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Thread ID: 122790	2012-01-13 00:12:00	Daughters power bill keeps gonig up - What to do ?	Digby (677)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1253736	2012-01-13 04:17:00	Gee thanks guys for some very handy hints. The fridge is only a few years old and the seals are good. There is no water on the roof from the hot water. But we will check the thermostat on the hot water cylinder. What makes it a bit hard is that she is renting the cottage so we are not sure about getting an electrician in. Her landlord is a good guy She has spoken to the power company, they just said to check things and increase her monthly payment. Judging from what you are paying she is paying far too much. But she throws her power bill away each month. I used to keep mine! I wonder how much an electrician would charge to put in a power usage meter. And what chance of getting Trustpower to replace her meter, I am sure they would not want to do that with out a bit of pressure from her. It is a single cottage, but of course we don't know what the wiring situation is. Another thing is that she has a couple of light fiittings in which a tungsten halogen bulb only lasts a few weeks!	Digby (677)
1253737	2012-01-13 05:30:00	I would get her to read both meters everyday at the same time and note down the actual usage. We can tell what days we have used things like the oven or very rarely the dryer. And even more impressive I can tell what days my step son is home as power goes up by more than a third	gary67 (56)
1253738	2012-01-13 06:14:00	See by Trustpower's worst offenders www.trustpower.co.nz at this time of year it is likely to be Hot water to hot or some leaking tap There is no Heatpump is there?	Lawrence (2987)
1253739	2012-01-13 06:24:00	Chop the plug off the clothes dryer. Few people have any real need for one. Consider a water saving shower head.	Paul.Cov (425)
1253740	2012-01-13 06:25:00	Get your supplier to change the meter. Brother in law (retired sparky) says this is usually the problem. Ken I tested domestic meters for many years and never saw one run fast enough to cause that amount of consumption. Most old meters ran slower. As some one else has mentioned when called to investigate that sort of problem the first thing I looked at was the overflow pipe on the roof. This overflow was caused by a leaking or faulty Ajax valve (If one is fitted).Some time it only overflowed during the night but if it is leaking then there is often a water stain down the roof. The water heater thermostat was the next thing followed by seals on a deep freeze.	tut (12033)
1253741	2012-01-13 06:35:00	Make sure no one else is syphoning off her power too have seen that happen	gary67 (56)
1253742	2012-01-13 07:55:00	I tested domestic meters for many years and never saw one run fast enough to cause that amount of consumption. Most old meters ran slower. As some one else has mentioned when called to investigate that sort of problem the first thing I looked at was the overflow pipe on the roof. This overflow was caused by a leaking or faulty Ajax valve (If one is fitted).Some time it only overflowed during the night but if it is leaking then there is often a water stain down the roof. The water heater thermostat was the next thing followed by seals on a deep freeze. This cropped up as friends of ours in Napier had $300-400 bills. On BIL's advice while visiting here from BOP, they requested a change of meter and cut the bill by 60%. Ken	kenj (9738)
1253743	2012-01-13 10:15:00	No deep freeze No clothes drier. She did have an oil fan heater that she left on low at night. But we are in summer now	Digby (677)
1253744	2012-01-13 15:18:00	I have seen where there were two meters (Water heater and general) and both meters were wired in series with the load so the general meter was also measuring the water heater usage. Changing the meter (And rewiring correctly) sure fixed that problem. This cropped up as friends of ours in Napier had $300-400 bills. On BIL's advice while visiting here from BOP, they requested a change of meter and cut the bill by 60%. Ken	tut (12033)
1253745	2012-01-13 15:21:00	Digby, where abouts is your daughters cottage? If it is handy to where I am I might be able to help.	tut (12033)
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