Insert Blower causing spike in electric bill ??

[The Cank]

I just got my latest power bill in the mail and whoooo the electric usage is through the roof. Now its just my wife and myself in the house and our bills are always right about the same the only two differences between last month and this month are that I turned the blower on the furnace to circulate the heat from the wood burner through the rest of the house. I did this for the first few weeks and realized it didn't do much good so I just shut it back off.
Now the only difference is I keep the actual blower on my insert on while I have the fire going which is pretty much all the time. Now I can't see either one of those two things raising my electric usage by a third but these are the only two things electric wise that has changed .

 

[Heatsource]

not a huge draw, about as much as an incandescent bulb.

i'd look elsewhere for the electrical draw... leaks pipe, bad well pump, etc.

 

[Hogwildz]

not a huge draw, about as much as an incandescent bulb.

i'd look elsewhere for the electrical draw... leaks pipe, bad well pump, etc.

X2

 

[kennyp2339]

I had a similar experience last year, my electric bill kept creeping up at first it was high in December, my reaction was Christmas lights, home on vacation for almost 2 weeks = more usage, then January came and my bill was estimated (always a high estimate) due to bad weather, then came February.. I work for this power company serves me..we were called for mutual aide in Maryland from a large ice storm, spent 10 days out there.. came home and all I wanted was a warm shower and my bed..discovered my well pump died.. Luckily I know how to replace them and I had an extra one at my buddies place, had water in 2 hours, but a quickly found out why my electric bill was going up.

 

[The Cank]

I had a similar experience last year, my electric bill kept creeping up at first it was high in December, my reaction was Christmas lights, home on vacation for almost 2 weeks = more usage, then January came and my bill was estimated (always a high estimate) due to bad weather, then came February.. I work for this power company serves me..we were called for mutual aide in Maryland from a large ice storm, spent 10 days out there.. came home and all I wanted was a warm shower and my bed..discovered my well pump died.. Luckily I know how to replace them and I had an extra one at my buddies place, had water in 2 hours, but a quickly found out why my electric bill was going up.

yeah I'm kinda stumped... Guess I will see what it is next month before I do anything drastic.

 

[DanCorcoran]

yeah I'm kinda stumped... Guess I will see what it is next month before I do anything drastic.

Make sure they're using an actual reading, not an estimate.

 

[velvetfoot]

I've thought that an insert blower would be a good application for a high efficiency ecm motor since it's on all the time for 6 or 7 months.

 

[brenndatomu]

not a huge draw, about as much as an incandescent bulb.

i'd look elsewhere for the electrical draw... leaks pipe, bad well pump, etc.

Actually, not true. My furnace blower has 1/3 HP motor. With the pulleys adjusted to run the blower on low the running draw is 600+ watts or ~5 amps (yeah, I actually checked it ) that will really add up after a while. I bet that is what did it, but it definitely could be something else gone awry. Now, if Heatsource was referring to the insert blower motor, not the furnace blower, then yep, he is absolutly right, minimal draw

 

[hamsey]

Did you check your rates? We just had a big increase. Buddy of mine said his bill is going up $70 a month

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

My wood furnace fans raise my bill about $35 a month. My wood stove blower isnt noticeable on my bill.
You might want to check and see how many days in the billing cycle. Some cycles are 28 days and some are 33 and i have noticed those 5 days can make a big difference on my bill.

 

[The Cank]

I also have 1/3 HP blower motor on my furnace and it is set to medium.... Its goes to high when the furnace kicks on... maybe that was the problem... I have since turned it off so it only runs when the furnace kicks on. And my rates did go up also but I didnt expect that kind of increase ...Even with the increasing usages its still better than what I was at last year with my old furnace

 

[blades]

Due to rate per kilowatt increasing and a 50% hike in the supply charges I am almost at a point where running my own genny off natural gas is going to be cheaper than the electric grid pricing.

 

[hamsey]

Amazing those 30 to 50% rate increases

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I do know my bill shows average temps, and actual amount used, for the current month and the same month a year ago. So even if there is a rate increase.. I can see actual usage.

 

[mellow]

Most insert blowers use around 80-120 watts depending on what speed you have it set at, it might add a couple dollars running it 24/7 but nothing drastic.

Looks to me like you have a standard blower, you should be in that range: (broken link removed to http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/download/epi3-servicing-the-blower-tutorial/)

You could always buy a kill a watt and see exactly what it is drawing.

 

[jimdrea]

It has to be something else. I have a Napoleon 1402 and have scene a small increase in my bill.

 

[Heatsource]

Actually, not true. My furnace blower has 1/3 HP motor. With the pulleys adjusted to run the blower on low the running draw is 600+ watts or ~5 amps (yeah, I actually checked it ) that will really add up after a while. I bet that is what did it, but it definitely could be something else gone awry. Now, if Heatsource was referring to the insert blower motor, not the furnace blower, then yep, he is absolutly right, minimal draw

yes i was referring to the insert blower

 

[Gareth96]

Get you one of these and you can test anything that plugs into an outlet..

http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

 

[DanCorcoran]

I do know my bill shows average temps, and actual amount used, for the current month and the same month a year ago. So even if there is a rate increase.. I can see actual usage.

My bill at the cabin shows a reading, with a notation of either "actual" or "estimate". The latter is used when they can't get access to the meter for some reason. It is eventually sorted out when they get an actual, or if I take an actual and call them and report it.

 

[TimfromMA]

You should only see about a $20 per month increase in your electric bill as a result of your pellet stove.

 

[Grisu]

Amazing those 30 to 50% rate increases

Not necessarily. When the utility had some long-term agreement with a power plant to get a certain amount of power at a set price that can have simply run out. When wholesale rates changed quite a bit in the mean time any new agreement will lead to a sudden spike in customers' rates.

 

[SXIPro]

Maybe it's just due to the fact that it's dark at 6:00 AM and dark again at 4:30 PM. "Turn off the damn lights, whaddaya think I own the Electric Company?"