chambero said:
I've got something wrong because my barn is running me $400 a month and nothing else is running very often.
If you have concerns about your bill being too high and the possibility of something using excess energy, the best place to start is at the main electrical panel that is fed from the meter. Try the following when you have a few minutes to spare and you have a typical energy use day.
*** Prior to starting this test, turn off all critical/valuable electronic equipment like computers and flat screen TVs. No need to cause damage to this equipment.
Start at the meter and look at how fast the meter is spinning. If there are two people involved, have one person at the meter and another at the electrical panel. Have the person at the panel turn off a breaker while the other watches the meter spin. (Highly scientific!) Start with the double pole breakers. They are generally used for appliances like electric range, water heater, and air conditioner. Keep turning additional breakers off one at a time while communicating with the person at the meter. You will notice the meter gradually start to slow down as loads are dropped at the panel. Whenever you see a significant decrease with the speed of the meter spinning, you've identified a significant energy user at that point in time. By the time you have turned off the last breaker, the meter should have stopped spinning. If it hasn't, you have one of two things happening. Either another electrical panel is served from that meter (i.e. a barn electrical panel), or you may have a bad underground wire located between your meter and the electrical panel(s).
At my home, I have found two spots between my house and my barn where the wire has been nicked or failed. I first found it when I had troubles with my sub panel in the barn. I could not operate a saw and found out that I had low voltage on one of the legs of the electric panel. Another high use item that I found was a well pump that was starting to go bad. It was pumping nearly all of the time trying to keep the water pressure up. After it was replaced, I dropped my energy use by nearly 15%. There are no magic bullets for sound energy use, just a comprehensive/efficient approach. Contact your local electric utility if you have further questions.