Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Power Bills.... 22Jun 14, 2009 8:17 pm Our bills over summer are $450-550 rest of year $250-300 we have 3 phase power and will soon be changing to a Time of use Tariff as our meter has this capability. Then we can use dryer etc after 11pm weekdays to reduce costs and run our 3 phase A/C cheaply accross the weekends as my wife and i both work full time usage during the peak times is not that bad. Re: Power Bills.... 23Jun 15, 2009 3:21 pm Dragonfly Well it made my eyes pop! Our latest bill was $88 for two months, varies from $75 in summer up to $120/two months during the winter because of the electric water booster being used. but no air con, no dryer, no plasmas etc. I'm a bit of a light scrooge though, only have on what we're using, and use the power saving bulbs.. solar hot water, and gas stovetop, electric oven. Oh and in units it's 8 units a day.. We're in WA as well. We have gas hot water and gas stovetop. Everything else is on electricity. We have one laptop on all day (switched off at night), reverse-cycle air-con on now and then for a couple of hours in the summer and half an hour here and there in the winter. DVD is on stand-by (so it can automatically record programmes) and TV is plugged in (but switched off). All other appliances are switched off at the powerpoint when not in use. Don't have a dryer (have sunny Perth weather instead). Washing-machine does about 5 loads per week. For the last year our bills came to $895.65. In our own house (rental at the moment), we'll be able to use off-peak electricity for washing-machine and pool pump. Re: Power Bills.... 24Jun 15, 2009 3:39 pm Brissie - 2 people - 3 bedroom house, 2 x computers, 2 x tvs, gas hot water & stove/oven, running deep freeze, bar fridge and normal fridge, occasional use of air-con/reverse cycle, am pretty good at turning lights off... about $300 per quarter. Renovating a post-war house in Brisbane | On the first rung of the property ladder Re: Power Bills.... 25Jun 15, 2009 6:19 pm 2 adults 2 kids. Our main power consumption is LCD TV (smallish one), computer, flouro light, occasionaly ceramic heater (when showering), washing machine and drier (proabably more often than not, certainly in winter), fridge, cordless phone. Oh water pump and UV Filter could big reasonable users. Also power tools (house building and living in shed). Our bill is generally $90 / 2 months, doesn't seem to have gone up much during house building. Our bill is about to increase though through power prices going up sgnificantly over here! Generally I probably wash about 3 times a week (kids are still young and hubby works away), the washing machine is a front loader too so relatively power / water efficient. Showers are gas (we live in a shed and have a camp set up), camping stove for cooking and hot water for washing dishes. So yeah if $90 is a basic cost for 2 months I can understand how you could ealsily have a large bill with more usage, however if our bill was as big as that I think Hubby would put me on some dire restrictions! I think for us anything up to a couple of hundred a quarter would be reasonable. Re: Power Bills.... 26Jun 15, 2009 10:11 pm Efficient appliances must have a bit to do with it. We have a fairly efficient fridge with small freezer and a very efficient second fridge without a freezer- hence why it's more efficient- freezers require more energy. And our washing machine is the F&P aquasmart toploader and it's water and energy faaabulous. Not having any heating does keep ours down, and to be honest we may never install any either. We have north facing living areas that get very warm in winter and it's only the south facing spare bedroom that gets colder than a ...you know what in winter and the rest of the house is fine, and we don't have little babies anymore. Mediterranean climate suits me fine! Tempted to get reverse cycle in the living area because of the heat but once we actually get a verandah on the back of the house even that will be much better. I have energy smart ceiling fans too, running those 8 hours plus a day in summer barely added anything to the bill. Re: Power Bills.... 27Jun 15, 2009 10:22 pm We live in a small unit and normally get $250 bills per quarter. There is just two of us and we work full time. We've got everything on electricity. Not bad Re: Power Bills.... 