Electricity Price Increases

[BackRoad]

So the question of the hour...we have a 15 year old freezer and a 2 year old freezer.

Does anyone know of a reliable measurement device that can be used to verify the actual watts used by each for a comparison?

 

[WinterDeere]

Dude, that's crazy. We have 3000 sq feet with a heat pump. Two fridges and three freezers. Leave the house lights on the front of the garage burning 24/7/365. Electric stove, bread maker every day, wife that bakes a lot, every meal at home, electric coffee maker, electric tea kettle. Our highest usage month was less than 2200 kw last February when we were cranking out freeze dryer batches more or less continuously. We average more like 1300 per month and I'm always walking through the house flipping the lights off.

8400 sq.ft. here, and most of it is uninsulated field stone. House was built in four phases, starting in the 1730's.

We do have two heat pumps, but neither is doing much. One is heating my shop, built into a 1770's carriage barn, which is spray foamed but has large traditional uninsulated overhead doors. I'm only heating 1200 sq.ft. to something like 50 or 55F with that, so other than when I turn it up to 65F on a Saturday to do some work out there, it's usually not working that hard. The other is in a music studio over my garage, a converted attic space insulated with blown-in cellulose, and less than 300 sq.ft.

I suppose we have one bathroom up on the 4th floor that's heated with resistive electric, but on a timer for only a few hours each day. The rest of the heat is a mix of wood, oil, and propane.

 

[WinterDeere]

So the question of the hour...we have a 15 year old freezer and a 2 year old freezer.

Does anyone know of a reliable measurement device that can be used to verify the actual watts used by each for a comparison?

I will bet good money the 15 year old one will outlive the 2 year old one.

The refrigerator my grandparents bought in 1953 is still running, as is the one my mom bought in the early 1980's. But each of our kitchen refrigerators bought in the last 10 years have died after only 2 - 4 years each.

 

[ponytug]

So the question of the hour...we have a 15 year old freezer and a 2 year old freezer.

Does anyone know of a reliable measurement device that can be used to verify the actual watts used by each for a comparison?

Kill-a-watt meter,or one of its many clones, was developed for this.

KILL A WATT Electric Monitor

Amazing deals on this Kill-A-Watt™ Electric Monitor at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

All the best, Peter

 

[Carl_NH]

So the question of the hour...we have a 15 year old freezer and a 2 year old freezer.

Does anyone know of a reliable measurement device that can be used to verify the actual watts used by each for a comparison?

Get one of these or similar Kilowat meter - i have one and like it, Amazon.com: Kill A Watt Connect P4498 Electricity Usage Monitor Power Consumption Meter with Two Piece Housing and 35 Inch Cord for Easy Use : Industrial & Scientific

 

[BackRoad]

Thanks for the recommendations Peter and Carl.

And Mr. Winterdeere...you may be right on the short lifetime of the newer freezer, unfortunately, it's the one with 1/2 an Angus in it!

 

[mjonesnh]

I will bet good money the 15 year old one will outlive the 2 year old one.

The refrigerator my grandparents bought in 1953 is still running, as is the one my mom bought in the early 1980's. But each of our kitchen refrigerators bought in the last 10 years have died after only 2 - 4 years each.

Have an upright freezer purchased 1982-83, still going and never been serviced. Don't think I would trade it for a new one today. Also have a side by side fridge from 1991,also never serviced. Going to run it till it stops

 

[NoTrespassing]

Have an upright freezer purchased 1982-83, still going and never been serviced. Don't think I would trade it for a new one today. Also have a side by side fridge from 1991,also never serviced. Going to run it till it stops

knock on wood man...

 

[Carl_NH]

Thanks for the recommendations Peter and Carl.

And Mr. Winterdeere...you may be right on the short lifetime of the newer freezer, unfortunately, it's the one with 1/2 an Angus in it!

Your welcome - I have the less $30 plug in Killowatt with screen and plug all in one housing - which works fine for higher receptacles but if you have one low on the floor or behind a freezer the more pricey extension would be nice to have.

We had older Honeywell HEPA filters running constantly upstairs and downstairs, and between the replacement filters and running a constant speed, they were drawing 20KWH each per month, When the fan went in one, we replaced both with the BlueAire 311 with automatic fans and I checked using the Kilowat meter and it was much less 5-6 watts running on low and our electric bill dropped too!

 

[WinterDeere]

And Mr. Winterdeere...you may be right on the short lifetime of the newer freezer, unfortunately, it's the one with 1/2 an Angus in it!

Not to go on a rant of my personal issues here, but this is the most irritating thing about all of this. It's real easy to lose several hundred dollars or more in food, every time you wake up one morning to find the refrigerator cooking rather than cooling your food.

Also, we always bought our major appliances from a local family-owned chain (Gerhards, I grew up knowing Mr. Gerhard), not because they were cheaper, but because they would always take care of you with quick service when needed. But just as all the rest seem to be doing, we learned on a recent refrigerator failure, that they've now contracted out their service to one of these big service conglomerations. They told us our refrigerator failure is "probably" under warranty, but would need something like 10 days to even come diagnose the problem, before even making the warranty determination or ordering parts!

Not many can go 2+ weeks without their main kitchen refrigerator, we certainly didn't want to, so we ended up tossing a 1-something year old refrigerator and spending another $4k on a new one, just to avoid being without one all that time. When something like your main kitchen refrigerator goes, service should be same-day or next-day, at least as far as diagnosing the problem and getting any required parts on order. I don't even mind waiting a week for the completion of the repair, but waiting 10 days just to find out if it will be covered or repaired at a reasonable cost, is just not workable.

Your welcome - I have the less $30 plug in Killowatt with screen and plug all in one housing - which works fine for higher receptacles but if you have one low on the floor or behind a freezer the more pricey extension would be nice to have.

