Need help and advice detecting electrical leak.

A

amohit

Disciple
Hi,

My parents, since long have been complaining of high electricity bill. They have always been blaming the high per unit rate of electricity in their area. Last week, I saw the breakup of their bill. The unit rate is not higher than what we have in Bangalore. But still they pay almost 4 times of what I pay here. Clearly the culprit is someone else. Knowing well of their habit of switching off appliances, lights and fans when not in use I know that in general their usage should not be 4 time than mine.
I seriously suspect some sort of leak in electric circuits in the house. I need help from knowledgeable guys here in planning how to detect and isolate which circuit is leaking. It will have to be a DIY. Since I visit my hometown for 5-6 days a year and I really do not know any reliable electricians in my hometown, I will have to do this myself.

Would appreciate if someone could please guide me in this project.

Regards,
Mohit
 
I think you can pay people in the electricity department to do this for you as well. We were facing the same problem for over a year now. Our culprit was a faulty meter but it was the electricity department that did all the investigation for us.
 
Any heating appliances in use, Boilers, heaters, electric stoves/ovens ?

air conditions, pumps etc.

Something that consumes lots of power but does not switch off properly.

There is of course the simpler explanation of a faulty meter. What type is it. digital or analog.
 
Meter has been replaced recently. My parent's use Solar + Gas Geyser. They do not have electric geyser at home. No AC or electric heater at home.
Earlier we had an analog meter, but I think the new one is Digital (not sure though). We do have a 1 HP water pump. Refrigerator, TV and other electrical appliances are not very old (may be 6-7 years old at most).

Any way, at this moment every electric switch and socket is a suspect. And I need to find the culprit. And that is where I need help and idea.

Appreciate your responses.

-Mohit
 
amohit said:
Earlier we had an analog meter, but I think the new one is Digital (not sure though).
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How much is the sanctioned load ? ask your parents it will be mentioned in the bill.

is power theft a possiblity here at all ? somebody else hooking up to your line.
 
amohit said:
...

Any way, at this moment every electric switch and socket is a suspect. And I need to find the culprit. And that is where I need help and idea...
Click to expand...

do you think electricity leaks away from faulty sockets/switches just like water from a damaged tap/plumbing?
 
gauravH said:
do you think electricity leaks away from faulty sockets/switches just like water from a damaged tap/plumbing?
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I am no electrical engg, but I do know that if in an electrical joint there is arc (or sparking) it does consume hell lot of electricity. May be the term "leak" is not the correct one.
But I do know that the electrical work in my parent's house was not done by any professional guy..so these kind of issues could be there.

@blr_p, power theft can be ruled out as the electric meter is well within the limits of the house.

Regards,
 
Simple test. Switch off everything you know in the house and check the meter. Digital ones show the instant load. You can keep checking by switching on one appliance at a time.
 
amohit said:
I am no electrical engg, but I do know that if in an electrical joint there is arc (or sparking) it does consume hell lot of electricity.
Click to expand...

no one can eliminate the sparking in electrical joints. one can only suppress it to an extent with some clever designs/circuits. i don't think your house has any big inductive circuits to warrant the use of arc suppressors.

anyways, even an electrical engineer wouldn't say that the arcing/sparking could be the reason behind your high electricity bills.

as other people have already mentioned, you need to look into:
1) power theft. as the wiring was done by a non-professional, there are chances that he/she left some open conduits.
2) examine your power slabs. maybe your parents' home consume just few units extra to put them into next higher slab.
3) ask your parents to pull out the power plug for at least the TV set during night. your electrician may have done the wiring wrong for neutral and earth which causes appliances to consume electricity even when switched off (from remote control).
4) and lastly, you should complain to electricity board as your meter could be faulty. if all other things are taken care of, then the issue rest with the faulty meter.

if you know how to use a multimeter (or buy a plug-in device) then you can check each and every appliance in your house for its approximate power consumption. sometimes one can be surprised to find a non-suspecting device to be the culprit behind high electricity bills.
 
faulty batteries consume more power ie if you use an inverter .

My healthy inverter batteries consume 30 to 40 W at full charge

If you are comfortable using a multimeter check the voltage between earth and neutral. It should not cross more than 3 or 4 V .

Use kill-a-watt to confirm appliances power consumption. Dont believe the rated power on the appliance.
 
Thanks for your responses guys.
I think, I will get a kill-a-watt and a multimeter. Dont know how to use it, but I have time to google it out.
Inverter battery would be a big consumer of elect. They use locally made battery.
Television is switched off at nights but is not unplugged. I guess, kill-a-watt will help determine any loss from there.

I am not sure about the power slabs at my parents place. But I do know that in my house we consume around 200 units per month and at my parent's place, their consumption is around 400 units per month.

Regards,
Mohit
 
6pack said:
Does the water pump run for long times everyday? Do your parents have a plasma tv?
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Water pump runs once every 2-3 days. They have a 29inch CRT TV.

Also, their city faces 6-8 hrs power cut everyday. So the load on 80VA inverter is more than what I have in Blr.

Regards,
 
I think the meter is running fast. The consumption shouldn't cross more than 350 units a month ( based on what you told) imo.
 
a related issue: contracted load
can someone define what exactly is contracted load and how it is used for the extra charges
I've tried to find about it on the net (eg. link) - could not get it clearly ..
 
seshu said:
a related issue: contracted load
can someone define what exactly is contracted load and how it is used for the extra charges
I've tried to find about it on the net (eg. link) - could not get it clearly ..
Click to expand...

Contracted load is normally allotted in commercial / industrial establishments. Suppose your total sanctioned load is 50 kilowatt but you are using only 30 kilowatt then you can apply for 31 kilowatt contracted load but your total load stays at 50 kilowatt. What you save are the electricity unit charges along with the fixed load charges / rental charges on 19 kw which you are not consuming. But be advised that if your consumption exceeds the contracted load, then you face heavy penalties etc.

Hope this helps.
 
^ Thank You @mk151
if contracted load is 50 kilowatt, does it mean that maximum consumption for the billing cycle should be below 50 kilowatt ?
(if the billing cycle is one month then is contracted load of 50 kilowatt to be considered for every month ?)
 
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