i bought a duplex (!)

Utilities, Utilities…

It’s been a hot summer. My last electric bill was easily three times what it normally is — I figured, though, that it was a result of having the my dinky little room AC cranked for a week and a half straight, while also having about 42 fans on full blast, and me standing in front of the refridgerator constantly with the door open. However, it has seemed as though every summer has a few heat spells like that, yet my electric bill has never gone above $40. Until now.

My tenants stopped me in front of the house the other day, and told me that their electric bill has been way out of line for the past two months too. I told them that mine has been high too, and they wondered “Could someone be stealing our electricity?”

Is this even possible?

A quick google search tells me that it is possible, although I believe it is implausible.

I suppose it is something to look into, though. I’ll call the utility company and make sure that the meters are working properly (unlikely that they BOTH would go on the blink, though).

More likely, I would imagine, that both floor one and floor two have been experiencing similar weather patterns…

I am also, however, reminded that when I replaced the light fixtures I also put in 100 watt bulbs, to make the apartment seem brighter. When I do the math, that would nearly double their electricity use for lighting. As a measure of goodwill, I’m thinking about replacing those all with 60-watt bulbs for them, and maybe even a compact flourescent in the front hallway — which they may not know is on their bill… since they leave it on most of the time…

What I’m wondering, though, is how much of this is even my responsibility? When they were moving in, I told them that the electricity bill generally ran about $20 a month, a little more in summer. But seriously, that’s because of the habits and useage of the people living there, not because of the apartment itself. I don’t want them to feel that they’ve been lied to, so I would like to help them get their bill down, but aside from giving them a leaflet on energy conservation and some new light bulbs, I think they’ll have to be on their own…

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Entry Filed under: General Day to Day Landlady Stuff
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