High electricity bill for a 1,400 sqft. condo

Many buildings will allow you verify the electric charges. If the audit proves there was an error they may even refund the cost of the audit to you. In new buildings sometimes there are wiring errors, you could be paying for a neighbor's or common area use.

Are you new to NYC? That bill is quite low. $170/month or so is quite common for a 700 square foot 1-bedroom.

I adjusted by square footage to yours KNA. I come up with an electric bill of between $75-$80. $160 seems high.

I live in similar sized place and my October bill was $84. My bills are only as high as above in the depths if winter or August, when the HVAC is in use. So it does seem high to me.

But my place is brand new

$160 is outrageously high. What does ConEd charge per kilowatt-hour? Where I live, it's 29¢, and in a 400-sf apartment we typically use 90 to 130 kWh per month. That's about $35 per month, or less than $70 if we lived in a 700-SF apartment and our use scaled up proportionally.

Wow. Sounds like everyone is somehow getting away with paying less than they should be paying.

Matt, It's fairly simple the price per kilowatt and the amount used. We're not talking the summer, so inefficient a/c units are not the cause.

Kna, what is con ed charging per kwh?

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To the OP. You'll be amazed at how much less electricity you use when not playing world of Warcraft for 100 hrs a week.

Are you sure you haven't opted for year-round bill averaging (based on previous occupants' usage)? Or that current bill doesn't have one-time setup charges or security deposit?

>>So from September 18th to early October, NOBODY was living in the unit at all yet the Con Ed bill for September 18th-September 30th was $24.<<

Unless Con-Ed shuts off the service entirely, you will pay a fee for the power to be on, even if you are not actually USING it. $24 sounds about right for a 1,400 sq ft place.

If your heat is electric (rather than steam or water provided by the building) you'll see higher usage charges in the colder months, just as you will during AC season.

Keep in mind also that fridges use up quite a lot of juice, so even if you're turning off lights and computers you'll still have steady energy outlay.

Also remember that leaving appliances plugged in while they're not in use will sap energy, as they will still 'draw' from the sockets. This, though, wouldn't make a noticeable difference in only one meter reading.

Matt, I paid double or more in an old walk up place, but new bldgs are WAY more efficient.

Fridge, keeping washer/dryer, hvac plugged in, it will still draw idle power. This explains the charge of $24 during non-occupancy.

$160/month does seem high for non a/c and heat usage. Do you keep your desktop on all day? Do you have lots of high wattage halogen lights? Perhaps, your hot water is being heated from the electric boiler?

My last month bill was $240. I have converted all my lights to LED (8W), but do 1 load of laundry every day and keep my high power desktop on 24/7. Also my hvac and water heater also utilize electricity.

How brown do you make the toast?

ba, he'd probably have the $24 charge (or some number in that range) even if there were nothing plugged in at all. Con Ed charges just to keep the service on, even if no power is being consumed.

how does this compare to your cable bill?

Sometimes coned uses last few months average as they are not able to take a reading. This gets tried up when they take a reading. Your bill should say estimated reading.

$160 is too high for October. In about the same size apartment, with an old refrigerator, mine is maybe $100 in a no-AC month and around $200 in the summer.

You may have electric heat from your HVAC units, or maybe you have your own hot-water heater.

columbiacounty
22 minutes ago
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Member since: Jan 2009
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>how does this compare to your cable bill?

Leave it to columbiacounty to ask the first stupid question on this thread.

first question was first stupid question.

is gas included?

first stupid statement: 1,400 square feet is not so huge. how would OP define 800 sq ft?

second stupid statement---riversider.

Alright, you win, you are better at identifying stupid questions than I am.

and of course the ultimate stupid statement maker....

take a bow, stupid.

what was your saying, "stupid is as I do?"
something like that

did you and truth have a great thanksgiving with all your friends and family?

well, thank you for asking, that's very kind of you. I in fact did, and next time Truth surfaces, I'll ask her and let her know of your interest.

Jason,
You really need to review the bills for base charges,taxes, and most importantly,as others have mentioned,actual meter readings for gas consumption and electrical usage.Dollar amounts are useless if you don't identify what Con-Ed is actually charging you for and if these bills are estimated or actual usage.If you have 2 or 3 consecutive bills laid out on your desk and track the meter readings ,you should be able to sort out what is actually happening and what it is costing you.The other piece of the puzzle is to then figure out where you are consuming the gas and electricity,then you can look for potential waste.

Two things come to mind. One is that there is a standard charge for Con Ed to "read the meter". I use to get a standard $13 charge each month for that. Also, last month I noticed that the Con Ed bill said it was an estimate. I got charged $160 even though no one was living in the apartment. Look to see if your bill is an estimate reading like mine. If so, it will be adjusted at the next reading. I believe it didn't get read because of Sandy.

amazing. con ed didn't read the meters because of the hurricane. outrageous.

Some Hurricanes reach Columbia County, some don't.

i have about same area, in the summer with AC on, a fisher paykel fidge (that's a big electric waster), PCs on (guess that use more electricity than AC factoring in the up-time), the highest bill was $80

I've lived in this apartment for 3 years. I know what my bills are. I keep a spreadsheet of all
My bills going back ten years. My ConEd was twice as much per month on average at my last two places - both we're walk up pre war. My current place was built 3 years ago.

During winter, my building does turn the electric heat up to the legal minimum for free - anything above that you pay for. But that does not explain the cheaper summer charges. The MOST I have ever paid was $210 when we had a record hot July and I had a house-guest home when I was at work.

Electric Heat. Sounds inefficient and expensive.

in my prewar:
800 sqft, 2 occupants, dishwasher running 3-4 times a week, two laptops and phones being charged a lot, fridge about 7 years old, lights on at night, fan on at night: bill during the wintermonths is about $90-$100.
in the summer when AC is running full blast: about $50-160.

you should def. contact Con Ed, and you might have the "estimated reading" issue going on.
Definitely check with them.

*sorry, I meant lights on in the evenings.

Thanks for all the replies.

To answer your questions:

- Con Edison provides electricity only.
- The building provides heat/gas.
- We have no electric heaters.

I understand that idle power and the base operation fees will cost some money, but $24 for half a month where NOBODY was living in the unit seems excessive. I'll have to go and check my bills when I go home to see the details.

The Consolidated Edison Company's bill mockup shows a $15 charge just for having electricity service. Not sure if they use reality-like numbers on the mockup.

http://www.coned.com/customercentral/threebill_D19_ResDual.asp

"Electric Heat. Sounds inefficient and expensive."

And yet my bills seem on the low side based on all the comments above.

Your bills would be lower in San Francisco. Why don't you move back there?

sometimes they estimate. i got undercharged 1 month and the next month got a big bill.

there is a monthly service charge (around $16 + taxes). so even if you don't use any electricity, there is a min amount you need to pay.

It happened a couple of times when the bill was high for no reason but a month or two later it shows a credit. They also use remote reading, not the actual person reading. If you want an actual person, there is a fee.

Not sure who sucks more, ConEd vs Time Warner vs Cablevision. I think TW.