how big is your elec bill? (those with gas heating) Melb

Rightio posters-if you wish to continue the very interesting computer discussions please start another thread and let this one get back on track!

$350 for us - around 50 halogen downlights, fridge, Large LCD tv and all the gadgets that you can think off. Laptop as well, but I do turn that off from time to time.

Thinking about getting solar electricity system installed

I'd be kinda surprised to hear if a PC or laptop is adding much to your bills anyway. Most of your computers will go to 'sleep' so they'll use squat in electricity (though your wireless router etc might be another story but anyway). I haven't got my bill yet (first one) but I'm a little concerned! I'm pretty impatient/lazy so the dryer gets a work out.

Our most recent electricity bill was $407.80 followed soon after by a gas bill of $358.06.

We have a toddler who refuses to sleep under the covers so at the moment the heating is on 24/7.

Just received our quartery bill for $470. We usually heat just over half of our 200 square meter home 8am-10pm. We don't have window furnishings yet, so a lot of heat flies out the windows (paper blinds currently)

Ours was $400 for the quater. That is with a 4 bdr, 3living and study. Family of 4 and being a work at home. I thought it was pretty good. It has been an extremely cold winter this year.

I dont pay them my wife does and she all handle the expenses at home.

Our were significantly worse than what are being quoted here. We were getting combined gas and electricity bills in the range of $450 to $650 per MONTH!! This was shortly after switching suppliers. We have since switched again and have setup a fixed monthly payment with 'fix up' after each meter reading. The fixed rate is $130 per month and we have had one bill for $270 after about 4 or 5 months. This means that our quarterly is probably around $500 (with fixup) which is much more manageable.

Our gas is separate but is also coming in more affordable. Supplier is very important here and it is easy to be given a dud plan. WE have also tried to cut back on usage a bit.

We have cfls throughout, gas boosted solar hot water, gas ducted heating, gas cooktop, electric oven, R2.5 ceiling insulation and R2 wall insulation. Our floor area is around 220sqm and we are a family of 4. We have a dishwasher used once a day, sometimes once every 2 days, top loader washing machine and 500 litre fridge. Apart from that we don't have any extraordinary large power usage devices. Over a period I tested, we came in at around 24KWh or less per day.

Just got ours for $365. Every bill for the last year has consistently risen by around $20 without any changes I can think of (since the "smart" meter).
3 bed, 2 bath, family of 4 - I'm home during the day with our 2yr old.
We have gas boosted solar hot water, gas central heating, gas cooktop so those are not included.
We have one TV (well, we do have 2 but the second is small and only on about half an hour a day in the morning), run the dishwasher once a day, fridge is small (385L), average of one load of washing a day (including front load washer and running the dryer but this has always been the case), lights are on if we are in the room and off if we aren't and the majority of the cooking I do is on the stove top so the oven only gets used 1-2 times a week. I use the laptop about 4hrs a day and we have a modem, wireless router and printer on all the time and a PVR that gets used for a couple of hours each night.