So I am moving into an apartment next month, I’ve already been paying 2 mos rent.
My question is, how do electric and water companies meausre your usage? My roommates are wanting to decorate the place with lights and i am afraid that if theyre always plugged in our bill will be through the roof. rent isnt cheap already alone.
So is it if something is plugged only, if it is turned on does it count? Please someone explain exactly how this works
For electric meter questions, see here. http://science.howstuffworks.com/electric-meter-info.htm
For water meter questions, see here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_meter
With water, you get charged twice if you are also on the city sewer system. Water usage is fairly straight forward, but the electrical usage can be confusing, so here is a little more about that.
There are *some items* that use electricity just by being plugged in. It’s sometimes called *vampire draw* or other things similar. Better explanation in the link. Normally, when you are talking about *general lighting*, no. Being plugged in will not draw any power, only *use* draws power. A lamp or string lighting of any sort will not draw power until you turn them on. The *vampires* are the items such as TVs, Computers, phone chargers, power ‘strips’ , and anything with an indicator light on it. The amount of draw is individually very small, but with all the *devices* we have today, when you add them all together, it can be significant. One thing that will give you a general idea how expensive an item will be to use is the wattage rating. Sticking with the lighting example, a 100 watt bulb will cost twice as much to use as a 50 watt bulb would. Lighting however, is not going to be the BIG user. Things like air conditioners, electric stoves, and especially electric water heaters will be the big consumers of power. Anything with a motor or heating element will be the biggest users of power.
Al
David Sides playing a piano cover of “Party Like A Rockstar” by Shop Boyz.
See Music Videos http://www.bvmtv.com/ that you CAN’T See on You Tube ! +Live Chat and Embed video codes!