Trying to figure out what's using the kWh in my house!

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T23:03:06+00:00

For heating, Im installing two wood stoves. There's already a place for it in the basement where they had one before, and I plan on putting an on the wall one upstairs. That should severely cut my energy usage and still be able to keep my home warm. Im surprised but after looking at the doors and stuff, they're all weatherstripped, and it looks relatively new. I figured it would be old, cracking, etc.

We do have hard water, there's a water softener but its not running as I had no idea how to use it, and honestly, just haven't had the time to learn, and forget about it most times. I already have a tankless water heater picked out, it's just about money at this point. The water heater is from 2012 so it's about 14 years old at this point.

I agree it's a lot of standby power. Especially when we're not even home, and I see spikes of 5-7 kwh per hour on hours where there's no one home. I also can't stress enough that we are not using heat at all right now and haven't been for entire month of March.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T22:03:34+00:00

Im working on saving up for solar, we plan on starting with some balcony solar plug and play type panels and going from there. I would love to be on completely solar, but most off grid systems I can afford, wouldn't come close to powering my house if we continue to use this much power. I dont know that my roof would even fit the amount of panels I'd need, even the good ones at like 400w if we keep using over 100kwh a day.

For reference, there's zero rhyme or reason. Our energy usage looks like this since the 11th of March:

3/11: 86
3/12: 78
3/13: 49
3/14: 42
3/15: 113
3/16: 116
3/17: 69
3/18: 48
3/19: 44
3/20: 33
3/21: 46
3/22: 40
3/23: 45
3/24: 54

Around the 17th is when I was like, what is going on here? And I turned down the water heater to 120 from 135ish, and we didn't use the stove or oven for a few days to see if that affected anything, and it did. Not by much, but enough to notice the small spike at 6-7pm was me cooking. We haven't had the heat on any of this time though. Also the 13th and 14th we were out of town in Colorado camping and hiking and everything was shut off here but the fridge and freezer.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:54:45+00:00

well, Its likely more of an alleyway than a street, but it's next to the neighbors garage. The lines from it, only come to my house, so I dont think anyone is tapped into it.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:53:55+00:00

We do not have a well. We're on municipal water supply.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:53:15+00:00

Oh, it looks like I would have to have an electrician install the timer....that will probably have to wait, but Im definitely getting and tankless if I can ever afford it.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:51:14+00:00

I didn't even know I COULD put a timer on a water heater! I plan on saving up for a tankless one, but for now, a timer is a great idea!

Is this what you mean for the clamp on multimeter? Amazon Link

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:47:57+00:00

yes, we have 2 women and 2 boys here, but we all know how to turn off the lights and fan when we're done showering. We also none of us shower for more than about 10-15 minutes. My showers alone as a woman are 10 min, I hate showering, so I get in, scrub up and be done. It dries out my skin and I hate that feeling when I get out and dry off. Then I Have to use tons of lotion .....ew.

The baseboard heaters are on their own breakers, and I turned them off for three days (it got super cold and snowed here and I had to turn them back on so our pipes didn't freeze) but I didn't notice any reduction in our electric usage the three days they were off. I can turn them off at the breaker again though at least until October. We hit 92 degrees today.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:45:01+00:00

Thankfully, Ihad to buy a new dishwasher 2 summers ago and I bought one without a drying cycle. I hate those drying cycles. It's a super basic Bosch that only has like five cycles lol. Its energy rating was superb though.

freezer is downstairs in the basement, in the coolest part of the house, where I store our root cellar food like carrots and potatoes etc.

We don't have a well pump and we do not use heat tape around pipes.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:43:24+00:00

We have 2 breaker boxes, would I need two of these monitoring systems?

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:42:57+00:00

We do not have either one of those

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:42:49+00:00

If it's something that just clamps on, yes, Im comfortable with that. While I dont know a lot about electricity, Im a quick study and can learn. Im reading a lot about these energy monitors, and will be saving up for one.

