Electrical – Need to understand the home electrical meter to see why bill is so high and/or if neighbor is on same meter

electricalmeter

I would like to know how to understand my digital home electrical meter.

This picture shows what my home meter CURRENTLY reads. I intend to unplug everything in my tiny apartment in order to get another read.

My reason?

My apartment consists of 1 SINGLE room, a kitchen, and a TINY Bathroom. That's it. Nothing else. Yet my electric bill is upwards of 370.00 a month. I calculated it should be no more than 190 at its highest possible amount. I believe my downstairs neighbors might be using electric (unknowingly) from my electrical supply.

Photo of digital meter displaying 32676

My entire apartment is so small it only has 6 TOTAL outlets..

  1. My refrigerator & a bedside alarm clock for time of day viewing
  2. Nothing
  3. An unused toaster, I have used it 3 times in a year
  4. A microwave that gets used 10 minutes a month if that, otherwise only displaying the time of day on the front
  5. Nothing

Outlet 6 is the "big one":

A. A 32" LED smart TV
B. A PS4
C. Cell phone charger
D. Your regular every day home stand up lamp (100W bulb)

Extras:
A hot water heater which I believe is gas.

And depending on the season:
Winter: 1 single electric baseboard heater, JUST ONE, in the entire apartment 5 feet long.
Summer: 1 single 6000 BTU air conditioner

That's it. Even if everything is used to excess I calculated less than 190 a month yet my bill is nearly twice that. What I personally want to know is if something is going on that I don't know about. Currently all I want to do is unplug everything and check the meter while that is going on. It will take a whopping 10 minutes to do.

Can someone tell me what those numbers mean on the display? Should it read almost 0000 if I unplug everything? I even plan on unplugging my fridge, everything..

Please help. I need to find cause to get my landlord to act. I could lose my place to live over this.

Best Answer

They're kilowatt-hours. If you use 1000 watts for 1 hour, it'll add one to the current number displayed.

It's like an odometer on your car. It only counts up, and will never be at 0 except when it was brand new.

Where is your neighbor's meter? If you can't find a second one, chances are you're paying for their power too.

If your neighbor has their own meter, they will have their own circuit breaker panel too. If they're separate, then just turn off your breakers randomly and see if it affects your neighbor. If he complains that his heat or fridge keeps turning off then you know it's on your electrical service.

Best time to turn them off would be when they're home and trying to cook. That way they'll notice if their oven or fridge loses power.

If there is only one meter, then don't turn any breakers off. You're definitely paying for both homes if there is only one meter.

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