We have 3 Emporia Vue systems, which have been great, although I'm sure there's even newer or nicer tech out there today. Ours have 26 (I think?) clamp-on ammeter probes in each system, for the two mains and 24 (I think?) branch circuits. I just open the app on my phone and look at current or historical usage on any circuit, any time. It also monitors mains voltage, so you can plot in watts, kWh, or even dollars (if you enter your billing rate).

 

[thclimer]

Who was the manufacture of the fridge?

 

[WinterDeere]

Who was the manufacture of the fridge?

I think the most recent was Samsung. Honestly, I've changed brands so many times that I can't remember for sure, and have found problems with all of them. I think our current model is a GE, but even there, I'd have to walk over to the kitchen to confirm.

I'm always in a big rush to find one that fits the opening, when one dies. So I am usually grabbing whatever I can get quickest, over shopping for a particular brand or model. We like to have over/under configuration, in a cabinet opening more popular for side-by-side models, so our selection is usually a bit limited.

One regret is that 2 or 3 refrigerators ago, I trashed a fridge over what was probably a very minor and simple repair, just because I was tired of dealing with another minor annoyance on that model. The required repair was very likely a blower fan motor that cooled the condensor, but the reason I tossed the thing was that the freezer drain would clog about once per year, causing me to have to empty and defrost the whole freezer, spending a few hours to clear that damn drain each time. I suspect that if I just replaced the $40 blower fan and kept cleaning that drain every year, that refrigerator might still be running today.

 

[kenmbz]

I think the most recent was Samsung. Honestly, I've changed brands so many times that I can't remember for sure, and have found problems with all of them. I think our current model is a GE, but even there, I'd have to walk over to the kitchen to confirm.

I'm always in a big rush to find one that fits the opening, when one dies. So I am usually grabbing whatever I can get quickest, over shopping for a particular brand or model. We like to have over/under configuration, in a cabinet opening more popular for side-by-side models, so our selection is usually a bit limited.

One regret is that 2 or 3 refrigerators ago, I trashed a fridge over what was probably a very minor and simple repair, just because I was tired of dealing with another minor annoyance on that model. The required repair was very likely a blower fan motor that cooled the condensor, but the reason I tossed the thing was that the freezer drain would clog about once per year, causing me to have to empty and defrost the whole freezer, spending a few hours to clear that damn drain each time. I suspect that if I just replaced the $40 blower fan and kept cleaning that drain every year, that refrigerator might still be running today.

Did you let Gerhardts know about this and did you buy the next one from a different place?

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Just got bill in NH for 381 KWH was $107.00 of which $65 is delivery and $42 cost of electricity - which is interesting - we used 3X you did Jstpssng, and paid about the same. ($35x3=$105.)

How do you use so little power? We have gas stove, electric dryer, oil boiler HW, and 1.5 HP well pump then lights etc in 3K SF house and 2 of us,

I just open my bill, for 308 KWH, with taxes and fees, fees, fees, it was $83.87

 

[WinterDeere]

Did you let Gerhardts know about this and did you buy the next one from a different place?

Yes, and yes! But unlike the old days when you'd call the store and Mr. Gerhard himself would answer, this time I was just talking to one of their several-dozen sales people, so I doubt the message went too far.

I told them there was no point in buying from them, versus Lowes who was cheaper and had more options available for next-day delivery, if not for the service they used to deliver. Then, I went and bought a fridge at Lowes.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

We have a new build in 2020, and I bought new LG appliances. Refrigerator kept popping Siemens 20a CAFCI breaker. Since we live in a remote area of VT, with no authorized service center, they gave me a new one. That one did the same. Turns out, there is a new style compressor system that runs havoc on certain brands/types of breakers. Electrician I hired found and changed out. No more fridge issues. But I'm not confident with any new appliance, as they are built to a price point, and disposable. A previous Samsung could only be repaired by Samsung authorized repair center, as they don't share parts and info with others.

 

[WinterDeere]

Yeah, no GFI breakers here, other than general-use receptacles in kitchen. The fridge is on its own dedicated non-GFI breaker. But we do have some power quality issues, in that maybe once per year we'll find the voltage coming in the mains as high as 270 volts. We call the utility, they send somoene out within a day or so, and it gets re-adjusted... until the next big storm knocks it out of whack.

The story I got more than 10 years ago was about a malfunctioning auto transformer, that had to be manually reset... but 15 or 20 visits from the utility over the last 15 years, and it's still doing the same thing maybe once or twice per year.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Yes, and yes! But unlike the old days when you'd call the store and Mr. Gerhard himself would answer, this time I was just talking to one of their several-dozen sales people, so I doubt the message went too far.

I told them there was no point in buying from them, versus Lowes who was cheaper and had more options available for next-day delivery, if not for the service they used to deliver. Then, I went and bought a fridge at Lowes.

I stopped buying appliances from our local Lowes because they only stock 1 or 2 models at the store. Menards stocks every model they sell. Lowes requires you to buy the appliance and have it delivered from about 40 miles away after a day or two depending on the day you purchase. When I pay for an appliance I want it put on my truck before I leave the parking lot.

 

[WinterDeere]

When I pay for an appliance I want it put on my truck before I leave the parking lot.

I can see that for many things, but not refrigerators. At least in PA, we can't set an old refrigerator at the curb for pickup, without it being evacuated of refrigerant and tagged by a licensed pro. So much nicer to just let the delivery guys cart the old one away, and at least around here, Lowes usually has some model that will fit available for next-day delivery.

 

[gsganzer]

Our new place has some upscale Kitchen Aid line. I've never seen them at any of the stores before, but they're pretty fancy. I'm hoping they're reliable, because I suspect they're expensive. I think refrigerators and dishwashers are the most problem prone appliances.