Con Ed Electrical Bills
I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment, with a "half bedroom"/office. We have 1 air conditioner, which is never on during the day, except occasionally on the weekends, but has probably been used 75% of the time during the night for the past two months. We also have your standard complement of appliances - 1 medium sized refrigerator, 2 PCs, and a TV that is rarely used. We are generally good about turning lights off in rooms that we're not in.
From when we moved in last October up until a few weeks ago, we had been paying our electricity bill based on estimated usage - around 30$ a month. This past month, we had to phone in our actual usage. Our landlord took care of this, as we don't have access to the meter, as it's in the basement. According to his reading and the last time it was read by a meter technician, our usage for the last 9 months was 4300 kWh, which costs us and additional 680$, on top of the 30$/month we've been paying. Total cost for the period was 875$.
Does this seem realistic? Or, hopefully, is this outrageous and is more likely the result of a reading error? For anyone with a similar sized apartment, what is your monthly cost for electricity?
From when we moved in last October up until a few weeks ago, we had been paying our electricity bill based on estimated usage - around 30$ a month. This past month, we had to phone in our actual usage. Our landlord took care of this, as we don't have access to the meter, as it's in the basement. According to his reading and the last time it was read by a meter technician, our usage for the last 9 months was 4300 kWh, which costs us and additional 680$, on top of the 30$/month we've been paying. Total cost for the period was 875$.
Does this seem realistic? Or, hopefully, is this outrageous and is more likely the result of a reading error? For anyone with a similar sized apartment, what is your monthly cost for electricity?
Comments
And we're really not THAT good about the lights.
The other possibility is that there was a bill racked up before you even moved in, and it wasn't recognized befdore because the meter wasn't read. For instance, if they were renovating your apartment between tenants and left the AC running all the time, this could totally do it. You were paying estimated rates until now, and the extra kilowatt-hours have just been lurking there waiting to be read. This happened to me once. Unfortunately, if you never saw the meter, I don't think there's much you can do about it. I got totally screwed for about $200 when I'd only been in the apartment for less than a month.
My electric bill has recently gone up to 100.00/month for a large 1 bdrm - no AC, but lots of fans. Does the price of crude have anything to do with electric costs? I'd been wondering if I could blame Bush for my electric bill...
Oh, and as for the turning everything off, you should really unplug it to be safe. A lot of things use a small amount of electricity even when "turned off", such as anything with a remote (it has to keep running the sensor so that when you hit "on" it will pick it up) etc.
Re: my electric. It was 40.00/month when I lived in a studio in the same building, no fans, and was 80.00 for much of the spring. Jeez, 65.00? WITH an AC? maybe there is something wrong with my bill. I am pretty profligate with lighting, but still...
Do you have an electric stove, maybe? Ours is gas...
Well at any rate, this is sure making me feel better about my electric bill!