This is my first post so bear with me, i live in a small 700 sqf apartment, 3rd floor if that matters? other two apartments i have lived in the past, always had the same habits but never an electric bill over $80, and was always under around 700 kWh during summer. somehow, in this new place, the bill has been over $135-140 every month? also, over 1,030 kWh? for some context, i do get heat sick so during summer i keep the (central) ac at about 66-68° f. other than that, i make sure to always unplug every kitchen appliance, tv, etc etc. our apartment is well insulated, so i don’t believe the ac is working overtime, it never has issues and is always set to auto. does anybody have recommendations on what i can do to lower this, or what i should do to check what’s taking so much electricity?
edit to add : im seeing a majority comments about the ac being the reason. the issue with this is, my last apartment was also a 3rd floor, we kept the ac at the same temperature and our bill was never over $80. also to note, that apartment was in direct sunlight most of the day from the windows and balcony. our current apartment is not.
Should I be concerned about my electric bill?
byu/Free-Winter-7384 inFrugal
Posted by Free-Winter-7384
6 Comments
kill-a-watt meter. Some libraries have them for free. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_A_Watt
Also check if you have any sockets your 1st, 2nd floor neighbors could be using. Sometimes basement or staircase circuits are tied to one of the units.
If the third floor is the top floor, it gets hotter in summer than lower floors.
You’re living on the top floor so you’re getting direct sunlight on your roof. Heat from the apartments below is coming up from the floor. Heat rises. Anything below 72 degrees runs the air conditioning constantly. Get a couple fans and sit in front of them and raise the thermostat.
Central AC is expensive to run, and insulation be damned you’re in the hottest part of the building.
1000kwh is a lot for 700sq ft but I’d be shocked if it was anything BUT the AC.
That temp is quite low. Can you tolerate 72? Every temperature delta from outside and inside is exponentially more expensive.
The insulation from one apartment to the next can vary greatly. So can the amount of energy your appliances need (think like fridge, water heater etc) So just because you had one 3rd floor apartment that ran you $80 doesn’t mean that every 3rd floor apartment will. Electricity has also gone up drastically in my area so costs could just be up as well.