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I live in a one bedroom garden apartment (for the last 3 plus years) I am ONE person. I run 2 a/c's living room and bedroom. and 2 small fans (new ones. so energy effiecient)
My normal bills run about 85 to 115.00 a month.. This month.I get a bill for 251.00.. I call and said. it must be a mistake (oh, I very rarely cook, maybe a quick stir fry/or maybe once a week use the oven. other than that I use my micorwave. which is fairly new. and like I said. I'm only one person.
Do use my tv. and laptop (which is also new). and my appliances. are the standard garden apartment appliances.. Nothing fancy.
So LIPA comes. re-reads the meter and tells me 'it is correct.. I demand to talk to a higher up. they call me 3 days later and the woman said. This is your bill . its been an extremely hot summer. I said. I can understand that. But it's crazy high. and if you look back at my past history. it's not the norm. and I've done nothing different.
Obviously. I have to pay the bill (and will). and I have demanded they switch out the meter for another one. They "claim" when they take the meter out. it will be tested and if anything is wrong. of course they'll inform me (like I believe that one LOL)..
So query.. Has anyone ELSE had any crazy HIGH bills from LIPA and what have you done about it.. I'm really upset.
Thanks ..
Helene
Did you leave your ac's running 24/7? My bill is normally well under $200. One of my bills this summer was only around $160. My house is small-2 bedroom cape all on the 1st floor. Our basement is finished and the dog is downstairs during the night so we leave an ac on for him but I noticed it's not an energy saver and the room is very spacious so the compressor is constantly running. The ac in our bedroom has been on 24/7 but it's on energy saver so it's not constantly running. When I opened my last bill, my face was . It was $280 but I just figured the running ac downstairs and the bedroom ac constantly on just attributed to it.
No. no outside outlets.. and its just me. here.. one person. and a small apartment.. makes no sense..
I have no clue. I'm going to continue to ask all my neighbors and see what their bills are.. something HAS to be wrong. It makes no sense.
We're not talking central a/c.. we're talking 2 small units in the wall. and nothing like elaborate appliances.. standard run of the mill 'apartment ones.
Helene
Window units can be more expensive than CAC, but not $$$ as you are seeing.
I am on balanced billing and was just adjusted to $272/month. According to the itemized portion, the bill should have been $704.93 for 59 days, or $352/mon
This summer we used 703 KWH more than last year over the same 59 days. Four people in approx 2,000 sq ft; CAC and a Misubishi unit, 5 cable boxes, usually 2 TVs on at any given time, FiOS box, outdoor hot tub year round, desk top PC, video games concoles, chargers for stuff in many of the rooms, 2 blow dryers, chest freezer, decorative outdoor lighting. I've switched out many bulbs with the CFs. (gas range and dryer)
I've written on other similar LIPA threads that I had lived in a very small converted summer cottage and was getting bills much higher than those of my SIL who lived in a big center hall colonial and had 4 children, a pool, etc. Very much like what you're experiencing -- LILCO was telling me it was my usage. I went down the list of electrical devices in the house -- it was a joke. After several calls and a lot of grousing, they sent someone out to check the meter. Lo and behold, it was running fast! They replaced the meter and my bills went down.
Thanks.. I'm waiting for LIPA to send me a printout of a full years bills.. I am also going to check the appliances (mgmt) will and I'm sure they are running efficiently. but then again. who knows
Thanks.. I'm waiting for LIPA to send me a printout of a full years bills.. I am also going to check the appliances (mgmt) will and I'm sure they are running efficiently. but then again. who knows
thanks
helene
You can do this yourself online, if you have a bill, register yourslf and you can access all your prior usage.
I'm going to check the breakers tomorrow. I"ll turn them off. LIPA said you have to wait at least 20 minutes for the power to get out of the lines. then I'll go down the basement with managment. and see if the meter is still running. and then take a pic of it. with my cell phone. Thanks..
In reply to how much I use my a/c.. I use my bedroom a/c all nite. and I turn on my living room unit about 8:30 or so in the morn. and it's already off. turned it off before 7 pm.. so I run one basically at a time.. I do use 2 little fans (on the floor). but they're new and very energy efficient. I dont' run anything else. except my tv's and my computer. thats it.
I'm going to check the breakers tomorrow. I"ll turn them off. LIPA said you have to wait at least 20 minutes for the power to get out of the lines. then I'll go down the basement with managment. and see if the meter is still running. and then take a pic of it. with my cell phone. Thanks..
In reply to how much I use my a/c.. I use my bedroom a/c all nite. and I turn on my living room unit about 8:30 or so in the morn. and it's already off. turned it off before 7 pm.. so I run one basically at a time.. I do use 2 little fans (on the floor). but they're new and very energy efficient. I dont' run anything else. except my tv's and my computer. thats it.
Thanks again
Helene
Just look at the meter and throw all of your breakers afterward, then look at it again. You might see a slight residual rotation, but if someone is stealing you will know it. If you have digital meter, it has a disk emulator, which will be a series of LEDs with an arrow cycling. Anything more than a crawl is cause for concern. That doesn't necessarily mean a theft of serice though, it could be a faulty meter. My advice would be to be very stealth and let as few people as possible know you are investigating a potential theft. You mentioned you are in a garden apt, I am asuming you have a small breaker panel in the unit and it is fed by a bank of meters somewhere. This is actually pretty simple to tap into. You might even see it when you go look, as long as no one removes it first so shhhh...and definitely place a call to the PSC. If that meter is faulty and you have a complaint wih the PSC, they will oversee the entire process of testing and make sue you get what's coming to you.
Thank you so much. I went online and just saw my acct and have it printed out THANK YOU..
My highest bill ever was back in oct 2011 and that bill was 177.06 so that was high and the usage was 935
this bill that I have is 251.07 and the usage is 1262.. so much higher.. which makes no sense..
I was able to view bills back to 6/2010.. and my 2010 bill at this time. was only 137. with usage of 655
and my 2011 bill was 112. with usage of 550
So we're talking
usage.. . 655 (2010)
550 (2011)
and NOW.. 1262 (2012) which makes NO SENSE cause nothing I am doing is different.. same appliances. same pattern.
Check and compare the prior month's usage in each of the 3 years too.
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. It was $280 but I just figured the running ac downstairs and the bedroom ac constantly on just attributed to it.
