possible (partial)short circuit ?

[Thunderchild]

OK so there is an ongoing argument in my house (grans actualy) and she insists that we have too high and electric bill as a friend of hers is supposed to have all the same stuff we have and pay half. well before u all go ahead and tell me yes i know that probably this friend has more economical devices or uses them less but explain that to damn old gran...
so i am starting to go over the house and connect to every appliance in turn an electric meter (it is an electricboards old reconditioned meter) to measure the power consumption over a resonable period. so i strt with both the fridge frezzer and the freezer (yes we have allthat). well i disconnected them and pluged them into the meter and herd some clicking sounds like the thermostats going bonkers well that was fine as actually both (that were then running) cut out for a period but for a few seconds the meter span like mad like a 2Kw load would make it until another click and all this time both were off (their motors were not running). so is there a possible short circuit ? or is there something in these appliances that may cause such a reaction ?

 

[mechie]

Fredge broken ?

My fridge packed in two days ago :cry: (Friday afternoon :x )
It appears that the compressor has seized up, the thermostat is OK.
When first switched on (after a chance to cool down) I can hear a very faint hum from the motor in the compressor, the compressor gets HOT :shock: then a 'click' can be heard as the thermal trip switches off, a few minutes to cool and the cycle repeats.

If your compressor is tired it may be struggling to start and, as it is an inductive load, there will be a high current until either the compressor starts (lucky) or trips (like mine :cry: ).
This could explain a short - term high current reading :?:

 

[Thunderchild]

ur not kiding this damn this is running 24/24 7/7 30/30 365.24/365.24 ecc.
i am begining to wounder if it has lost some gas as it is not actually getting below 0°C but then it is full full to the brim that is !

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

ur not kiding this damn this is running 24/24 7/7 30/30 365.24/365.24 ecc.
i am begining to wounder if it has lost some gas as it is not actually getting below 0°C but then it is full full to the brim that is !

Sounds like you need a new freezer then!.

 

[Thunderchild]

ahem i know unfortunately my gran thinks that her stuff is indestructable. every time something goes wrong or breacks down it someones fault and i'm being pissed off by being told continuosly that my computer and my sister having a cheap running light on is the fault of the elctric bill !

 

[Gorgon]

ur not kiding this damn this is running 24/24 7/7 30/30 365.24/365.24 ecc.
i am begining to wounder if it has lost some gas as it is not actually getting below 0°C but then it is full full to the brim that is !

Hi
If this is your freezer I think you can rename it to cooler.

If its too full of ice/ frost, I have seen freezers go into some sort of foldback. Its running all the time and not working properly. If you defrost it and clean it out it works again. I think it has something to do with the thermal isolation effect from the ice around the cooling elements. Its the same for aircondition systems when the humidity generate ice on the pipes.

TOK

 

[Thunderchild]

yea that kind of makes sense but that is not my department.
anyhow i have just measured and found that in a 24 hour period the fridge/frezzer box and frezzer are consuming 6.75 Kw thats 280 watts and hour

 

[1st Mil-tech]

Make sure the electric dryer isn't clogged with lint in the exhaust pipe.
Make sure the electric water heater is insulated and isn't clogged up with sediment.
make sure the fridge is set at 35 degrees and the freezer at about 20 degrees. If you have automatic defrost it will draw more current as it tries to keep the frost down.

I just spent over $2000 dollars in these new appliances including a new washer and dishwasher and stove. And I noticed my electric bill actually went down because of the increased efficiency.

 

[Klaus]

ahem i know unfortunately my gran thinks that her stuff is indestructable. every time something goes wrong or breacks down it someones fault and i'm being pissed off by being told continuosly that my computer and my sister having a cheap running light on is the fault of the elctric bill !

I have a fridge that was bought in the early seventies and is still running strong in the shed, keeping the drinks cool. Some of these fridges seem to be indestructible :wink:, this one is all battered and worn but it still runs.

Tell your gran to turn everything electrical off and then check the meter in the power box ( I'm assuming you have such in your house) if its still running.
If it is it could be standby circuits in TV's, video,microwave clock, etc.etc.
The power used for this feature, even though it is quite low, can add up to the bill's total, especially when there is a number of these gadgets.

Then you could go for more efficient appliances, as has been pointed out above, however these do cost money to buy and it might be some time (years) until the expense is recovered by the better efficiency. A simple and easy way to save power is to replace light bulbs in living area's with the very efficient low wattage fluoro replacement bulbs. As they take a minute or two to reach full light output it would save little to fit them in rooms that are only temporarily occupied (bathroom).

Perhaps quietly sitting down with your gran and rationally explaining how the various appliances consume power, which ones could be used more enconomically, which ones run automatically (fridges, freezers, hot water, central heating), which ones consume negligible power (calculate the cost running your cheap light for a month) and so on.

It's not always easy for elderly people to understand all that newfangled equipment and how it runs but they *do* understand the effect of the power bill and the cash remaining in the wallet after it has been paid :wink: