So we got an electric bill over $350! Our electric bill had been increasing for 2 months but we chalked it up to more usage and ever increasing random charges from our electric company. Still was much higher than our usual bill…
When we received a $350 for the month I knew something was wrong!!! Our home has all electric ac/heat and appliances but this was obscenely high. So I first thought about how much I had used the oven that month which honestly wasn’t much. Then I thought about the only other things in our house using 240V, only something running A LOT of power consistently could draw that much, a mere light wasn’t going to raise our bill that much.
Our culprit was….The Water Heater. Water had gotten into the junction box and rusted it out.
The TPR(the temperature/pressure relief valve) was leaking at its base and filling the top of the system with water under the tank top. Overtime water pooled up in the connection box. Lower resistance = more power draw. I had found the source of my problem.
Heres how I fixed the issue.
Turn off the power to the water heater. Remove the metal cover to the wires and disconnect wire nuts.
Clean up the water. Grab a wire brush, stainless steel steel sponge andse sand paper to remove as much surface rust as you can, use a flat head screw driver to scratch off any tough build up.
After prepping the surface check the wires. To be sure I would have clean connections I cut off the last inch of the wires from the wall and the water heater before reconnecting. Make sure the leads are clean with no rust or corrosion and reattach with wire nuts. The nuts in the picture are for use in wet areas. They have a little dab of grease in them to prevent water from making a bad connection. I always use these in wet or outdoor applications and they have never let me down.
Screw the lid back on the junction box and attach the ground lead. Then turn your water heater back on and enjoy the warmth!
In this situation our breaker never tripped but our bill continued to rise because our tank was leaking and the corrosion water our connections sat in made the tank run almost full time. Next time you get a crazy high electric bill don’t toss your tools, find the culprit.
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