Hello everyone, i have a 1998 450 passage and my electric bill at my marina is high. I'm staying in San Diego so i know its going to be high anyway but, the only thing we have running is our refrigerator/freezer and our bill is north of 100 bucks. The dock master at our marina was actually the one who brought it to my attention and said I might have a power leak somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look? Also, my fridge unit is the original unit that came with the boat so could it just be that I have an outdated inefficient system? Any info would help. Thanks.
Power issues
- Thread starter Steve760
- Start date
We live aboard and pay $0.224 per KW-Hr and our bill comes to about $10 per month, so something is awry.
Something like a "Kill-a-watt" usage meter (<$20) would help you figure our where that power is going. I suggest you also ask for the consumption numbers and rate.
One time we were in a marina where the new meters were off by a factor of 10.
As the others have suggested learn how to read your meter and check the numbers for yourself.
Something like a "Kill-a-watt" usage meter (<$20) would help you figure our where that power is going. I suggest you also ask for the consumption numbers and rate.
One time we were in a marina where the new meters were off by a factor of 10.
As the others have suggested learn how to read your meter and check the numbers for yourself.
On our Hunter 38 the fridge and freezer were both installed without sufficient ventilation. The evaporator can not get rid of the heat, resulting in the nearly continuous running of the compressor. Check the back end of your fridge for heat accumulation. I solved it by drilling ventilation holes and installing a 12V low amps computer fan triggered by the compressor.
The math just does not add up.
Google shows the cost of electricity in San Diego to be 16.35 ₵/kWh. If your "north of 100 bucks" is strictly attributed to your power usage than that works out to over 600kWh/month.
Your marine fridge usage will be far less than that no matter how big and inefficient it is even if it runs 24 and 7.What you need to tell us is the power usage in kWh that your electric bill statement provides. Often marinas will tack on meter rental fees and administrative fees that cover the maintenance and upkeep of their electrical system. Also ask other neighbouring boats what they are paying.
Offering guesses here...
Your power cords or the ones from the Marina my be in the water making it an extremely dangerous place to swim...
You are trying to heat or AC the Marina?
You are running search lights for decoration?
Even in the dead of winter temps in the teens and I am heating the boat because I do not want to freeze the bill has never been that high.
Could there be someone sharing your power station?
Your power cords or the ones from the Marina my be in the water making it an extremely dangerous place to swim...
You are trying to heat or AC the Marina?
You are running search lights for decoration?
Even in the dead of winter temps in the teens and I am heating the boat because I do not want to freeze the bill has never been that high.
Could there be someone sharing your power station?
24hr x 7amps x 12 v = 60,000 watts or 60 KWH. do you have dead batteries that are bleeding power? Charger malfunction? Without running AC/Heat this should be a $10 bill.
Some dive boat stealing your power? Haha
Some dive boat stealing your power? Haha
I just checked my refrigerator/ freezer power consumption yesterday on my Hunter 356 that was at startup in 72 degree temps and it was 6.9 amps at 12 volts with the compressor fully running at startup. Once you have food and it cooled down to normal operating range, it should not average more than 4 amp hours and that would be running the compressor 50% of the time. It will probably average less. At 4 amps x 24 hours x 30 days you would consume 37,560 watts or 37.56 KW. At 16.5 cents per KW your cost should be $5.70 per month. Add a little for running through the inverter and you are still way under $10.00 per month. Something else is running like HVAC and/or Water Heater or somebody else is tied to your meter.
Thank you all for the input. This weekend ill be down at the marina checking all of the suggestions.
Hello Below our marina measures the electricity in units. Each unit is .025 and according to my invoice I used 4523 units which comes out to 113.08. There isn't any kind of fees attached to it. Clearly i have something wrong and i need to figure it out quick.
Man wouldn't that be a tremendously nice out come. He'd be getting, money back.