I'd put this in 'Green Living' but I'm not sure the products used to convert this house I'm living in is exactly 'green'. If I had my way, I'd use strawbale.

This is foam. Intentially, its suppose to lower our evil energy bill.

I suspected the meter was faulty and had a guy come check it out and he was RUDE! "Sorry mam' due to de-regulation I can't talk to you."

My dh pressed onto him, to intimidate some answers out of this guy and the owner of this house (whom I've known since a child) flat out asked him, "Are you purposely trying to be rude?" According to him she has to talk to the energy provider.

This might get confusing. I'll breifly explain:

We're in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy (we're still paying off our debt with this type of bankruptcy)

Because of the Bankruptcy our credit sucks so in order to transfer the utilities in our name we have to pay an ungodly amount of $700 just to sign on. We can't do this so we give the money to the owner, they pay the bills.

Last year during the summer our AC was on A LOT. Consequently our bill was never higher than $500.

We set up a system with my dh employer to take out the money for our rent and a fixed amount to cover utilities. We never see that money. It goes straight into their bank each time we get paid. This way we can't play that default game.

Well, during the fall and winter months our bill has reached $1000.00! Yes, I cried. Yes, we see the actual bill. We've been so paranoid to keep everything off in hopes it will lower the bills. Our efforts are in vein. Our last bill was $787.55. :(

Is someone tapping in on our electrical current???


We did our own investigation:

Everything turned off, the meter took 2 min. 30sec to complete one roataion. It shouldn't be moving at all!

Thinking its our PC server we turned it on to record the meter. An even 2 min.

I wish there was an energy autitor in my area.

We had a mice problem. I imagine they've done damage from knawing on wires up in the attic. Could there be an exposed wire? That its sending waves of electrical currents?

Bare with me.

The contractor died last week of an heart attack so things are on hold for now. But for how long I don't know.

I'm trying to be positive about this whole thing. I REALLY HOPE ITS DONE BEFORE THE BABY ARRIVES!

I'm posting pictures.

Inside pic. of fireplace. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures220.jpg)

Fireplace removed. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures218.jpg)

Fireplace being torn down. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures206.jpg)

New window replacing the fireplace and begining the foaming insulation project. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures248.jpg)


What was left to be finished by a new contractor. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures304.jpg)

Before pic. of west window. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures235.jpg)

New window. (http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/PennyPoppy/HousePictures251.jpg)

Hopefully I can update with pictures that say "ITS COMPLETELY DONE!" soon. And I hope to report a lower energy bill.

Okay, this is really confusing.

If you have electric heat, yeah, I can see a $1000 bill.

If you don't have electric heat, and your energy bill is for heat and electricity, $1000 is *very* high, but not unheard of.

If this is just a $1000 elec. bill, something's rotten in Denmark.

Call your local library, university, and/or county extension office. They can provide you with a device to measure your electric use, or do an energy audit.

If you had a grounded live wire that would cause this. For example if you were to take out an electric socket there are at least three wires running into it. One carries the electricity to the socket, the other completes the circuit back to the electrical box. The third is the ground wire, this basically discharges extra electricity into the ground. That's the third plug in a three pronged outlet, its for safety. However, if the hot wire were somehow touching the ground wire, it would constantly be discharging electricity into the ground. If you have shut everything in your house off and still see the meter running, this is most likely what is happening. I would get an electrician in right away to figure out where this is and fix it.

We did our own investigation:

Everything turned off, the meter took 2 min. 30sec to complete one rotation. It shouldn't be moving at all!


Was the fridge unplugged? Is there a radon mitigation system?

As Mightymoo suggested, it is very possible that there is a grounded wire somewhere in the house. With all the work going on there, a nicked wire could be *any place* in the house. I believe the meter goes around 10 times per KWH. So a possible electric problem is costing you 2 KWH per hour (about 20-cents). Which works out to as much as $150 a month. Also, if there is a short it is a possible fire hazard. :( Call an electrician.

About the thousand dollar heating bill.

(I believe they have an electric heat pump)

Houses need more than insulation - they need wind protection. In a normal house, heated air leaks out slowly. The tightness "goal" is to have about 1/3 of the air inside the house leak out during an hour. You have insulation in place, with a "vapor barrier" of kraft faced paper on the inside (probably) and some drywall on the inside (hopefully). From the outside I can see floor joists, rafters, studs, and drywall. Hot air rises. It escapes from cracks in the house, and cold replacement air comes in at the basement level. Basically, you have wintered over in a house with the equivalent of all the windows open. The air you heated mostly left the house, resulting in large heating bills. I am sorry. :(

The spray foam insulation in the pictures is a good product and a great insulator. BUT it should not have any exposure to outside weather - it will be damaged by UV. Same with the drywall and the (visible) electric wiring - they should not be exposed to the elements, ever. The owners are risking rodent infestation, water damage, hurricane damage, etc etc by having the house in a half-completed state. Probably the house does not meet "code" for a rental property with so many pieces of the shell missing. :(

What you can do - turn off the heat asap. You should be OK until the AC season starts, I hope. I suggest R-50 blown in cellulose for the attic area, which will reduce AC bills for the summer. They need to put in insulation baffles, eave vents and ridge vents, for proper ventilation.

If you have the option - move.

Oh yeah - you can localize a possible electric fault (or plugged in appliance) by turning off all the circuit breakers, and putting them back on one at a time.

I forgot to subscribe, thinking I did so when I didn't get any email confirmations I thought this thread died.

Glad I checked.

Thanks for the incredible insight.

I have to get dh to view all the replies so we can discuss this with more understanding.

Last night and all day yesterday it rained hard. So hard that the floor in the living area flooded. It was freezing in this house too :cold: in the 40s.

I have all the kids in my bedroom with me at night. My dh was nailing tarps over the foam in the freezing rain last night. It helped block the rain from coming into the house.

The owner keeps saying she will get a new crew in to finish the work. Her dd doubts it and is just trying to honest. Oh well.

The option of moving, is very possible. I can't see myself moving so soon before the baby arrives or even during my recovery. She is working on a house down the street at the same time she is with this one. Its a one story, same # of rooms and supposedly more energy efficient. We'll see what happens.

Also, on the note of the fridge. We have an energy star fridge. This doesn't discount the other still plugged in applicances.

The house down the street always has the lights on and their meter runs much much slower than ours with our lights off. :irked:

SleeplessMommy, I can't believe how incredibly smart you are regarding this info. All of you are! Something I need my kids involved in so their equipted for the real world when they leave the nest.

I'll show dh this thread, try to get more answers to your specific questions. I'll be back soon.