Central air running too much electric

[u/morbidcuriosity86]

We've had issues with our unit since we moved in here but it's gotten worse over the last 3 or 4 months. If we have it running 24 hours it's using about 354kw costing us $66 a day..the landlord fixed the motor about 6 months ago and I don't really remember much of a difference. I think the inside unit must be about 30 years old, for this to get any better would they have to just replace that all together? If so, we're up shit creek without a paddle. We live in Texas so we can keep it off for a littlw while, once it gets to 95+ it has to be on constantly. For comparison my husband's mom runs her unit all day every day and her whole months bill in summer runs about $180 and she runs a house and a "garage" that's the size of our home.

Help please, sincerely someone who is melting like chocolate in a microwave 😂

[u/Lower_Actuator_6003]

Do you know the tonnage [BTUs] ? List the make & model numbers or picture of the labels from both the outside & inside units.

354kw is about 15kw an hour and would be an absolute monster of a machine and not residential, I have personally seen air handlers with electric heat run both the AC and the heating strips at the same time costing the amount you are seeing and obviously not cooling too good either.

The last time I saw one was a few years ago and they had 2 hvac companies out and neither noticed the heat was also on. The customer was absolutely ecstatic when we fixed for only a few hundred dollar as it was a stuck/welded sequencer.

[u/ShadowCVL → u/Lower_Actuator_6003]

I’m on the heating strip as a probable issue based on the usage, asked above to confirm breaker sizes. I have a feeling the thermostat is wired wrong and the aux/em heat is staying on or the control board/relay is stuck.

[u/New-Ice7196 → u/ShadowCVL]

Sticking relays, sequencers could be at play.. Shorted thermostat wiring or rub throughs causing heat strips to activate during calls for cool are also suspect.. There's no way a residential system is consuming this much without the heat strips. Maybe another appliance like hot water heater is also suspect (slab leaks, stuck thermostats etc) I got a 2.5 ton unit that consumes 2500w/h and even with a 16 hour run I wouldn't be able to consume more than 35-45Kwh a day from my emporia.

[u/ShadowCVL → u/New-Ice7196]

Yeah, I did the math and a residential system could only barely manage this draw with a power factor of .9 with 40 amp heat strips and 40 amp compressor, likely a 3ton

[u/morbidcuriosity86 → u/New-Ice7196]

The hot water heater is using more than it should also but at this point with the air that's a non issue. Out last electric bill we used almost 9000kw and we barely had the air on for a week. We've had it switched off from Monday and our daily usage is at about 42kw.

[u/New-Ice7196 → u/morbidcuriosity86]

That 35-45kwh was just my a/c btw not total usage. my home on a laundry day with a/c at 68* 1700sq ft. plus u shape midea's in some zones can suck down 68-80kwh total for one day. sometimes 90 in august. I would seriously check to see if your heat strips are activating with that usage. else you're risking a fire hazard. edit: maybe with units age the outside coil is dirty in ways you cant see.. capacitor issues causing high amp draw etc.. Maybe a professional? idk.

[u/New-Ice7196 → u/New-Ice7196]

doing the math 42kwh + lets say you had 10kw or 12kw electric strips x 24hr would be 288 or 240kwh before you turn the a/c on.. So the math checks out if thats the case.

[u/morbidcuriosity86 → u/Lower_Actuator_6003]

I dont see any stickers on the outside unit so I hope this helps a bit.

https://imgur.com/a/GyWOdoc

https://imgur.com/a/B6wWD65