Utility Company Meter vs. the GEM?

[Vanhalo]

Does the GEM usually uncover a discrepancy between what it reports vs. your local power company? What has been your experience?

[Teken]

There will always be a discrepancy between your POCO and the GEM. But the difference should be very small overall.

Mine is due to the fact every other month is estimated energy used / consumed unless I read the two meters myself to ensure its not a guesstimate.

Otherwise my bill overall is very close to the GEM readings. Another thing that throws the final bill off is you never know when they are going to read the meter. Unlike the GEM which stops recording exactly at the end of each month.

My meter reader could be out 2-4 days after the month so that skews the numbers off for me each month.

How much are you off?


Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions

[ben]

Should be anywhere from 1-2% of a difference. The Split-CTs are 1%, and the GEM channels are around 1%, so you have 2% possible error.

[Vanhalo]

There will always be a discrepancy between your POCO and the GEM. But the difference should be very small overall.

Mine is due to the fact every other month is estimated energy used / consumed unless I read the two meters myself to ensure its not a guesstimate.

Otherwise my bill overall is very close to the GEM readings. Another thing that throws the final bill off is you never know when they are going to read the meter. Unlike the GEM which stops recording exactly at the end of each month.

My meter reader could be out 2-4 days after the month so that skews the numbers off for me each month.





How much are you off?


Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions

Sorry it took so long to respond. I have made a lot of changes to the house to positively affect the energy usage. Last year I used 4616 KWH from the August to September Meter reading.

This year 1942KWH.

I had not accounted for the 1st part of the month before the following changes:

• Date Kwh
  8/19/2014 ?
  8/20/2014 ?
  8/21/2014 ?
  8/22/2014 ?
  8/23/2014 91.635
  8/24/2014 97.82
  8/25/2014 85.65
  8/26/2014 99.7
  8/27/2014 86.95 r60 added to attic
  8/28/2014 72.24
  8/29/2014 84.75 replaced plasma 440w with LG Smart TV 25w-50w
  8/30/2014 68.34
  8/31/2014 71.67 replaced Dell Server 300w with mac mini - 80w
  9/1/2014 37.33
  9/2/2014 54.03
  9/3/2014 65.75
  9/4/2014 59.54
  9/5/2014 47.74
  9/6/2014 57.51 installed 4w Candelabra LEDs - turned off attic exhaust fans
  9/7/2014 53.74 installed 56 6w LED Bulbs
  9/8/2014 62.8
  9/9/2014 54.7 installed LED par20 replacements
  9/10/2014 47.85 caulked the registers
  9/11/2014 53.47
  9/12/2014 52.99 installed LED par16 replacements and more candelabra LEDs
  9/13/2014 40.07
  9/14/2014 36.69
  9/15/2014 44.16
  9/16/2014 43.9
  9/17/2014 33.93
  9/18/2014 33.87
  1638.825

I had a few days of readings missed before deploying the DB. It looks like I was right on track to their number.

New items to address:

• More sealing of garage penetrations
  foaming the garage ceiling and ductwork (living space above)
  New Hormann r16 garage doors
  Sealing the sill plates
  replace LCD Monitors with a USB monitor
  Dell Switch - replace with trendnet green switches
  Adding 4 300w solar panels with enphase microinverters.
  Samsung Fridge is using twice the advertised energy rating. It is rated @ 565 KwH/year but I am seeing 876Kwh-1380KwH in reality. Contacted Samsung to create a ticket and have someone come look at it.

[ben]

That's quite the savings there. It'll be interesting to hear what Samsung has to say about the fridge.

[Vanhalo]

That's quite the savings there. It'll be interesting to hear what Samsung has to say about the fridge.

I have a feeling they are going to point their finger at the clearance of the fridge on both sides.

CR seems to agree with me and the GEM.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/maga ... ethod=auto

Several things I tried to improve the efficiency of the fridge:

http://www.samsung.com/us/appliances/re ... /XAA-specs

Model: Samsung RFG298AARS
Rated: 565 KwH

• adjusted temps
  turned on energy saver setting
  checked and cleaned the seals
  cleaned the evaporator coils.
  introduced active cooling on the back of the fridge via shop vac hose and radial fan.

None seem to positively affect the efficiency of the compressor.

