a/c wiring and electricity question

[Mr. Mark]

ok, i an idiot when it comes to eletrical stuff, so bear with me, but hopefully i can explain my problems, if they are problems.

my original problem was that i was trying to nail down what was using most of my electricity. if i turn off everything (except alarm clocks, refigerators, etc), i was still burning over 1000 kwh/mo rate. so i went breaker by breaker to determine what was using all this electricity. my breaker box is not labeled, the house is 14 yrs old and they rewried the breaker box about 2 years ago (when we moved in). anyway, after figuring out where refigerators were (which used about

1/3 of the 1000 kwh/mo), i found out breaker 1 and breaker 2 were both guilty, both together using about 1/2 of the 1000 kwh/mo). with these two breakers off, i couldnt' figure out which used these. so i turned back on the A/C's (i have 2 units), and found that one a/c used breaker 1 (15 amp) along with breaker 8/9 (double pole). and the other a/c used breaker 2 (15 amp).

so, knowing nothing about electrical wiring, is the typicall how A/C's are wired? and, why the heck is breakers 1 and 2, burning all the electricity when A/C is turned off ... could it be the fan? its costing me about $50/mo whatever it is.

should i call out an electrician? was my box rewired wrong? any help would be appreciated. i hope i didn't confuse you too much

[meirman]

In alt.home.repair on 23 Aug 2003 12:18:06 -0700 [e-mail] (Mr. Mark) posted:

Just breadker 2?

AC is expensive. In many ways. That's why people shouldn't use it.

But I think I have a pair of breakers for my compressor outside, and another 110volt for the control unit inside (and the furnace). I'll go check if you write back. Or maybe others will confirm this.

Meirman

If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter.

Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

[Colbyt]

In a "normal" installation you have a 220 amp, double pole breaker that drives the outside compressor and a single pole 115 amp breaker that provides power to the furnace and blower unit.

I doubt that a blower fan would use anywhere near that much electric in a month.

[CBHvac]

No way. Period.

Unless you have gas heat....do you? If you have a heat pump, and 2 units, you should have 2 double pole breakers, all in excess of 25 amps each..

You didnt say.

$50 a month....ok...so...call in your electric company and allow them to do an energy audit. I got called one time for that, and when it was all said and done, the electric company told the homeowner that his fan, (that we found on) was adding $9 to his bill each month..NOT the $200 he was screaming about.

[Vlad]

To start you are not an idiot. Like all of us, you are ignorant on some subjects. When it comes to english language, I am an ignorant but not an idiot.

I leave on a typical 3 bedroom 2 floors house heated with electricity and my power consumption varies from a maximum of 5000 kWh during the winter to 750 kWh during the Summer. A total of 30,000 kWh equal to an average of 2500 kWh.

I can't find your consumption as being excessive with the A/C on . With the A/C off , it doesn't make sense. If you have some thing that uses about 700 Wh it certainly can't be the relay and it's generating a lot of heat. Check for hot spots on the system. You mentioned the A/C is off but are the blowers also off ?

Vlad

[Vlad]

Please note the following two messages d/l from this group. Are they related to your problem ?

" Also, I had shut most of the breakers and was going in the attic doing some wiring when I noticed that something was drawing power while everything was shut off. Turns out that my a/c compressor has a crankcase heater that runs while the unit is off but breakers are on. But it was more like a $5/ mo drain."

"its chewing up alot of electricity (1000 kw/h per month). should it be running constantly? if not, how can i turn it off? and should it be using this much electricity?"

Vlad

[Jon Elson]

If breakers 1 and 2 are, indeed, for the A/C, and it is using electricity when the unit is supposed to be off, that is most likely the crankcase heater for the compressor. Many better systems have these to prevent too much refrigerant from saturating the compressor oil, and then foaming up and starving the compressor for oil when it starts. You could turn the breakers off, and just remember to turn them back on a day before the first use of the A/C unit.

The total bill is $50 a month, or the "phantom" load on breakers 1 and 2 is running a $50 bill all by itself?

Jon

[Colbyt]

Yes, Volts not amps. It was late for me that day when I typed that.