heat up a few degrees above the room temp or all the way it comes out the same temp. I read that with a heat pump if the room is 70 degrees and I set it to 72 the air should come out cooler than if I turn it to 90 since turning it to 90 will cause emergency coils to kick in. For me the air comes out the same temp whether I set it to 72 or 90. Maybe a problem there?

Also, there is no emergency heat setting. I just have a temp slider and there is a heat/off/cool switch on the side.

 

[OCGuy]

I would just say FML and pay the bill

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i would say your options are either pay your bill and enjoy the heat, or not pay your bill and enjoy the cold

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Call them and they can pull the records from last year and the year before, etc and see what the trend is for those months. If it is different then have them replace the meter. Some companies will just replace it other will place a special device on there that audits the meter.

Yeah the bill went from $93 last year to over $200 this year without a change in energy cost.

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: Lazy8s

Originally posted by: trmiv
Is the air coming out of the vents much warmer than the room temp when the heater is running? If so maybe you have the emergency heat turned on on your thermostat? Check it to make sure that is not set. Or maybe the heat pump isn't working correctly and the heating coils are turning on all the time to compensate? I had this happen recently when our heat pump decided to stop turning on. I didn't notice it for a good three weeks since the heat pump is pretty quiet anyway. It ran my bill up $100 that month.

The air coming out is warmer than would be comfortable if the entire room was filled with air that hot, but whether I turn my heat up a few degrees above the room temp or all the way it comes out the same temp. I read that with a heat pump if the room is 70 degrees and I set it to 72 the air should come out cooler than if I turn it to 90 since turning it to 90 will cause emergency coils to kick in. For me the air comes out the same temp whether I set it to 72 or 90. Maybe a problem there?

Also, there is no emergency heat setting. I just have a temp slider and there is a heat/off/cool switch on the side.

Not that I'm an expert or anything, but it sounds like the heating coils are coming on constantly. Unless it's around or below freezing, or you are cranking the heat up to a ridiculous level, the aux heat should not be coming on. The air coming out of the vents with a heat pump shouldn't be much warmer than the room temp unless the aux heat is on. Call your apartment maintenance people and have them look at it.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Lazy8s

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Call them and they can pull the records from last year and the year before, etc and see what the trend is for those months. If it is different then have them replace the meter. Some companies will just replace it other will place a special device on there that audits the meter.

Yeah the bill went from $93 last year to over $200 this year without a change in energy cost.

This is my usage for the last year or so.
I live in an apartment about the same sq ft. and also use a heat pump.
I'm a bit further north , about 100 miles south of Raleigh, NC. So I would not think your usage would be that much different.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/627/71440497.jpg

You can see how months from last year compare almost the same with this year.

 

[boomhower]

Call them and they will at least audit the meter with usage varying that much from past bills. Just don't call and be ass or they won't do crap for you.

 

[Kanalua]

On Oahu (In Hawaii) it costs us $100 a month just to be connected to the grid. We start $100 up already!