My brother's exploding power bill.

[Are_grits_groceries]

I pay my brother's bill online. It is around $25 a month. I began to do it when he got pinned in by an ice storm and had forgotten to send it in. I kept on and he reimburses me. NBD.

The I saw him at the beginning of January and he warned me the bill would be much higher. He had gotten tired of bundling up for the 'cold' and was using space heaters. The bill came in at $97.

I asked him then if he was living in a refrigerator? I also told him he was gonna burn hisself up using those heaters. He lives in a very, very old 4-room woodframe house.

The other thing I told him was to expect a visit from the authorities. That type of power rise would be flagged somewhere. He told me that this was a one off and the bill should go back down.

So I get the next bill and it's $160. I called him and asked him what the hell he was really doing. I get the 'I am cold' scenario. He will be bringing me moneys this week to pay for that.

I am highly skeptical of his story. I am tempted to drive down there, but then I might have to testify.
Anybody else have questions besides me about this?

[KT2000]

1. don't know where he lives

but my electric bill is usually $75 or under most of the year. Fall, it went up to the $90s. Last month it was $227. I am afraid to see the next one. We have had colder than normal temps this winter in the NW.

[renegade000]

2. Does your brother spend the entire day in the house?

If so, I can easily see the power bill shooting up like that during cold snaps if he's trying to keep himself warm with space heaters for 24 hours out of the day.

The power bill for my apartment shot up the past two months in a similar fashion (from ~$50 to $175). Problem was neither I or my spouse was remembering to turn down the thermostat before we left for work, so the central heating was trying to maintain the same temperature 24/7... which ends up being expensive if the building is not well insulated.

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. I think he works outside some but who knows.

It is a very old house with no insulation. I suggested he work on insulating and closing up one room to heat and cool. Where that suggestion went I have no idea.

I have no idea what is really going on. It is probably the way he is trying to stay warm.
He has an engineering degree and a cousin nearby has an environmental science degree. They do work on some things together. I m sure they could come up with some plan.

[Blue_true]

28. He could try sealing cracks in the house and using

Tyvek to cover all surface areas from the inside, but the process is going to cost thousands of dollars. Space heaters are expensive to use and dangerous, he is better off installing a forced hot water system that he can run on natural gas.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. Programable thermostats start at around thirty bucks

and last for years.

I actually have all my settings at 68 and force myself to turn it up when I want it warmer. Then it automatically goes back to 68 a few hours later.

[Warpy]

3. If he's using space heaters instead of the furnace that came with the house

because he neglected to pay for the gas or oil, he could be running up that kind of a bill.

You do need to go see him and find out just what the hell is going on and why.

And if the furnace conked out and nobody can pay to fix or replace it, buy him a couple of electric blankets. They work better and cheaper than space heaters and if you've got long extension cords, they don't even cramp your style that much.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. It's a house built in the 1950's?

It has never had a furnace. It has always been heated with fireplaces and wood stoves.
The temperature has been very cold only a few times.
There is zero insulation.
That said, he seems to be using the least efficient method for staying warm.
There have to be better ways to be warm and not burn money.

This has been a mild winter. I hate to see what would happen if we really had a cold spell.

[Warpy]

7. You still need to check it out

Find out why he's not using the fireplaces or wood stoves this year.

Funny, my house was built in 1946 and has insulation--not much, but there's pink stuff in there, found it when I had to replace the soap dish in the shower.

[wishstar]

16. At least electric heaters are much safer than fireplaces, wood stoves and kerosene heaters

To save money last winter, my neighbor burned wood in old fireplace with crumbling chimney that not only leaked fumes but nearly set entire house on fire - fortunately he hadn't yet left for work and was able to call fire dept promptly. Since then, he has quit burning wood.

Especially fo older or sicker folks, electric heaters are preferable for not giving off carbon monoxide or causing chimney fires and most newer models have good safety features such as turning off if they tip over.

[wishstar]

6. $160 in height of winter probably not high enough to trigger alert yet

$100 to $200 is very common for small older homes in my area of the south in winter, especially homes using all electric. Some types of heaters cause big spike in bills. If that is the cause, bills should drop soon.

