Excessive Electric Consumption
I have a four story brownstone where the top floor has been occupied since august. It seems like the wiring was last updated about 20 years ago. My tenants were complaining that in the last month, the space heaters that they use in addition to the baseboard heating, have been tripping the circuit breaker. Additionally,…
I have a four story brownstone where the top floor has been occupied since august. It seems like the wiring was last updated about 20 years ago. My tenants were complaining that in the last month, the space heaters that they use in addition to the baseboard heating, have been tripping the circuit breaker. Additionally, they use two refridgerators (don’t ask), which from time to time overloads as well. They just got an electric bill that was triple their normal monthly output, without any change in their electrical usage. What could cause the sudden electrical consumption since this has been their habit for months???…..
Jews who keep strict kosher are required to separate dairy products from meat products – thus many have two refrigerators. It’s not at all uncommon in the orthodox community.
question is: why do they need more heat? are they cold?
at some point, you do get to tell them that the wiring isn’t meant to support a sauna up there plus a hungry mob’s worth of fridge.
Don’t most standard leases have prohibitions on additional domestic appliances?
could also be that they had estimated bills for a while, and the meter finally got read and they had to “catch-up”?
They are using too much electricity obviously. That is why their bill is so high. I would be furious if they were abusing my electrical system like that. They may just burn your house down one day with this behavior.
Interesting, I am having a similar problem. See my post from yesterday. ConEd told me that someone must be tapping into my line. Where do you live? Post is here:
http://brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2007/02/somone_else_usi.html
Could it be that they are using the space heaters more now because it is cold the last month (and it was summer like weather all winter prior to one month ago)? Don’t mean to be sarcastic but why are they doing that? Especially if you are not sure about the wiring.
Why not ask why they have 2 refrigerators? I had tenants who were tripping a circuit until we did a little analysis. They had a large TV, AirConditioner, computer equipment all on the same circuit and then tried to vacuum from it as well. There are limits. Why don’t you go up there and try to figure out what is going on.