Am I responsible for broken ice maker costing me $250 in killowatt usage ?

[_ZardoZ_]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Thanks in advance for any help...

A water main burst a while back which cut the water flow to my refrigerators ice maker.
The repairman the landlord sent to fix the burst water main informed me that I could no longer make ice and there was no concern.
I assumed that he reported this info to the landlord but I also text-ed and left a voice mail with the landlord to be responsible.
I did not ask to have the ice maker fixed as I knew it would mean them having to spend a lot of money replacing the burst pipe just for the ice maker.
I did email them months later to ask if they if they could patch the gaping holes in the drywall the repairman had made and again indicated that i could not make ice but it was not a big deal.
I have discovered after carefully monitoring my Pepco meter and keeping my electric heat off that my kilowatt usage has quadrupled and the Pepco rep indicated that the refrigerator probably has been working in overdrive to try and make ice.
The Pepco rep informed me that compared to the same period over the last 2 years my readings should be around 50 kilowatts/month - this last month alone was over 300 - which translates to a $250 spike.(electric). With the heat off, in the past 2 weeks the meter ran over 200 kilowatts!! That is 4 times my monthly average.

1. Lets assume that the ice maker issue is indeed the cause - -where do I stand here as far as my and the landlords responsibilities and any possible relief from the additional $250 ? By not asking to have the ice maker repaired negate any claim ?

2. As directed by Pepco I am also turning off all the breakers in my apartment to see if my meter is still running due to recent contractor work in the 4 unit apartment building that might have put any of the other units water heaters or electrical draws on my meter.
If this proves to be the case what steps should I take to correct the issue and recoup the $250 ?

The lease does indicate that Landlord is responsible for refrigerator repairs.

Thank you!

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Thanks in advance for any help...

A water main burst a while back which cut the water flow to my refrigerators ice maker.
The repairman the landlord sent to fix the burst water main informed me that I could no longer make ice and there was no concern.
I assumed that he reported this info to the landlord but I also text-ed and left a voice mail with the landlord to be responsible.
I did not ask to have the ice maker fixed as I knew it would mean them having to spend a lot of money replacing the burst pipe just for the ice maker.
I did email them months later to ask if they if they could patch the gaping holes in the drywall the repairman had made and again indicated that i could not make ice but it was not a big deal.
I have discovered after carefully monitoring my Pepco meter and keeping my electric heat off that my kilowatt usage has quadrupled and the Pepco rep indicated that the refrigerator probably has been working in overdrive to try and make ice.
The Pepco rep informed me that compared to the same period over the last 2 years my readings should be around 50 kilowatts/month - this last month alone was over 300 - which translates to a $250 spike.(electric). With the heat off, in the past 2 weeks the meter ran over 200 kilowatts!! That is 4 times my monthly average.

1. Lets assume that the ice maker issue is indeed the cause - -where do I stand here as far as my and the landlords responsibilities and any possible relief from the additional $250 ? By not asking to have the ice maker repaired negate any claim ?

2. As directed by Pepco I am also turning off all the breakers in my apartment to see if my meter is still running due to recent contractor work in the 4 unit apartment building that might have put any of the other units water heaters or electrical draws on my meter.
If this proves to be the case what steps should I take to correct the issue and recoup the $250 ?

The lease does indicate that Landlord is responsible for refrigerator repairs.

Thank you!

Well, the first thing that you should do is turn off the ice maker so that it will no longer try to work. You either do that by lifting the arm to the off position or switching it off.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

1. Lets assume that the ice maker issue is indeed the cause - -where do I stand here as far as my and the landlords responsibilities and any possible relief from the additional $250 ? By not asking to have the ice maker repaired negate any claim ?"

You stand nowhere in terms of having the landlord pay for any of this as you yourself indicated you did not wish to have the ice maker repaired.

"2. As directed by Pepco I am also turning off all the breakers in my apartment to see if my meter is still running due to recent contractor work in the 4 unit apartment building that might have put any of the other units water heaters or electrical draws on my meter.
If this proves to be the case what steps should I take to correct the issue and recoup the $250 ?"

Prove that someone else is using your electricity and hunt down who may be doing this and obtain the funds from them.

Gail

 

[_ZardoZ_]

thanks

Lesson learned.

I discovered that I am powering on of the buildings hallway lights...?

Can I ask the LL to do a check on all the appliances they are responsible for free of charge?
I have been using them for over 3 years and would like to know if they are all working as expected.

Thank you.

 

[STEPHAN]

I discovered that I am powering on of the buildings hallway lights...?

Just curious: Are they connected before your breaker box? You said that you were to turn all breakers off. Or was it now, that the hallway light went out?

 

[_ZardoZ_]

hall light

When I turn all my apartments breakers off one of the hallway lights goes out - when breakers on - light back on...breaker switches are not labeled.

 

[STEPHAN]

Thanks.

You can calculate the cost using for example this calculator:

http://energyusecalculator.com/electricity_cfllightbulb.htm

I guess about $3 per year / lightbulb.



On a different note I am surprised that the ice maker would be causing this extreme usage.

 

[_ZardoZ_]

thanks

Well I don't know if I am supposed to be powering that hallway light, and the fact that i am makes me think that maybe some wires got crossed by contractors as 2 new tenants moved in 2 weeks ago coinciding with the meter spike.

I cant imagine the broken ice maker being the sole cause either but I am just learning about this.

More puzzling is that I recorded 36892 on meter and then did a load of laundry using my washer (cold 37 min wash) and dryer (60 min high heat) and also did some vacuuming. The meter reading right after dryer cycle was done only went up by 5 to 36897 !! Something must be wrong here no?

 

[_ZardoZ_]

lease specifies LL responsible for maintaining the appliances...

1. Lets assume that the ice maker issue is indeed the cause - -where do I stand here as far as my and the landlords responsibilities and any possible relief from the additional $250 ? By not asking to have the ice maker repaired negate any claim ?"

You stand nowhere in terms of having the landlord pay for any of this as you yourself indicated you did not wish to have the ice maker repaired.

Gail

Thanks, just to make clear: the LL had knowledge that the appliance was faulty and the lease specifies they are required to keep it running as when lease began I would think that I wouldn't have to ask unless it states so in the lease.?

 

[justalayman]

an ice maker uses such a minimal amount of energy ((the motor to empty the tray is about it) so even if that thing was constantly trying to empty a tray (I suspect you would notice if it were), it isn't going to use $250 of electricity in a month.


the hallway light:

is it immediately in front of your doorway such as one would have a porch light at their home? Generally a tenant cannnot be required to pay for power to common areas but something like a porchlight might be allowed (would have to check but again, the amount of power is very minimal compared to your complaint).




so, turn off the main breaker in your panel (or every breaker if there is no main) and then go and check your meter. If it registers any usage there is a problem. If it does register anything, contact your building department.

 

[STEPHAN]

Just a stupid question: Is the meter reading correctly reflected on the bill? Sometimes this could be a mistake, too.

 

[Astrolink]

I wonder if recent electrical work was done to rectify his apt. was using electricity from other's meters. My family of 2 uses about 600 kwh of electricity a month. I looked up the national average and it's 907 kwh per month. The OP says he's used 50kwh per month average in the past. I don't think it's possible to only use an amount that small.