30 amp motorhome billing question...HELP!

So I have an older motorhome, a 1987 Elite.  It is 30 amp and 34ft long.  I left it for the winter on a permanent site near Lake Erie in Ohio where I stayed in it from May to November 1 in 2006.  The office had closed when I left for the winter, so I decided I would pay my electric bill when I returned this year.  The manager informed me that I owed $192 for October 1- November 1 (electric only).  I am baffled.  It seems like such an excessively high amount, as my July power bill was $90 or so, and August was just over $100.  The reason I am really questioning the validity of this bill is that my apartment, which ran many more electric appliances, as well as stereos and fans and many ceiling lights was never more than $80 in the winter. 
Last year when I arrived at this site, the electric meter was non-functioning, however the power still worked.  For the first 2 months, the manager charged me what she said was an 'average rate' and that was $60.  She eventually had her 'maintenance man' replace my meter with what she said was a 'new meter'.  The bills soared every month thereafter. 
When I asked her why, she said there must be something wrong with my motorhome.  So my questions are:  Is there a possibility that my converter or something is malfunctioning and using this huge amount of power?  Has anyone else ran into this type of thing?  Is it even possible to use $192 of power in one month off of 30 amps?? 
Normally, the appliances used are a 13inch television, the refrigerator, my personal computer (which isn't even on all the time) and for the month of October I used the heating element on my roof air conditioner unit when it was needed. 
Any help will be greatly appreciated, as I am now awaiting an electrician I have found myself who I am having check my motorhome for possible craziness.  She offered her 'maintenance man' to recheck the meter, but said I still was responsible for the $192.  I mainly question this, since I had the motorhome in Florida in April 2006 and my electric bill for the entire month, with constant air conditioning was $68.
What can I do?  Are there any personal meters that I can plug my power cord into that meter the power used?
Thanks, and happy camping..
Frank

Many things are possible,  Did you leave the electric heat on? The Hot water or fridge? these all burn power

That said, I agree that is a lot of power

One posibility is she mis-spoke and it's Oct-1 through May-1

And though the Kill-a-watt is only rated for fifteen amps, yes, it is such a meter, with limits

And you can indeed buy your own,  Though I don't know where. ask at an electrical supply or contractor

$192 for a month of electricity is way out of line.  Our electric bills in AZ when we run our heat pumps every morning and 2 computers 24x7 rarely exceed $70/month at $.14/kwh.  How many kwh were shown on the bill and what was the rate per kwh?

I also recommend you take your own meter readings at the beginning of each month to audit the electric bills.

87elite said:

The manager informed me that I owed $192 for October 1- November 1 (electric only).

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Frank, my park reservation SW handles electric billing in various ways, so am pretty familiar with how RV parks charge for electric. Here are some thoughts I have after reading your post:

o In most states that I know of, it is against the law to make a profit on electricity charged in an RV park. The owners must just pass on "their" charges, but no more than that. CA does periodic inspections of parks to make sure this is the case. I was actually on site one afternoon when this was done. It took about 2 hours for the 2 inspectors to complete their work. Seems "that" park was undercharging a few cents/KWH.

o Most parks will have a main meter coming into the park from the Utility -- from which they receive a master bill each month. That bill contains the charges for the entire park, with a rate per KWH. That KWH rate is then passed on to metered customers -- if the have metered customers. Some parks then have elaborate formulas they have derived to break the bill out by power used by the park itself, power used by non-metered customers, and power used by metered customers. Sometimes they miscue -- and the charges that they relate to you as "the average" used by all customers will be either too high or too low. So perhaps "before" they began metering your site, the average amount charged to you was lower than you actually used. That does happen. The meter may have then become a more realistic billing tool.