If he is not that high above norm for his neighborhood, the increase alone probably won't trigger flag by electric co. But if electric company gets tip from a suspicious neighbor too, could be problem for authorities to be alerted. I would think though that bill would have to at least go over $200 to trigger concern. Cases I have heard of involving this scenario involved bills in the hundreds of dollars a month.

But it is concerning even if it is just heaters since they can be safety hazard with overheating and wires running over floor if he is not careful.

[qanda]

8. I don't understand

Authorities come out if your electric bill spikes?

[progree]

9. Suspicion of growing marijuana indoors on a large scale I guess (nt)

[qanda]

10. Oh, thanks

I had no clue that would be legal to do.

[progree]

15. I don't think they could get a search warrant just because the electric billl is high

but what they do is use infrared detectors which detect the pattern of a big indoor grow operation, and I think that's enough to get their search warrant. I read an article about this many years ago, so my memory is significantly less than perfect.

On Edit: There is Kyllo vs. U.S., a 2001 Supreme Court ruling which prohibits searching based only on thermal detection
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93127&page=1

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. I suppose the fear is they will think he is growing pot. But I doubt those numbers will trigger.

I saw an episode of that show Holmes on Homes where he had to repair a whole house that a landlord inadvertently rented to a grow operation.

Besides busting through walls and chimneys to vent tell tale odor out the roof, the crooks busted through the foundation to tap in to the power prior to the electricity reaching the meter. Doing it that way avoids thousand dollar plus monthly bills that WILL raise suspicion.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. That isn't very high IMO

I live in an old wood frame house, maybe a little bigger than his (3 bdrm, 1 bath) and have gas heat. My bills are higher than his are.

Of course I am in Detroit and we get cold up here. Since I don't know where he lives it is hard for me to compare.

I don't see any way of bills being around twenty five bucks a month if he is heating his house with electricity. My electric bill is around that number in the spring and fall when I am neither heating nor cooling my house (much).

If you really want to get into the weeds with this you could just do some math.

*Calculate Usage. Divide the number of watts by 1000 and multiply the result by 1.5. Multiply this result by the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity for the cost per hour to use your heater. A 1500-watt heater costs about 15 cents per hour to operate.*


So in very round numbers.. say the heater is running 20 hours a day at 15 cents per hour. That is three bucks a day per space heater. Times that by 30 days in a month and you are at ninety bucks per heater per month. Then you need to add in your regular electrical usage from appliances etc.

One sixty doesn't seem high to me, unless he is in a warm climate.

[Are_grits_groceries]

18. About 60 miles from the beach. It ain't that cold. nt

[Are_grits_groceries]

19. There are no appliances.

He has/had a teevee. A microwave. A radio.
He was just bragging about his new outhouse. The boy ain't right!

[Motown_Johnny]

40. ok then, maybe that is high

Living near a beach without things like a refrigerator or washing machine makes a pretty big difference.


I guess the thing to do is play dumb and see if they power bills go back down in a couple months when the weather warms up again.


It seems like accusing him of something is a lose/lose for you. If you are right he will get defensive and if you are wrong he will be offended.

I wish you luck. If it were me I would drop a hint about the high electric bills once the space heater explanation no longer makes any sense.

[Old Vet]

14. Trust me, A couple hundred dollar electric bill wouldnt fire up one plant.

Most people cover the entire room in foil not only to keep the heat in but hide the massive heat signature it shows from aerial snooping police do when a bill is un-believeable high.

[NutmegYankee]

39. With modern LED lights, indoor growing is quite easier.

Granted, I don't use drugs and am growing tomatoes.

[Are_grits_groceries]

17. Thanks for the info on the electric bill.

I really don't think he's into growing weed, but he does live in an area that the authorities keep an eye on.
You will find people from the scum of the earth to the salt of the earth. I'm kin to both.
Peewee Gaskins, the serial killer, grew up there. My relatives knew him and I heard lots of stories. They have still not found all of the bodies he disposed of.

