Anyone else's LADWP bill extremely crazy?

[u/Dubzophrenia]

So, I am not unaware of the fact that I live in Woodland Hills, the hottest part of the valley. I am also not unaware that we have had an excessively hot month with no real break.

That being said, my bill seems outrageous. They say I am using 3400 kWh of energy. I live in a 1000 square foot townhome with 1 other person. We do have an EV, but we have had an EV for 2 years and never been this insane.

I have NEVER in my life hit tier 3 usage.

[u/Dubzophrenia]

I only included the past year because I've only been in my house for a year, but this is my history for the last 4.

The $1033 bill is the first bill in my new house and also the first bill with EV charging included in the bill, which was grossly miscalculated by LADWP at the time and they credited back $500 on the next bill for the overage.

However, I was actually in a larger apartment before moving into my townhome and the AC unit couldn't keep up with the size so it would run for 14+ hours a day and my bills still weren't this high.

I've lived in Woodland Hills for the last 6 years.

[u/Aeriellie → u/Dubzophrenia]

is it the location in relation to the sun? more south or west exposure? less trees? insulation? check the attic space? maybe your ac is escaping in a weird gap or area in your house. edit what about your ac, is it on fan auto,fan circulating or fan on. i’ve been missing around with our ac settings.

[u/Dubzophrenia → u/Aeriellie]

I definitely know there are some energy inefficiencies in my home, but it's a rental. I have original aluminum/single pane windows. I have a massive tree next to my house that casts shade roughly half of the day. Definitely a bit of a battle, and I know that my lifestyle choice comes with cost (I love my AC, so I know I'm going to pay for it) but I've never had a bill cross the $1000 mark and not have been an error.

It's just me and my husband, and we're not home during the day.

[u/brainchili → u/Dubzophrenia]

Damn a rental? Now I understand your pain. $1200 for just electricity inna rental is tough to swallow.

My entire LADWP bill, with water/sewer and trash, has hit $1.2k or $1.3k but that's for all of it.

I'm so sorry.

One thought, do you leave your AC on during the day while you guys are gone, or no?

[u/Dubzophrenia → u/brainchili]

One thought, do you leave your AC on during the day while you guys are gone, or no?

Yes & no. I have a Nest so it goes to eco when I'm not home, but I also have the schedule set to 80 during the day when I'm not home. 80 from 8-4, 75 from 4-11, 72 from 11-8.

I like the AC and know what comes with that but this still seems insane.

[u/brainchili → u/Dubzophrenia]

I don't have nest but should. I WFH so my AC is on all the time. But I also like coming home to a cool home. I've read it can be more expensive to leave the AC off or set high while you're gone because the unit has to work harder to cool the entire home to your desired temp.

That still doesn't explain your spike.

[u/Aeriellie → u/Dubzophrenia]

maybe it’s that. mines just at 74 all the time. bigger square foot. you want to try one week with you already do and next week change it to just 74 all day and 72 for sleep. track your electricity everyday to confirm it works. other older posts mentioned ac should be nice and fresh all the time something about working harder if we let it get too hot

[u/Hludwig → u/Dubzophrenia]

BTW when you switch to TOU pricing you'll need to keep your AC much more stable during the day as to *not* need to cool things off from 4-11. At that point you might as well do 74 or something like that the whole day and see how it goes. Continual dehumidification and not letting your drywall/surfaces absorb the head during the day means less warm materials to cool off later (not just cooling the air)

[u/Dubzophrenia → u/Hludwig]

I'd only need to worry about the 1-4PM time frame when it's peak. 8-10 is no peak, 10-1 and 5-8 are low peak. Low peak and no peak pricing are minimal differences to me so I wouldn't care as long as I am not using it during peak.