Home Energy Horror Stories

What could be spookier than an energy vampire draining your utility bill? From phantom utility bills to malicious energy ghouls, we put on our ghostbusting hats this Halloween as we looked at some of the most “haunted” devices that were shared with us by real Sense users.

When David M. moved into a new apartment, he was surprised to see a significantly higher electricity bill than he had expected for his 1200 square foot home. The mysteriously high electricity bills continued over the summer months, even though David made sure to keep his AC usage to a minimum and even asked his building management about the issue. With few options left, David discovered Sense and began “ghost hunting” for the mysterious energy ghoul haunting his home. Once Sense was installed, David turned off all the power in his home and noticed that something in his home was still consuming energy (spooky, right?)

With further investigation from the building management, David learned that his upstairs neighbor’s air conditioning was tied into his panel! His neighbors used their AC more liberally over the summer because their monthly bill was very low, unaware they were leaving David to pay the price. Thanks to Sense, David was able to hunt down the phantom energy ghoul in his home and have his building manager fix the issue, saving him thousands of dollars in electricity bill payments.

When Michael D. first saw that a mysterious device was detected by Sense, he immediately noticed that this energy vampire was drawing 900W for 90 seconds every twenty minutes, 24 hours a day. Unsure of the issue, Michael remembered he had covered his whole-home attic fan with an insulation blanket for the winter to keep the heat in the house from escaping into the attic. He soon found that he had failed to toggle the fan to the “OFF” position when adding the insulation blanket, and the fan was re-set to high-speed sometime over the winter. Michael was able to confirm that the mysterious vampire was his attic fan, and the irregular power usage was caused by his insulation blanket getting caught in the fan. Michael was able to fix the issue and praised Sense for alerting him to a potential fire hazard.

Checking his phone one day, Tim S. was surprised to see a “new high energy use” alert from Sense. After opening the Sense app, Tim immediately noticed he was using about 6,000W more than his average usage. After searching inside his home for something that would use that much energy, Tim stepped outside and noticed water droplets pouring down over his roof and over the gutter… on a perfectly clear day. This was no instance of a mysterious weather phenomenon – his rooftop water heater had sprung a leak, causing the water pumps to run non-stop. Tim was able to shut off his water and immediately stop the leak 30 minutes after it had started (thanks to the heads-up from Sense!)

Do you have a similar story about energy vampires and ghouls in your home? Share your story at Sense Saves.