Electrical – Is it expected for an empty house to use 14 kWh per day

electrical

We have bought a new house but we haven't moved in yet. I've received our electric bill several days ago and it shows our electric bill on average is about 14 kWh per day but it seems the only working appliance in our house is the refrigerator.

Can someone suggest whether this is expected or not?

Best Answer

That does seem high for an unoccupied building, but not imposssible. It works out to about 5 amps drawn 24 hours a day.

These are plenty of things that might be adding up. The biggest ones would be:

  • Electric hot water. Even if you dont use it, it keeps getting reheated
  • AC or electric heat, if they were left on or there is a faulty thermostat turning them on
  • Lights left on.
  • Fridge running non stop - an empty fridge with a small leak in the door seal might do that.
  • Small appliances like keurig coffee makers that preheat the water all day

Easiest thing to do is watch the hydro meter. It is easier if you still have an old non-smart meter with a spinning disk, but you can just write down the numbers. Unplug the fridge and turn everything else off, check what the electric meter says and check again in half an hour.

If it has moved something is still using power. If you can't figure out what, narrow it down by turning circuit breakers off one by one or a group at a time until it stops.

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