average Con Ed bill?

just curious, but what's your average Con Ed bill been lately? We're in a basic 1BR in a four story brownstone. Ours is insane - $120, $140. WTF? We don't even have the AC running yet. I'm wondering if the building's washer & dryer are hooked up to our power.

thanks,
mike

That sounds high for just electricity. I'm in a large 1 bedroom with a really inefficient fridge and have averaged $40 / month over the last 4 months.

WOW. yeah, something's not right.

That sounds high for your size apartment, that is about what I pay, but, I have a large 3 bedroom apartment with dishwasher, TVs, etc..

I have a 1bd in a brownstone with a dishwasher, W/D, big stereo, big TV and, since I freelance at home, a computer on all day (and stereo). Last bill was $125.

That's an average amount. Rates keep getting hiked up.

3 BR old fridge, lcd tv (those suck electricity) and roommates who always leave the lights on. about $65 a month is normal.

also have 100% green power from the coned esco locked in at about .15 or .18 cents per KwH

Yeah that's high. I pay a flat monthly rate of $120 for a fairly large 2 bedroom with lots of electronics and that includes extreme abuse of air in the summer.

unplug everything in your apt and then go look at the meter. flick the washer dryer etc. on and off to see what's drawing power.

looking around, we've got a big plasma tv & new dishwasher & fridge. We're both unemployed and home a lot, so both laptops are going. We're in the garden apt so all of our lights are the superbright spotlights. I'm hearing a little of everything - it's average or it's high. Man, I need a job.

Make sure it's not an estimated bill...

A few things you can do, other than making sure it's not an estimated bill --
Unplug everything you can when you're not using it. I have most everything plugged into power strips in my bedroom so I can unplug the whole thing when I leave in the morning. Everything that needs to be plugged in will suck electricity even when it's off unless it's totally unplugged.

Make sure you're not leaving cell phone, laptop, or other accessory chargers plugged into the wall when you're not using them. They suck power like nothing else.

Cycle your laptop batteries. Charge it up, use it til the battery is drained, plug it in to recharge, lather rinse repeat. Using it plugged in all the time is not only a power suck but also bad for the battery's lifespan.

Replace your super bright lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They're expensive but last forever and use comparatively little electricity. Ikea sells them now, too.

Use one of those alternate service providers (EBSCOs?) that ConEd big ups on your bill each month. It practically eliminates the service charges.

My average bill in the last few months has been from $50 - $70 for a 2BR, and I leave the (small) TV on all day for my cat (don't ask).

That's high. I have a four story brownstone and the electricity for the whole place is usually less than $200 a month. Granted we use a lot of compact fluorescents and most of the lights are off for at least 18 hrs a day, but still... I'd have con ed come and check that there are some common areas attached to your meter.

Yeap that is hiiiiiiiiiiiigh! We have a small two bedroom and while one roommate is home all day using all the lights, tv on all the time, laptop going, etc. etc. etc. our bills in the winter max out at $60.

So I called ConEd and I got Stereotypical Jewish New Yorker Woman. It was like I was talking to my aunt frieda. She went crazy whenever I rattled off an appliance - A HUMIDIFIYAH? WELL THERE YOU GO, RIGHT THERE! A PLASMA TV! I'm gonna look at alternative providers, see if that helps.

650 sq ft. Top floor of a brownstone. Winter is roughly $40-60/mo. Summer is roughly $100-140/month.

3 BR apt - $60-70 in the winter, $80-90 in the summer (we only use A/C when it's really unbearable).

Subject: Basement apartment

You said you're in the basement apartment, right? A long time ago when I lived in a brownstone basement apartment I discovered that my Con Ed bill amounted to more than for the landlord's triplex upstairs.
Turned out, after being brushed off by both Con Ed and the Public Service Commission for a couple of years, I determined that the basement and all the common areas were on my bill. That included the hot water heater and other electrical things - I forget now exactly what. Also, because in some earlier time, this was classified as a "business account" which was charged at a different rate. (You had to really pull apart the bill and all the symbols in order to arrive at these conclusions)
This was in the mid-70s and by time they fixed it and issued a refund, the escalating energy prices ate up my refund within a few months.

mikelite wrote: So I called ConEd and I got Stereotypical Jewish New Yorker Woman. It was like I was talking to my aunt frieda. She went crazy whenever I rattled off an appliance - A HUMIDIFIYAH? WELL THERE YOU GO, RIGHT THERE! A PLASMA TV! I'm gonna look at alternative providers, see if that helps.

the alternative providers are all more expensive than con ed. you need to use less electricity.