My brother and others think Peewee may have used his house at times when it was not occupied. When my brother decided to move in, they cleaned up syringes and gawd knows what. There is a suspicious stain in the living room.

[OregonBlue]

30. I thought the new grow bulbs used much less electricity. $160 doesn't seen to high for a winter bill

[dembotoz]

20. Truth will be as spring approaches does it go down

In winter my utility bill shoots to just under 175

And I am what they call frugal... Kids call it something else

[Vinca]

21. Our winter electric bill is really high because we have a huge house and half is heated

by electricity. It never occurred to me the power company might think we have a drug operation going on.

[Are_grits_groceries]

23. It isn't the high bill per se.

It is the sudden, huge change.
If your bill follows the same pattern in general, there would be no qualms. A high bill in your situation wouldn't either.
It's the sudden increase that might raise eyebrows.

[avebury]

26. What were his bills for the same time period

month wise last winter? Are the current bills in line with last year's bills or out of whack with them as well?

You might want to make your brother take over paying his own bill and get your name out of it.

[Are_grits_groceries]

36. Waaaay out of whack!

The bills are not in my name. I'm not crazy.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

22. What state does he live in? There is probably a weatherization non-profit that could help insulate

Space heaters are dangerous...so getting him some help insulating and weatherstripping doors and windows will help a lot. There are also fake fireplaces that put off heat, or even small heaters that can be installed if he doesn't have a working furnace/heater.


Here is a link to help you find weatherization assistance by state:

http://www.waptac.org/Grantee-Contacts.aspx

[LaydeeBug]

24. drive there....go there...be there for your brother

But I live in a old house too, and my bill, on the low side, will be less than one hundred...and in the winter....it is usually more than 2, sometime 3 hundred.

Just sayin'

Maybe see if he need a more efficient heater. (Maybe one with a thermostat?)

[SticksnStones]

25. You're already digitally implicated as you are the one paying the bill

Not sure I'd be airing this to random strangers on the internets but to each his own I suppose.

Good luck...trust but verify.

What's the asset forfeiture statute in your or his state, by the way?

[Tanuki]

27. Any chance he could be allowing someone else, e.g. in a camper or shed

on his property, to run an extension cord from the house?

[Adrahil]

29. If something is going on, you're are already eyeballs deep in it.

You had best find out and do something about it if there is. Otherwise, you could go down too.

[TrekLuver]

32. Doesn't it matter that the account is not in the OP's name?

[Adrahil]

33. Nope. The authorities can EASILY see that the OP paid the bill...

It's not much of a leap for them to assume the OP is helping financially back whatever is happening there. OP needs to get ahead of this.

[NutmegYankee]

31. What's the price per KWh?

Since I live in Connecticut, and pay one of the highest electric prices in the country, a $160 bill isn't anything to care about.

[TrekLuver]

34. I've never heard of a 25$ electric bill. It costs that much just to have the service let alone

any useage.

[NCTraveler]

35. A couple of space heaters...

can do a number on an electric bill. Not a good primary source of heat for a whole house.

[Brother Buzz]

37. Does your brother have a smart meter?

I understand they have really slick software that can differentiate between consumption abnormalities and cannabis cultivation.

[MindPilot]

38. There might be a problem with the home's wiring.

It is possible that there is a "leak" to ground usually caused by deteriorated insulation or moisture intrusion in a breaker panel or entry box. My recommendation is to have an electrician take a look.

[Codeine]

41. Space heaters are a godawful waste of electricity.

It's also quite possible that the meteoric rise has to do with his increased usage putting him into a new rate bracket. When we use too much gas heating in the winter we get bumped into a higher per-unit cost plan and the bill jumps considerably. Same thing when we use a lot of electricity cooling this place come summer.

[Egnever]

42. If he is reimbursing you I fail to see the issue

As long as he is paying you back I don't understand why you have an issue with it.

[flamingdem]

43. Try a Lasko heater

I bought one and it dropped my bills which were like his.

Now it's not over 40 a month and I use it more.