A Surrey couple is facing a hydro mystery.
Willie Brown and Cal Jones are worried about skyrocketing BC Hydro bills.
Back in the summer, Brown suspected a faulty hydro meter and had it changed.
But the expensive spikes in use have returned.
The couple brought in engineer Greg Morandini to check their town home and offer suggestions on ways they could cut their energy.
"These types of thermostats tend to, as they get older, lose their effectiveness and get inefficient," Morandini said as he examined their dial thermostats.
He suggested getting new digital baseboard heating thermostats.
But it was soon apparent that the couple was already doing many other things right. They had energy star appliances, and compact fluorescents.
"We're not energy hogs," Jones said. "We turn the heat down."
Greg offered other suggestions as well, such as blocking the fireplace when it was not in use -- a strategy that would save them money. But the fact that the hydro bills seemed to be jumping without reason was still undetermined.
"I think there is something going on that we can't identify," Jones said. "If it was an appliance you'd smell burning electricity. If it was a baseboard and it wasn't working properly you'd smell it too."
Morandini dug into the suite's history and made an interesting discovery.
"In about 2004, it changes," he said.
Starting in the late 1980s, when the homes were built, yearly electrical use was between 11,000 and 13,000 kW. In 2005, it jumped to 16,000 kW. In 2006, it was at 18,000 kW while two years later, in 2008, it rose to 20,000 kW.
"You are talking about an average four, five, 6,000 kW per year in excess of their neighbours," Morandini said. "Something's going on, something's happening,"
An electrician investigated all the wiring inside the home and found that everything in the house was within the proper tolerances and was working fine.
Twenty-five per cent of the electricity that Brown and Jones are paying for may be disappearing somewhere between the meter, which is in another building, and their town home.
"There could be water in the wiring and it depends on the moisture content of the soil and whether it's raining or not raining," Jones said. Morandini said. "You may find if this wire is bare or if it's rotted away the coating, it's short circuiting the wiring, not all the time but at certain points."
Years ago, the ground was dug up to install a natural gas line. A possible cause of its present day failure may be that the back hole nicked the power cable.
The couple's town home will undergo more testing to determine the exact reason why their power use is so wildly variable. Their story is a good example of why we all need to review our bills carefully.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
