Weird electricity bill question
We have a 2-family house that is fully tenanted (married and moved out). My new top-floor tenant just told me she’s gotten a HUGE first electricity bill–$182 instead of the $40~odd she got in her last place. Any ideas where to begin to locate the source of the problem? Do I call Keyspan, an electrician,…
We have a 2-family house that is fully tenanted (married and moved out). My new top-floor tenant just told me she’s gotten a HUGE first electricity bill–$182 instead of the $40~odd she got in her last place. Any ideas where to begin to locate the source of the problem? Do I call Keyspan, an electrician, any other ideas of what to try first?
10:45 – it all depends on whether Keyspan did an actual reading when you moved in/the other tenant moved out. Did you check with them? Did you even ask them if they did a reading? Can’t you read your bills to see when the last actual reading was done? If not, call and ask Keyspan.
Read the bills MORONS!
Wait, I need some clarification…my heat bill (keyspan) is apprxo $250 this month ($550 for the past two months). We moved in Oct 1st. Is 7:42pm saying that if the prior tenant did not pay their bill (prior to Oct) than WE are paying for their use? Please clarify
Did you call Con Ed to do an actual reading (not an estimate) when you moved out? If not, then the tenant is being charged for YOUR electricity charges (or the previous tenant if that was not you.)
I have never gotten a larger-than-normal bill on a estimated read. Rather, I always get low estimates for months when no one is home to let them in to get a reading, and THEN I get a really large bill once they got in to do a reading.
If the previous tenant was you, and your previous bills were estimated, then you should reimburse your tenant for all but the $40 of her bill ($40 is not abnormally low – mine is always lower than that, and I don’t try to save electricity – I’m just not home much, don’t cook much, etc.) My electricity use never changes much, even when I moved from apartment to apartment, with the exception of one apartment I owned where the larger refrigerator was a bit of an electricity hog (but not that much of a hog.)
There was a prior rental I had where the old refrigerator-on-its-last-legs was the electricity hog, but that was soon replaced by my landlords after I got my first con ed bill, when I found I’d be spending the cost of a new refrigerator every two months paying con ed. I still appreciate the con ed employee who told me that an old refrigerator was a likely cause – she said it had happened to a friend of hers (mine leaked water on the food, the prior tenants warned me about this, but didn’t mention their electricity bills) – it hadn’t occurred to me, but was indeed the case. It was easy to diagnose its use by unplugging it and seeing what it did to the meter. My landlords couldn’t argue with that, and didn’t.
If the prior tenant was someone else, not you, then your tenant can explain to con ed exactly when she moved in and try to get them to pro-rate the charges for her bill. (She may need to send them her lease.) That’s why I always call and set up my new utility accounts when I move in to a new place, and have them come and do a reading, and call to get a read to close out my accounts at my old place – so I don’t get stuck paying for someone else’s utility use.
If you (or your new tenant) already did this, then after checking to see if they are sticking her with a deposit, I’d suggest checking out her refrigerator – you may need to repair or replace it. That solved my problem in that one apartment.
This once happened to me, and it was as 7:07 said: an estimate, not a true read. Had a credit for next month’s bill when there was an actual meter reading.
Second all those who say that you need to contact ConEd about the electricity costs of the prior tenant.
something sounds hinky. The bill for my entire house is usually only around $60-70.
Granted, not apples to apples but that did sound high for one floor/tenant. Even if it’s actual vs estimated, that’s a whole lotta electricity!
This happened to me not too long ago. Ask the tenant to look at the bill and determine if it based on an actual reading or an estimate. It could be the previous tenant got estimated readings and this tenant got an actual reading bill (which trued up the difference).
Also, was based on the time lapse from when the last tenant moved out to the current tenant, if electricity was being used in the apartment (fridge, etc.) the current tenant is likely being charged for a period of time when he/she was not living in the unit.
Finally, the old tenant may have been using energy saving light bulbs and appliances and the current tenant may not be. You would be surprised at the savings from energy saving lightbulbs.
The advice given above are also sound and should be explored.
Ignore the change in cost and compare the change in usage this year to last. I take it from the post that you or another tenant were in there last february. Compare the watts on your statement from then to theirs from now.
My electric bill has almost doubled the past few months but $182 does seem excessively high. I had this problem a few years back and Con suggested that I unplug all electric appliances and turn off all lights and then check to see if the Con Ed meter for that floor is still running. If the meter is still running after everything is turned off, then it’s more than likely there is a problem or someone else’s electric is running on their line. If you call an electrician or Con Ed in to check, this is exactly what they will do. Good luck.