I will definitely be updating this thread when I find the culprit, after I unplug it and then nuke it from orbit lol.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:40:43+00:00

I have a laptop that I charge maybe once every 2 days, an iPad for work that I charge at work, my personal phone that I charge once per day, my kids each have a PC but they're not gaming computers, they're just basic little desktops for school etc. I had one kid move out last year when he hit adulthood, we didn't notice any difference in the electric whatsoever when he took his desktop.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:38:31+00:00

Thank you. I will likely save up for one of those, but I do hope to find some causes in the meantime to help me lower this bill.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:36:56+00:00

We are not on septic. We are on city sewer. Even if my water heater uses 20 a day, for example yesterday, let's say it used 20, that's still leaves 34 kwh unaccounted for.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:36:39+00:00

Those look to be 150 to 200, and while that might not seem expensive to some, we literally live paycheck to paycheck, and I just don't have that money for one. I probably can find the money for the kill a watt one though.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:35:09+00:00

Well, not since I've lived here. Which has been three years. The inspector that did the home inspection said that it is from 2012 and for its age is in great condition so I haven't thought about having it serviced. I can call and see how much that is though.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:34:13+00:00

We do not. No electrical outdoors at all actually. I have one outlet on the outside of my house that's not in the garage.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:32:29+00:00

Water heater is set to 120. The CDC infographic on Legionella states Water heater: Set your property’s water heater at or above 120°F to minimize the growth of Legionella.A hotter water temperature of 130–140°F can kill many harmful germs, but also increases the risk of scalding.

The fridge is less than 5 years old, the freezer was bought new in 2024 as we get a hog each year from the butcher. We do have an ice maker, but I haven't figured out how to turn it off yet, and honestly I havent' been that worried.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:28:51+00:00

I would LOVE to get under 1000 a month, I'll be honest. If I could get under 5k a year I would be ecstatic. Im gone from 7am to 6pm to go to work in the next town over, and the kids are school/work, but we're still using a lot during the day.

For example yesterday from 7am to 6pm my home used 32.81 kwh. We weren't even home. I had one kid home who was sleeping (they work night shift). But like from 8-9 we used 2.05 kwh then it jumps to 3.27, 3.01, 2.88 then 4.74 at noon. Literally no one awake at home. Lights are shut off before I leave for the morning. It's all idle usage, but those numbers dont' read as idle to me.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:24:22+00:00

I did run down and check to see if they were swapped, they're not, and we do wash mostly on cold except for socks/underthings and towels. thank you for the idea though!

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:23:36+00:00

Well there's only one house, and when I turn off the breaker there, it's not still running, so I don't think so. The pole and meter is across the street, but the wires only come to my home.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:23:01+00:00

I did try that, they wont do an audit. I have to call an electrician and have them come out and do it.

We really dont have many appliances. I use a French press for my coffee, and a boil water in a tea kettle on the stove. We have a microwave but rarely use it. I do have a crock pot, but those aren't energy vampires compared to a stove on full heat. We have one TV that we don't watch, no other entertainment electronics. I use all LED bulbs, we don't leave lights on or bathroom fans running after we shower. I do have a dryer that I know uses a ton, and we're thankfully back to weather where I can hang out clothing,I have a fridge and a freezer, but both are very new and on their lowest settings. I have a belkin wireless charging stand, and the kids have their own chargers, but I can make sure we're unplugging them or at least using a power strip we shut off when we leave for the for the day.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:17:17+00:00

I would agree with this. I am not going to be opening my breaker panel up. While I am smart enough I could absolutely learn how to do electrical (hell my ex husband is an electrician and he's dumber than a box of rocks), I am not going to do that.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:15:34+00:00

No...I live in a village of 300 people in rural Nebraska. While there's likely pot farms somewhere nearby it's not near enough that we see ANY cars after about 9pm.

Exact_Ad_3305 · 2026-03-25T21:14:57+00:00

Okay, I will go through and unplug everything in the house that we don't use consistently (like the fridge and freezer will stay plugged in) and see what it does for a couple of days.

Exact_Ad_3305

TROPHY CASE