BK190C-L2C
240v
R-134a

[Vanhalo]

That's quite the savings there. It'll be interesting to hear what Samsung has to say about the fridge.

I forgot to mention that I replaced our 35 year old HVAC (gas heat furnaces and 7 tons of AC) with a Geothermal system. Waterfurnce 7 series (5 ton)....this of course was the biggest change that brought our house back down to reality.

[Teken]

I think once you get that house air tight you will see great savings in terms of heat loss. The R60 you added to the attic will pay off in spades for both heating / cooling. I know we chatted about the two attic vents you had going on in there.

But, rest assured controlling them with HA solution will save you lots of money. As I recall they really were huge power hogs, once you get a chance to install the solar powered attic vents you won't have to rely on the powered one's too much.

Probably only when the temperatures are extremely high then you can bring them on line. Since you're doing solar it will help offset the power usage of those vents also.

Insulated garage door will save you huge as it did for me since I built my brand new home. It gets as cold as -50'C before the wind chill and the garage is always 20-30'C different than the outside. Of course insulating the interior of the garage played a huge role.

But, the garage door is also part of the solution for heat / cold penetration.

Looking forward to seeing your electrical trends in the next year or so.

[Vanhalo]

I think once you get that house air tight you will see great savings in terms of heat loss. The R60 you added to the attic will pay off in spades for both heating / cooling. I know we chatted about the two attic vents you had going on in there.

But, rest assured controlling them with HA solution will save you lots of money. As I recall they really were huge power hogs, once you get a chance to install the solar powered attic vents you won't have to rely on the powered one's too much.

Probably only when the temperatures are extremely high then you can bring them on line. Since you're doing solar it will help offset the power usage of those vents also.

Insulated garage door will save you huge as it did for me since I built my brand new home. It gets as cold as -50'C before the wind chill and the garage is always 20-30'C different than the outside. Of course insulating the interior of the garage played a huge role.

But, the garage door is also part of the solution for heat / cold penetration.

Looking forward to seeing your electrical trends in the next year or so.

My local utility company told me (during a recent energy audit) to turn off the active exhaust vents in the attic. They told me they are wasting electricity and sucking the cold air out of the living space. I have plenty of passive exhaust vents in the attic so I turned the breaker off. I am going to run a temp probe up there and I might introduce Insteon switches to at least have the option....mainly because one of our kitchen lights remains on the same circuit. You are correct in that they were using 3-4Kwh per day.

[Teken]

I think once you get that house air tight you will see great savings in terms of heat loss. The R60 you added to the attic will pay off in spades for both heating / cooling. I know we chatted about the two attic vents you had going on in there.

But, rest assured controlling them with HA solution will save you lots of money. As I recall they really were huge power hogs, once you get a chance to install the solar powered attic vents you won't have to rely on the powered one's too much.

Probably only when the temperatures are extremely high then you can bring them on line. Since you're doing solar it will help offset the power usage of those vents also.

Insulated garage door will save you huge as it did for me since I built my brand new home. It gets as cold as -50'C before the wind chill and the garage is always 20-30'C different than the outside. Of course insulating the interior of the garage played a huge role.

But, the garage door is also part of the solution for heat / cold penetration.

Looking forward to seeing your electrical trends in the next year or so.

My local utility company told me (during a recent energy audit) to turn off the active exhaust vents in the attic. They told me they are wasting electricity and sucking the cold air out of the living space. I have plenty of passive exhaust vents in the attic so I turned the breaker off. I am going to run a temp probe up there and I might introduce Insteon switches to at least have the option....mainly because one of our kitchen lights remains on the same circuit. You are correct in that they were using 3-4Kwh per day.

Given you have R60 insulation in the attic space now it would take more than eight hours for heat soaking to take place. But, you certainly should have some method to measure the temperature and come up with some sort of active cooling when its required.

I have been using a combination of ceiling fans and solar powered fans to regulate the space above my garage attic space. It has dropped the temperatures down by 30'C when its 50'C up there.

Not too sure how hard it is for you to get up to the attic and seal off all the light fixtures. They are probably the number one area that heat / cold penetrate through. As I recall your house is older so it may not have used those plastic vapor barrier box's as they are used in newer house like mine.

For $0.10 a piece they are worth their weight in gold!