Our ClimateMaster Tranaquility 27 5 ton unit was installed in 2009. We saw a significant spike in our power bill for the last two months.(typical $300.00 now $890.00) Our electrician came out for an hour and measured the amps, but didn't find anything. So, we contacted our board of public utilities and they put a recorder on the house. We were told that something draws a large amount of power, up to about 100 amps., then bottoms out and spikes to 200 plus amps for about 1/2 hr. It then repeats this every 1 1/2 hours. We live in southern Michigan, and it hasn't been cold enough for the electric to kick in. In addition, we keep the thermostat at 66-68 degrees. The Geothermal unit was serviced in the early summer because it wasn't cooling enough and they found a freon leak, fixed it and we didn't have another problem. Any suggestions on what would cause this? Thanks.
100 Amps?!?! 200+ amps for 30 minutes?!?! None of that makes any sense to me whatsoever! A 20 kW heat kit (pretty much the biggest in common use) would draw no more than 80 amps with all guns blazing. All that said, the $890 bill strongly suggests that the house is being heated mostly or exclusively via resistance heat. Find someone who can find out why. A 5 ton system's compressor will exhibit starting current well north of 100 amps, but that value lasts for less than a second or two while the compressor shaft accelerates.
What were previous winter bills? Where at in MI? (this sounds like one I heard about from our energy auditor)
You may want your electrician come back and use the clamp amp again. This time verify that the heat pump is running while testing. Also test after bumping the thermostat up about 5 degrees so you can rule out the heat pump or need to explore further. There is usually two circuit breakers per heat pump: one for the heat pump and the other for electric resistant backup heat. You do not have any one growing any wacky weed? Heard stories of basement growers tapping into some else's electrical. Bob G.
