When you say you don't pay for hot water, I'm thinking you mean you don't pay separately for water as in water usage is in your rent. However what makes it hot? I'd bet you do indeed pay for the electricity that the water heater uses. It would need its own separate electric meter if you didn't pay for it.

My house is 2500 sq feet and we use 2200+ kw hours per month. Your usage isn’t crazy high but remember every area is different cost wise. Plus since you’re all electric that means that you do pay for hot water just as electric usage. Your unit might be incredibly inefficient. We can request the power provider to come out and do an efficiency review of our house to give us ideas how to make it more efficient.

Thank you! So the landlord is supposed to pay for hot water. How would I know if they’re charging me or him for that?

I think it's safe to assume OP lives in a building with multiple units. It would be more economical for the landlord to have multiple units sharing a single water heating unit (on a shared meter where hall/common area lights and similar would be) and including the average cost of this electricity usage in the rents.

>Could I be being charged for the water heater?

Do you have a water heater in your unit? Then you're being charged for it. Unless this is a studio attached to a SFH and you're sharing a water heater (which seems unlikely since you mention "building management") you are absolutely paying for the water heater.

>I suspected that I may be being charged for the wrong meter, but I doubt it.

If you are living in a cold climate, that's unlikely because the usage would be quite low for someone living full time in their unit.

Water being included is normal. HOT water is not usually included. Hot water is typically generated at your unit by your hot water heater. In your case, it’s electric so most likely you are paying to heat the water you use.

The landlord probably is paying for it, covering the cost in the rent. It would be difficult to determine for certainty without an electrician to verify how everything is wired.

If you have access to the utility room you can check if there are separate water heating units for each apartment in the building. If a single unit, or fewer units than there are apartments it's probably through a separate meter, however it is possible it goes to one apartment's meter.

Out of curiosity, have you checked with your neighbors to get a sense for how much electricity they use? Is yours abnormal for your building?

Edit: If you have access to the circuit breaker and meter you could also turn off the power to your entire panel and check if your meter stops running up and if hot water runs out. I doubt the landlord would appreciate this test, however it could technically be done.

That's wild. All my studio apartments have had their own water heater. It takes up a chunk of my closet 😳

Gotcha! I appreciate all of the tips. My circuit breaker is inside my unit, so I could technically test it out if necessary.

You'll need to be able to read the meter as well to ensure it stops running. Is the water heating unit in your apartment as well? If the breakers are in the unit and the heating element is not, it's a safe bet that you aren't paying for the heating of the water.

That's entirely possible too, I was taking into account the fact the lease includes provisions the landlord pays for water heating.

I'm sure there are also regional differences with these and also depends on the type of building. Example, a complex with multiple buildings and a few units per building would be different than a large building with scores of units.

I've had both, I rented an old converted bank office into apts in a 1880s building in a downtown area. That had shared hot water paid by the landlord.

I rent a condo now with its own seperate water heater, I pay for the heating my landlord pays the water (HOA fee).

Ooooh I've only been in new construction, that's possibly why!

You state you are rarely home. Do you unplug your devices? Many draw power even when turned off. TV's smart home devices, Wi-Fi, coffee makers, etc.

418kwh is less than a kilowatt of load around the clock. Pretty common. A kilowatt is equivalent to a small space heater.

400 kw is not really a lot, particularly if you're in an older building in a cold climate. Is your heat at 55° 24/7 even when you're home?

400 kWh in one month is 400/30= 1.33 kWh per day = 54 Watts per hours on average. That is one electric lamp or "drain" from TVs, chargers, computers and your refrigerator.

You can buy one of those "kill-a-watt" tools and see the usage of say refrigerator or computer.

Your electricity provider (with a smart meter) may also have your usage hour by hour...

In apartments, hot water can be supplied centrally.

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