850 square foot 1 bedroom. Lowest I've ever gotten it was $25, but it's usually around $40 in the winter and $90 in the summer with two ACs.

Subject: electric bill

The lady from Con Ed was right every appliance that you have plugged in draws juice If you leave your computer on 24/7 ir you leave the charger for the cell phone in the outlet, if you have a frost free refrigerator etc. The biggest one is halogen lights We stopped using the halogen lamps ( three of them in three rooms) and the bill was cut $50 a month. You can ask them to come and get an energy audit and you should make sure they are actually reading the meter every month and not estimating the usuage You can read the meter yourself and call it in every month if they arent getting in to do the reading.

Well, that would explain why my bills are so high-we have tons of things plugged in!

We have a 4 story brownstone. I just checked and my last bill was 300.00.

EVEN your automatic on TV costs money to run when you are not watching it. AND you either have to shut off the power strips or unplug things when they are not in use, especially chargers My laptop was always plugged in until I was told it is drawing energy even if it is off. Try unplugging for a month and see if there is a difference.

Our Con Ed kwh-use increase is mystifying.

We're in a one-bedroom apartment in a large building, and are instinctive energy-savers and "under-users": We've always unplugged appliances and power strips not in use, have all compact-fluorescent bulbs, have few lights on regularly, and don't own a washer-dryer, freezer, etc.

Despite that, and even allowing for varying days in billing cycle and always-on appliances:
(1) Our Con Ed non-summer usage (actual-reading kwh) increased 20% in the past year.
(2) Our actual-reading kwh usage for Nov. and Dec. '08 was a stupefying THIRTY PERCENT higher than in previous months ... although our habits didn't change: no new appliances, no extra at-home time, no holiday lights or unusual use. (And kwh usage immediately dropped back to normal in Jan-Feb.)
Only one new thing happened in that time: Throughout Nov-Dec, the landlord had a crew doing major construction/remodeling in the basement.

We've analyzed the creeping 20% usage increase, the Nov-Dec jump, and our kwh use in every way possible, and it still makes no sense.

Our concern is that the landlord (or whomever) might be piggybacking onto us for common-area or other purposes -- especially since the whopping Nov-Dec increase coincided with major construction.

This shit makes me so happy my utilities are included.

Subject: CO ED

FLON FLON:

Get Con Ed to come over and check the meter and also check to see where the construction crew have tapped into the lines for their electricity

Hotbox wrote: I leave the (small) TV on all day for my cat (don't ask).

OK- I have to ask, does your cat prefer the day time soaps? Or the Judge shows? Or what else?!

And on topic - I have 450sq ft 1 bed apt. I decreased the bill from $75/mth to $40/mth by switching all the lightbulbs to CFLs, unplugging all chargers when not in use (including the electric toothbrush), and not using the dishwasher very much at all (I wash dishes by hand).

I also opt for the 100% green electricity (can't remember the name of the company) so probably pay a higher kw'hr rate than the regular ConEd one.

flonflon,
You could be right. The common areas circuit breaker box is often woefully under amped since it is usually only intended to run the hallway lights. Its pretty common for these assholes to do that unfortunately.

Did you come home at any time recently and find your stuff blinking as in a power outage? They could of done it live too.

My bill for this month (in a very tiny apartment) was 49 bucks. But, the computer is on all the time, I'm terrible about turning out the lights in rooms that I'm not in and I sometimes leave the TV on for the mutt.

jmd -

I contacted Con Ed. Their advice (which I plan to take this week):
-- Unplug every single thing in the apartment, wait 20 minutes for that total-off to kick in, then check the apartment's meter in basement.
-- If the meter is still running when everything is unplugged: Someone's tapping into our line and creating a shared meter where none should exist.
At that point, you call Con Ed and they investigate.

The Con Ed rep also said that my Nov-Dec usage surge was too small to come from basement construction-tool use.
But I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the regular (non-Nov/Dec) bill isn't "ours": Our regular non-summer kwh use has inexplicably jumped by almost 40% in two years -- which is simply flat-out _impossible_, considering our unchanged lifestyle/electr. usage and continuous consumption-cutting.
So we might be powering up a common area, basement, etc. -- and we only really noticed when "they" used a lot more than usual in Nov/Dec. (Heck - maybe _we_ were paying for the building-lobby Christmas lights and menorah!)