Question for an Electrician

[patrobertson]

I have a rental property (four plex) in Utah which I manage for my dad (Pat) and one of my tenants has a really high electric bill. All of the units have separate meters, but her bill, for the apartment she lives in is way too high. I lived in the apartment nextdoor for a short time and ran a computer, fax, tv, stereo, and microwave, plus numerous power tools and my bill was never over 30$ or so her bill is in the 70$ dollar range. People use electricity, but I think some outlets in the washer dryer room are not labeled correctly. Question is what is the best way to track this down? What should I be looking for? I just don't want to loose this tenant and I am not sure where to start. Thank you guys. (Wish it was a Dodge problem, but its still a problem, the truck is good)



Shane

 

[illflem]

My bet is she's running an electric heater. If something was wrong with the wiring to be using that much excess power you would also smell melting wires and see smoke.

 

[rspinks]

As per Illflem she's probably running a big load (1500W space heater) for long durations. Does she leave a CTD plugged in constantly? Maybe she has one of those indoor farming operations, they suck a lot of juice. If the outlets are crossed up between suites then one of the other tenants could be taking advantage of it as well.

 

[Skydiver]

Test the meter.

If you can't find the problem in the unit ask the power company to come out and test the meter. In our town there is no charge for this.

Rspinks has a good point. What age is the 4-plex and is it a converted house?

Also probly not related to the high bill ,while someone is at the meter make sure it has a good ground. Poor grounds will give the electronics improper voltage and cause failures. Have you ever seen a light bulb get brighter when the washing machine or refrigerator first starts up?If so poor ground.

Just courious but about what age are the tenants?When I once rented a 1 bedroom upstair apt. in an 1895 built house there were an elderly (75's)couple living under me. I almost never had to light my space heaters. And if it was between 50-70 degrees outside I HAD to open windows.

Tim

 

[15w40]

I am no electrician but this is what I would try before paying for one. You say the four units have separate meters. I will assume they have separate breaker panels also. Try turning off all the double breakers, 240 volt, and see if the dryer still operates. If it is a washer outlet, 125 volts, you will have to turn off the single breakers and see if the washer still operates. Good luck.

 

[ACoyle]

Grow Lux lights use a lot of power.

 

[Briar Hopper]

LMAO @ Acoyle ! Couple other possibilities, one of the circuits in her apartment may have been run wrong during construction, giving the tenant in an adjacent apartment some free electricity. Or, another tenant may have found a way to tie into one her circuits within a shared wall, to feed his GrowLux lights.....

 

[drees1]

I have bought used meters from the power company to measure usage on machine tools. I don't think they are always very accurate. Ask to have it tested and go from there.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Electricity

The easiest way to see if someone else is getting some of the power free would be to turn off/unplug everything in the unit with the high bill and see if the meter is still moving, also could be bad meter. bg