My electric bills are killing me. With my electric provider, I signed up for "balanced billing" so my payment would be the same every month to make it more manageable. I've been in this house for just over 4 years, and they keep going up and going up.
In my last house, 22 miles from here, 2300 SF, 1 story, 1 A/C unit (4.5 tons), my bill reached $250 one month in the summer (100 degrees a lot that month) and I blew a gasket with my wife ("TURN DOWN THE A/C!!"). Usually, in the summer, the bill was around $200. In the winter, $80 was typical.
In this house, 3600 SF, 2 story, 2 A/C units, my December bill was $241 - 3 times higher than what I paid in the previous house for the same time of year. A/C was barely run in the month. We don't cook at home that much either. My high bill this last summer was $750.
I keep lights off when not in rooms. TV is off all day. I can not figue out why my bills are so high. We use natural gas for heat and clothes drying (and yes, that went up too - $40 in November and $150 in December... ouch). I was doing full time woodworking in 2002 and 2003, but since then, I've hardly turned a machine on. We've cut out pool down to run only 6 hours a day, but the cost still seems like it is going up and up.
What do you think are any reasons that my use is so high? What could cause use to appear (on my meter) higher than it actually is?
Electrically Stumped. Todd