Bonnie Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 There's no one nearby to be hitchhiking, Jo Jo. An electrician checked the meter out thoroughly. We do not have air conditioning. We do not use dehumidifiers. We have a gas stove and a gas dryer. We do have one electric water heater, but it is well insulated. Also, I know two people who have two electric water heaters whose bill never exceeds $50 a month.We've switched to LED bulbs. It's a mystery.Marcelyn, I'm glad to hear we're not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) Marcelyn, that is horrible. I'm in David and we don't have AC. I don't like it and we have our windows open 24/7 unless there is wind with the rain in which case we have to shut some of them for awhile. lolWe do have a couple of Honeywell swamp coolers for the bedrooms to cool it enough to sleep at night when the temps are high during the dry season. Otherwise just fans keep it tolerable for us as we are tropical plants. I sure hope you are able to find a solution to the electrical issues you have.Bonnie, it's certainly a mystery. Union Fenosa refuses to check it out themselves? There is obviously a problem. Edited October 26, 2015 by JoJo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twin Wolf Technology Group Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Bonnie, I had an experience where the electric bill was outrageously high compared to what it should have been (this was in the US not Panama). It was a rental home and we had just moved in. The landlord was unconcerned so I called a very good friend who came out to help diagnose it. It turned out that the electric line that ran from the house to a small outbuilding was grounding out. The wire was buried but not encased in any kind of protecting tubing. Not enough to cause a circuit breaker to blow but essentially the power was literately just running into the ground from bad wiring between the main house and the outbuilding. We cut the line and the next month the bill dropped almost $150.Perhaps you have a similar issue where the wires coming into the house or to an outbuilding are grounding out.As another idea for diagnosing where the power is going, you can buy meters on Amazon that will show the power usage of each device plugged into them. I have one and it is very revealing how much energy is used by my refrigerator and other large appliances per month. Good luck in tracking it down but hopefully those are some ideas and things to look at you might not have considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woolford Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Val B. is another person with out-of-whack electrical billing woes. As Dan suggests there may be leaks. I have a simple Amprobe to measure current draw but no recording device, which is probably what is really required to solve the mystery. Would be happy to look one day anyway, Bonnie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Ray Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 WOW. That is incredible. I live in David and my electric bill is always around $60 unless we have lots of guests. I also have a lot of things that use electricity. A pool, a huge refrigerator, lots of TVs and computers. Security system and security cameras.I agree, you have a problem that a good electrician needs to diagnose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Thanks, everyone. We have an electrician coming tomorrow on another matter and we'll find out if he has the tool for measuring current draw. If he doesn't I'm willing to bet that Kevin Fisher does, and we'll get him over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottie Atwater Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 On 10/25/2015 at 3:19 PM, Woody said: Expanding on what Roger said, a large number of houses in our neighborhood have installed solar systems. We use ours primarily for back-up in the case of power outages because batteries are a significant investment and their life is determined by how often they cycle. We could almost live off the grid if we wanted to replace batteries every few years. This is a very expensive solution, but it is also very elegant compared to using a generator in that the switching between grid and solar inverter happens so fast that we normally don't even know that there has been a power outage. The first clue is that some of our neighbors houses are black. We have had several instances where the power outage lasted for several days and we were able to live normally with the exception of curtailing use of 220 V appliances. I consider it to be the best investment we have made in Panama and I recommend that anyone who is considering building a new home include it in the electrical design. As Roger said, there is no noise, no fumes, and no run to the gas station to buy more diesel or gas. Woody, where do you live, and may I "pick your brain" about how to set up a solar system. Also, if you hired someone, who was it? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WryAwry Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Simply turn off every breaker in your panel and observe if the meter is still spinning. Ensure that electronics are properly shut-down first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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