How can i tell if someone is steling my electricity from my meter?

Question

I'v had a $700.00 electric bill for 2 months now and before that i was only paying $150.00 a month i really want to find out if someone is stealing my electricity.

Answer 1

Depending on your wiring, it would be fairly apparent if someone had tied on to your wiring and they would be extremely stupid to do that and then bump it up by that amount and hope not to get caught.

There is more likely one of two things going on. Either your meter is going bad, especially if its the old eddy current type (spinning disk). You should be able to request the supply company help by changing it.

The second is that you have something wasting power. Look for obvious signs like lack of hot water (i.e. its all running away after being heated) or air conditioning units that always seem to be on (outdoor unit) or freezers running continually.

Turning everything off to see the meter doesn't count anything is a good idea but you may need to isolate individual breakers to see where the power is going.

Answer 2

check your meter and see if it is counting fast. If it is , shut off all big consumers (e.g AC unit,electric heaters , electric stowe, ddryerst.c). After this check the meter again. If it is running fast again, then somebody is stealing the electricity.

Answer 3

You can trun off your main breaker (gereally the top one).  This will cut all power to your home.  Then go back to the meter and see if it is spinning.  If it is, call your utility provider and have them come out.

You may have some sort of a short in your line on your side of the meter.  An electrician will be needed to fix that.

Good luck.  If some one is stealing your electricity, make sure you file a police report and sue them for damages!

Answer 4

Check for extra wires that have been added, follow them and see where they go to.  In the worst case, just let your meter run out and see if anybody complains!

Seriously, people, if you're going to steal electricity, at least have the decency to do it from **upstream** of the meter -- taking it from the customer's side is just S****y  (and it's asking to get caught).