[HJBeck]

Might want to check the “average degree days” listed on your SECO bill. If the average is higher on the higher bill then hotter weather may be the culprit. If average is same or similar I would suspect one of your home appliances may be to blame (A/C system, refrigerator, etc). As things get older they run less efficiently .

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by turneronce

I have been away from home for two SECO billing periods, just 2 days difference between first and second month. For the first month SECO shows usage of 441 kwh, for the second 980 kwh, MORE THAN TWICE the usage. I have had them reread the meter and they say the reading is correct and all looks fine with the meter. Has anyone had the same experience and/or has an explanation? Please note, I am not arguing about increased rates, only about unexplained usage.

We as American citizens just sit back & let things like this happen,😲. Same thing going on everywhere not just in Florida! Something is terribly wrong!

[loweglor]

I’m angry about increased rates as well as usage. My bill last month was $190. I’ve never had a bill that high in my patio villa.

[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by go4fpsb

Same experience with SECO. June used around 900, July is 1900, we left July 6 and set the thermostat at 80. Doesn’t make sense. July 2021 bill was $64, July 2022 bill was $300.

$ difference was probably paritally related to increased fuel costs .

[LianneMigiano]

Mine went from 40 kWh to 1,997 kWh (from $44.24 to $277.69)!!!!! And they tell me that nothing is wrong....

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by LianneMigiano

Mine went from 40 kWh to 1,997 kWh (from $44.24 to $277.69)!!!!! And they tell me that nothing is wrong....

40kWh seems unbelievably low. My house used between 175kWh and 400kWh when I was back north and it sat empty.

In another post I mentioned that my meter was read incorrectly one time resulting in an abnormally high usage followed by an abnormally low usage. Could this have happened to you?

What I decided to do was to record my own readings every day for a month. Then I could see that I used just about this much every day and I could multiply by the number of days to get an estimate of what the monthly bill would be. This is how I noticed the incorrect reading. You might try doing the same thing. My current usage is about 35kWh per day.

[KarenandJohn]

Originally Posted by turneronce

I have been away from home for two SECO billing periods, just 2 days difference between first and second month. For the first month SECO shows usage of 441 kwh, for the second 980 kwh, MORE THAN TWICE the usage. I have had them reread the meter and they say the reading is correct and all looks fine with the meter. Has anyone had the same experience and/or has an explanation? Please note, I am not arguing about increased rates, only about unexplained usage.

We had the same issue and SECO read our meter twice. I had the HVAC looked at though it was serviced last Sept. It appears that the AC was running more than usual. That is all I can attribute it to. The person who I spoke with at SECO also mentioned that sometimes the outdoor HVAC unit can freeze up which causes it to run continuously. That goes beyond my area of knowledge.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by turneronce

I have been away from home for two SECO billing periods, just 2 days difference between first and second month. For the first month SECO shows usage of 441 kwh, for the second 980 kwh, MORE THAN TWICE the usage. I have had them reread the meter and they say the reading is correct and all looks fine with the meter. Has anyone had the same experience and/or has an explanation? Please note, I am not arguing about increased rates, only about unexplained usage.

My June bill was 260, July bill 410 and August is 128! Obviously, incorrect meter reading in July.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

It seems very strange that your house humidity is 64 percent at a temperature of 78 degrees. I maintain my house at 78 degrees all the time, and my humidity stays at around 45 percent. I don't use any humidity control system. You may want to purchase a temperature and humidity monitor at Home Depot or Lowes for about 12 dollars to double check the humidity in your house. It it is still at 64 percent, I think something is wrong.

Thermostats are not always the same. Your 78 degree setting could be different from my 78 degree setting etc. We were in a very good friends home lately and it was actually cold. 🥶. Their temp was set same as ours at 76 degrees.

[TrapX]

Originally Posted by Bikehike

I have an ecobee and it seems to be running all the time. I try to keep the humidity at 63 64% last night I turned off the air conditioner at 8:00 p.m. and the house stayed at 78 all night. Maybe if you see the temperature dropping at night to 75 or below, it might be a chance to turn off the air conditioner. If I don't turn off the air conditioner it runs all night every half hour or so. Also my bills have been twice as much in June and July

The Ecobee has a setting for how the fan operates. It can be set to run the fan at least xx minutes per hour, even if no AC is needed. There are arguments pro and con, but most HVAC techs say that isn't necessary, and causes extra wear and tear plus wasted money.

Ecobee can be connected to your internet so you can make adjustments from anywhere. If you are gone for months (and have no internet service) perhaps you can talk to your neighbor and they will let you onto their network.

[TrapX]

Originally Posted by KarenandJohn

...The person who I spoke with at SECO also mentioned that sometimes the outdoor HVAC unit can freeze up which causes it to run continuously. That goes beyond my area of knowledge.

The outdoor unit gets hot and never freezes. The indoor unit, where the cooling happens, can freeze. That happens when the system is oversized, and too much cooling is produced for the volume of air. Bigger is not better when it comes to AC. It can also happen if the indoor coils are caked in dirt or the filter is clocking a lot of air flow. If no air can get to an area, and condensate gets trapped, it can freeze. Clean everything and check the filter housing for bypass leaks and for a bad filter.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by justjim

Thermostats are not always the same. Your 78 degree setting could be different from my 78 degree setting etc. We were in a very good friends home lately and it was actually cold. 🥶. Their temp was set same as ours at 76 degrees.

I agree, but I actually have 3 thermometers, two of which are Acu-Rite devices sold at Home Depot and Amazon for about 11 dollars. The Acu-Rite devices monitor the temperature and humidity and display the high and low readings over a 24 hour time period. The temperature in my house never varies more than a degree or so away from 78 degrees. This morning, the humidity in my house is 41 percent, and it did not exceed 44 percent during the past 24 hours. It rarely ever goes above 50 percent. I think the poster who said that their air conditioner is set at 78 degrees and the humidity in their house is 64 percent is very inconsistent with my experience, unless they keep the windows open.

[mikeycereal]

My first bill was about $100, covering May/June. 2nd bill was about $84. Still cheaper than my former place in Vegas during the summer... which had less square feet. I typically run AC all day at about 77 (did there too) during non winter months.

[Oldragbagger]

That seems totally out of whack to me. Our bill (patio villa) only differed $5, $96 in June, $101 in July. We have Duke.