what creates high demand use in Electrical?

Question

I own two new buildings that were built within a year of each other, by the same builder with same amenities, etc.....  one building is 8 units, the other 12.  As the LL i pay the CAM electrical...  so hallway lighting, hot water heater, door security, etc.....  it all seems pretty simple.....

so my question is why would the smaller building having 38 KW demand usage and the bigger building 18?   The electrical bill for the smaller building is double the bigger building because of the demand usage differences....  the numbers have been consistent over the 3 months I have owned them.....

My question: any ideas where to look? Who would I hire to figure this out?  its about 200/mo in billing so it is worth it to me to figure this out if possible.....

Jon Crosby · Answer

I think an electrician is the first person you should reach out to for this question.  Even if it's a $200 visit to assess for you that's going to save you a lot of time chasing your tail trying to figure it out, they probably have the tools and knowledge to tell you pretty quickly (like a circuit analyzer).

Account Closed · Answer

@Mary M.  Hi Mary, find an electrician that can put a data logger on your system.  It's the fastest way to identify loads and specific times.

Electrical in general is highly misunderstood as it can't be seen and "tribal" knowledge passed on by  people.

When making capital equipment decisions always purchase the highest voltage possible that fits your building voltage. I.E.

Watts divided by volts equals amps. Amps are what you pay for.

BTW Really knowledgeable electricians are not on Yelp.

FWIW I really like your posts...a landlord with a  heart.  A sincere thank you.

Best, Alan

CA C-10 650521

Scott Mac · Answer

Hi Mary,

(1)  Maybe your exterior lighting (parking lot, building flood lights, and walkways) are on one meter for both buildings.

(2)  Maybe the bills are not manual meter reads, but just estimates, with reads done once every two years.

(3)  Maybe a resident has tied into the CAM electric and set up an illegal marijuana grow operation in the attic.

(4)  Maybe your some of your exterior lights are stuck on during daylight hours.

(5)  Maybe the buildings have different types of exterior lighting. Certain types of flood lights really eat up a ton of electricity, and certain ones are much more efficient. The efficient ones seem to wear out quicker, and that adds labor to their lifetime cost--especially if up really high.

(6)  If this pattern was not showing up during financial due diligence, but is now, maybe something is sticking on 24/7 that should be shutting off.

(7)  Maybe your due diligence electrical bills were based on non-meter read estimates, and they finally did a manual read and adjusted the bills accordingly.

Good Luck!

Joel Quinnette · Answer

@Mary M.

Any appliances you have in that building will contribute to your kilowatt hour usage. Appliances with heating elements will use the most amperage (or current) meaning they run your electric bill up. So electric water heaters, electric baseboard heat, ovens, etc. I would make sure that all of your large appliances are equal so that you can make a comparison. If one building uses gas water heaters and the other uses electric, that could cause your issue. Check your appliance name plate and it will tell you the power source. Does one property rely on a well and has a well pump and the other is on city water. Does one property have water issues and have a sump pump constantly running? Does one have laundry and the other not. Make a list of all the appliances you have, confirm they run on electric then side by side your lists to make sure everything is the same. Go one step further and check the voltage and amperage on the name plates of all your appliances, multiply the numbers and you get watts, and then add up the amount of watts from each appliance that is on the landlord electric meter and compare those total numbers If you can’t find anything noticeably different about the two buildings then talk to an electrician who may be able to provide you with further insight. I would check these issues first to ensure you are making an apples to apples comparison. Then pay the electrician.

P.S. I am an electrician.

Jon Crosby · Answer

@Mary M.. You would be surprised how backed up electricians are right now, I would use Yelps' feature for requesting service/quotes.  You basically just go to Yelp, type Electrician and then there is this button you can click to request from multiple providers.  This will start a chat sessions with multiple options and you can figure out who would be the best fit to help you with your issue.

Best of luck!

Clay Kallman · Answer

Your biggest electricity usage is typically HVAC (which could be greatly affected by differences in shading and building orientation) followed by water heating. You could also have different lighting, different photocell locations (causing lights to turn on and off different lengths of the evening or even turn on when it's just cloudy outside) and plenty of other differences. Good news is that unlike water, electricity doesn't typically leak away out of sight, so something is using it.

You can take meter readings 24 hours apart for several days to see if changes you make can alter the usage rate.

Travis Turner · Answer

@Mary M.

Ask PGE for the actual chart.

It will show you daily use and see of there are any spikes at certain times.

If not call someone with a data logger to track the load draw.

Mary M. · Answer

@Joel Quinnette thank you!!!  I will check the water heaters .....  there isn't much more the fire suppression system has its own meter....  so hall lights, water heater, fans for garbage area and fire suppression box cabinets....  i will go look at everything.  thank you so much!  this really helps!

Mary M. · Answer

@Bjorn Ahlblad Already talked to electric Co.  That is how i learned about demand usage and rates :)  that was about all they could tell me....  the bill is higher because there is more demand usage!

I will call them again tho - cant hurt ;)

Mary M. · Answer

@Jon Crosby that was my thought too - an electrician or maybe the electrician that built them.....  do I call any ole electrician or is there a specific kind I would need?

what creates high demand use in Electrical?

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