Finally bought my first home but have no idea if my electricity use is normal or not, it seems off to me. Any electricians out there that can suggest if it seems normal?

My electricity provider says that we typically use 30-40kwh per day with some days up to 80kwh. I have no idea why the usage is so high. Almost all of the lighting is LED, and almost every appliance is natural gas. The only appliance that is electric is the clothes dryer.

Natural gas furnace, fireplaces, hot water tank, stove, etc.

It seems to be higher usage in the winter despite having three r2d2 air conditioners running in the summer time and almost all of our heating being natural gas in the winter. We have one plug in oil filled heater outside in the detached storage / workshop area.

We do have a well for our water system and that involves a water softener and UV filter and whatnot. Not sure how much power a well pump uses.

Does 30-40kwh average use with up to 80kwh sound normal or on the higher end?

I worry that something on the property might be siphoning power or something. We also suspect the previous owners of the property were probably growing pot, the outdoor workshop has a 200amp service and a breaker box with like 20 empty breaker slots that were filled in with just 3-4 remaining for the lights and plugs.

Any info appreciated!

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[–] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You dont say where you are.

I'm in the UK and we have smart electric meters. The app provided by the company let's me see my usage over the last 12 months by day/week/month.

I've also just had solar panels installed that came with an app that lets me monitor real time usage.

My house's base load is approximately 200w per hour (fridge/freezer/lights). And we use about 8kwh per day which includes turning the oven/microwave on.

On days when we charge the car that goes upto about 30kwh.

So yes, it sounds like you're using a huge amount. If I was going to guess why,it'll be the oil heater. It probably isn't clicking off or isn't reaching temperature. Next culprit will be the air conditioners. The pump probably only uses 300w tbh.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 week ago

    Western Canada. We hit 30-40 average with peaks of 80 in the summer without the oil heater, winter goes up from there once the heater is used.

    This is the consumption for the previous few months.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    I have similar numbers. It's a small house with gas hot water and central heating, but with an electric power shower (which I absolutely hate) and we're using 10kwh per day, plus 30kwh a week for the car, so around 100kwh per week.

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