That park average can be a real chore at times -- as most parks include electric in daily and weekly rates, and in some monthly sites that do not contain meters. The variance in electrical usage by individual rigs makes that method somewhat unfair to the small TT parked beside a rig with tons of electric stuff going. I always try to avoid being in a park office when a group of irate NON-metered monthly or seasonal RVers come in with their monthly electric bills in hand.

o You did not mention the charges per KWH -- either in your rig or in the apartment you mention. That figure changes dramatically sometimes from month to month and season to season. So your charges during months earlier in the year could be different based on a change in rate vs. a different amount of electric used.

o Parks cannot install meters out of the box from a vendor. They must first pass tests and be stickered and sealed by the State agency responsible. So would doubt there is anything wrong with your new meter. However, you may want to check the meter to make sure the seal has not been broken. That would be good advice for anyone renting a metered site.

o You mention using electric heating during October. Parks have a tough time dealing with RVers that ignore the "No Electric Heaters" signs posted in their rules. When a park is full and most all rigs are using one or 2 1500 Watt space heaters, the total charge to the park sky rockets. That "could" cause that average rate to go way up as well to the Monthly and Seasonal customers that are not on meters -- "or", that may cause them to raise the rate per KWH to metered customers to offset their total park charges. And that may have happened to you. When some RVers ignore the rules, all RVers may suffer.

Rates in CA and AZ have really been high for the past 4 or 5 years. Parks in Quartzsite, AZ, for example, charge 18 to 20 cents per KWH. That is compared to the park I am currently installing in MI that charges 6.9 cents/KWH.  When last I stayed in an AZ park, after "really" conserving, it was tough to keep the bill less than $150/mos.  In CA and AZ parks that I work with I see monthly electric running much higher than what you are reporting -- but that is because the rates are much higher in some western states.

My recommendation to anyone on a monthly or seasonal basis with a park is to, (1) make sure you are being metered vs. being charged based on a park usage average, and (2) make sure you know exactly what the KWH rate being charged on metered sites. I would also want to know what KWH rate the Utility is charging the park vs. what I am paying at my meter.

Hope this helps, Frank. My gut feeling is that your higher charges in Oct were simply charges per KWH, increased KWH rate based on the number of rigs using electric heaters, and your electric heater usage. The good news is, you are now on metered charges. Suggest that each month you verify your starting and ending readings, make sure those readings and rate are on your monthly bill, and verify the KWH rate you are being charged. Then there are no surprises.

Maybe someone got in and made themselves at home.

Is it even possible to use $192 of power in one month off of 30 amps??

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Absolutely. Just a simple calculation: Assuming you're running one 1500 watt heater 24/7 and the rate per kWh is 15 cents, that comes out to 1.5 * 24 * 30 * .15 or $162. And that's only about half of what your 30A service can provide!

THANKS SO MUCH for the quick responses!  This is becoming my new favorite website.  I'm now in my 3rd year fulltime in this rig, and being 25 years old, I have found that rv'ers are some of the most helpful folks out there!!
I'm deciding to lay OFF the roof air heater system for the fall, and monitor the meter myself.  Now if someone can just recommend a good sealant for the windows.... 

Frank,

It sounds like you're going to have a blast with your new-old rig.

We run our roof air when driving.  No problem.  The advantage is that in hilly country you sometimes need to turn off the dash air (when it's working  ) in order to not overheat your engine.  It's nice to have a backup to use in its place!  ;D  People who drive cars don't have that luxury....

ArdraF

Re this web site... You are right about it being a favorite web site,  rv.net has more members but it is so big that discussions quickly get out of hand.  IRV/2 likewise.  This forum is big enough that you can get quick answers to most anything, but not so big that answers get drown out by the noise as happens all too often on the others.

Plus we have our regular wed-night "Chat" (I won't be there this Wed as I'm in a meeting at that hour) that is 9pm eastern, 8 central, 7 mountain and 6 pacific, just log in and hit chat, ENTER your CHAT name in the name field, leave password blank, Chat name need not be forum name or uid (I use John-D or John_D) no spaces in name.  Subset of IRC commands, /help being the most important one.  The chat room is a flash object

And we have both mini-rallies (2 or three or five members) and THE BIG ONE, every year.  The BIG ONE is, of course, Quartzsite Arizona and we stake out a hunk of BLM land,  No phone, No water, No sewer, No power No cable tv, but at least a dozen high speed internet connections (you can tell what we find important   For two weeks we do REAL campfires.  Forum home page is a photo from two years back.  I'm not in it.