So a little over 3 months ago I emailed First Energy (my electricity provider) about my usage… If you look below, other then the last two months, the usage is very high… My “neighbors” averaged 894 KWH and my “efficient neighbors” averaged 612 KWH…
I have almost all LED bulbs… Most of my appliances are new (within 5 years)… My dryer is gas… My gas furnace is 2 years old… I have a gas hot water tank… I have one computer that’s on 24/7…
I have a dehumidifier that is older… A water softener that is about 3 years old…
Their reply was the canned:
Thank you for using the FirstEnergy web site. In reviewing your account, we see your consumption has been consistent for the past two years. We have attached your usage summary for your review. Your consumption cannot properly be compared with that of others when it comes to energy efficiency because every premise is different, despite the similar size and the consumption usage is different even with the same number of people in a household.
The number and types of devices can make a difference, as well. When mechanical meters begin to malfunction, they do not increase registration. They slow down and register less consumption. It may be there is something specific in your home that is the leading consumer of your power. The first step toward identifying a possible element, we would ask that you perform a breaker test.
You will need to turn off all the circuit breakers and locate your electric meter. Look at the meter. Once it has stopped spinning, turn on a single circuit breaker. Go back to look at the meter. If it appears to move at what you may consider to be a reasonable pace, turn that circuit breaker off. Go to the next circuit breaker and repeat the process until you have checked each individual circuit breaker. If you find a breaker causing the meter to spin rapidly, then whatever is connected to that individual breaker is pushing a greater percentage of your consumption.
So I ended up buying a Sense… Installed it and monitored my usage for the past two months… I was expected to find something mindblowing that was using all the electricity… But that never came… Everything looked pretty normal… Then I got my first bill since installing Sense… It was 776 KWH… Compare that to last Feburary and it was almost 1,000KWH LESS… Now, I know things can change but nothing major changed in my house… At all… So, I figured if I get another low bill I will reach out to First Energy again…
I get another bill and it’s even lower then last month… The lowest ever by FAR…
So I email them again saying basically WTF… I changed nothing and now my bill is waaaaay lower then it has ever been… They basically replied the same exact thing…
What are everyone’s thoughts? Sense confirms that the last two months usage are what they reported… They had to have done something, no?
Thanks