110 volt issue?

aross2566

aross2566

Member
Apr 29, 2015
59
Live in Ohio,boat on Dale Hollow Lake
Boat Info
She's Some Kind Of Wonderful Too.
Engines
Twin 454 V-Drives.
Hi all,
I’m having an issue with my boat using electricity in the slip. The only thing that’s on is my battery charger. My monthly bill is around $35 a month in off season. My neighbors are about $5 every two months. The Marina says there’s nothing wrong with their meter. I question that. The battery charger is only 2 years old. It’s a 1991 350 DA. Any suggestions where to start looking? One other thing. My bill in Dec was $5.
 
Yeah
Wait and see if January is $5 also
If it is got to believe they swapped out the meter
 
I have four 100 watt heaters on the boat running 24 hours a day and smart charger rate is around 30 a month +/-5.
 
I wasn’t at the boat during this timeframe. We leave in October and return in April. My December bill was 5. January is 35. It’s been like this for a couple years. I’ve complained to the Marina several times. Hell, when I was at the boat in July for 13 days. My bill was less than 35. Could a short somewhere be the cause?
 
aross2566 said:
I wasn’t at the boat during this timeframe. We leave in October and return in April. My December bill was 5. January is 35. It’s been like this for a couple years. I’ve complained to the Marina several times. Hell, when I was at the boat in July for 13 days. My bill was less than 35. Could a short somewhere be the cause?
Click to expand...

A short or other electrical problem only in January?
 
Is your KWH rate the same throughout the year, or does it fluctuate? As Henry suggested, get the amount of KW Hours used during each month -- this will tell you if you're 'using more', versus a change in billing rate.
 
markrsimon said:
Is your KWH rate the same throughout the year, or does it fluctuate? As Henry suggested, get the amount of KW Hours used during each month -- this will tell you if you're 'using more', versus a change in billing rate.
Click to expand...
The billing rate hasn’t changed in years. It’s .1299 per kWh. It’s the same every month. There is several cruisers on my slip. They’re not having any issues.
 
aross2566 said:
I wasn’t at the boat during this timeframe. We leave in October and return in April. My December bill was 5. January is 35. It’s been like this for a couple years. I’ve complained to the Marina several times. Hell, when I was at the boat in July for 13 days. My bill was less than 35. Could a short somewhere be the cause?
Click to expand...

Do they estimate your bill for most of the year and then at the end do an actual reading to "square it all up"?
 
I have a 700W heater and run 2 HVAC units set at 60* I'm maybe $35month. In the heat of the summer, maybe $50.

Install a power monitor on your side of the connection.
 
As @Henry Boyd said, you really need to track the kw hours, then the price per hour. Without that your guessing. As to a possible short, if there was one you would know by now. Either a fire or burnt smell and you got lucky.

But it could be that someone knows your not there and they are using your electric while they are there and then switch it back when they leave, but that would be very weird I would think.

Edit: In the heat of the summer my bills are a little high, ~$100/mnth. But Nov. was ~40 and I basically had two electric heaters running 24/7.
 
SKybolt said:
As @Henry Boyd said, you really need to track the kw hours, then the price per hour. Without that your guessing. As to a possible short, if there was one you would know by now. Either a fire or burnt smell and you got lucky.

But it could be that someone knows your not there and they are using your electric while they are there and then switch it back when they leave, but that would be very weird I would think.

Edit: In the heat of the summer my bills are a little high, ~$100/mnth. But Nov. was ~40 and I basically had two electric heaters running 24/7.
Click to expand...
My monthly bill does track the usage. They show me the last reading and the new reading. It tells me units used. So I do track the usage. Lightning fried my battery charger two years ago. It seems since I replaced it, the bills have been fluctuating since then. But it’s a smart charger. Suppose to save me money. Any thoughts on that?
 
aross2566 said:
My monthly bill does track the usage. They show me the last reading and the new reading. It tells me units used. So I do track the usage. Lightning fried my battery charger two years ago. It seems since I replaced it, the bills have been fluctuating since then. But it’s a smart charger. Suppose to save me money. Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...
If your charger is doing the equalization phase where it is basically boiling your batteries, it could be using more power than usual...?
 
aross2566 said:
My monthly bill does track the usage. They show me the last reading and the new reading. It tells me units used. So I do track the usage. Lightning fried my battery charger two years ago. It seems since I replaced it, the bills have been fluctuating since then. But it’s a smart charger. Suppose to save me money. Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...

That tracks what they think your using. You need to track what your boat is actually consuming. I would think it unlikely, but the meter may be wired to another load on the dock. If you cant independantly track your consumption, I'd request using another meter for a couple months and compare.

Also, the lightning strike is suspect in my mind. Again request another meter/plug into an empty adjacent meter.

Dumb question, Did you completely winterize the boat and no heat onboard?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,154
Messages
1,427,367
Members
61,060
Latest member
Danileo
Back
Top