28Jun 16, 2009 8:21 am With 5 people, electric cooking in two kitchens (I'd like to get the gas on) electric heating (2400W oil filled column heater going at least 12 hrs a day for mum, and three small 700W oil column heaters going about 4 hrs each cold day) 3 flatscreen TVs and 1 CRT (most going 24/7), 1 PC (usually going 24/7), no dryer, energy saving bulbs, small electric water heater, not on off peak because it's too small for 5 people ( just got one of those new heat pump solar units courtesy of the govt.). I pay about $600>$700 in winter, and about $400>$500 in summer. Hey 78xtc. The squeeky wheel usually gets grease I had a similar experience to 78xtc, but I got a much better deal than he did. I didn't get a bill for almost two years, and I wasn't complaining. All of a sudden I got a bill for about $3,000 (I thought they'd wake up eventually), but I wasn't going to let it go at that. I jumped up and down complaining that I couldn't afford it (I could, but why tell them that?), and I expected my bills quarterly. They reduced it by $1,000, and I made arrangements to pay it off (Why pay in a lump if there's no interest attached?). A few weeks later, they sent an apology letter, and reduced the bill another $1,000, so I paid about $1,000 for two years power. That was towards the end of last year, and since then the bills have been normal, however on my last bill, which was $480 (last summer quarter) they gave me a credit for overpayment of just over $1,600, so after the bill was taken out I still have almost $1,200 in credit. I don't know how they run their business, but however it is, it suits me just fine. Re: Power Bills.... 29Jun 17, 2009 3:56 am 78xtc it wasn't until I threatened them with the ombudsman that they actually rectified the situation - I had to go a whole weekend w/o electricity! OMG - I wish we didnt have to have them!!! what a bunch of idiots.. but from what I hear the competitor isn't much better!!! I can so relate to that! A number of years ago, whilst still a student, I lived in an apartment that shared a meter box with three other apartments. It turned out that two of the supply wires managed to fuse together, and because my meter had the lower internal resistance, I was paying the electricity bill for one of my neighbours, too. It took almost a year to get that fixed up, and to receive a refund for the extra that I'd paid. It didn't seem to strike them us at all worthy of attention that my bills almost tripled, and my neighbours bills went to zero - at the same time; or that I could remove all my fuses, disconnect and turn of all my appliances, water heater, etc, and my meter was still whirling around. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Power Bills.... 30Jun 17, 2009 11:26 am Looks like Sangropers're doing something right ! Good on ya Pebble and Ozhappy! As for us, we're empty nesters, our fridge is quite old and rather inefficient, but we've got no AC (I like it hot, DW less so, but she can bear it), just the ceiling fans, med size LCD TV and CLF globes everywhere. We pay $60-70/2 mths, for 6-7 units/day. We hope to do better than this in the new house, with a new fridge, LED lights and PV on the roof. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: Power Bills.... 31Jun 17, 2009 3:25 pm Willow Dragonfly Wondering though, what does electricity cost over on the east coast? We pay 13.93 c per unit, where I am in WA I'm in WA too, and it made my eye's pop also !!!! my mum is in Victoria and her power bills are very expensive.. Ours is a little more than yours tho, about 170 summer for 2 months 250 winter for 2 months...Everything electric except for hot water. 2 fridges, I big LCD, 3 other tv's, dryer that's only used in winter. Electric oven/hotplates, 2 computers..and guitar amps that get used about 20 hours a week...I am vigilent with the power usage though...2 adults, 2 teens...Reverse cycle air con & ducted evap plus 2 little electric heaters - this house is freezing !! ( Hi to my friends on here, I'm back after my MIL passing away all your advice helped alot xx) I agree! I thought "Wow, $611, that's a lot for 3 months!" But aren't unit prices supposed to increase here from 1 July? I have a SmartPower meter in my new home, so we'll see if that makes any considerable difference, even though my bill as it is is not overly high. Built with Commodore Homes - The Fusion completed April 2009 (with modifications) Yes I have moved! Will update as soon as I can...no internet at home right now!!! Sooty's House - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19462 Re: Power Bills.... 32Jun 17, 2009 5:01 pm i just went round my rather massive share house that i live in with 3 mates + basically one of there girlfriends, with an instant power meter (similar to the jaycar $40 units) we pro-rated our bill out at like $600 per 1/4, but we accidentally had the spa filter running 24/7 for a while. Basically the LCDs with game consoles, sound systems, etc... pulled about 50 to 60w constantly even when off. When running they pulled between 400 and 500w (we have 3) Computers with sound systems, screens, hang on crap, etc.. pulled about 20w which is fine, except we run 4 in our study so that was 80w. On they pulled between 100 and 300 depending on application. Just because it has a 650w PSU doesn't mean it actually pulls that flat out you need to be really pushing it for it to start cranking it up. Spa filter drew 450w. Fan heater not surprisingly pulled 2300w. Most charger bricks couldn't register when not in use, except one which randomly drew 7w Didn't do the fridges because really you need to do it over a few hours to work out the thermostat. Worked a few numbers having the TV sit there all the time cost $18.36 per 1/4. Using it for 2 hours a day cost $15.30 per 1/4. Running the Spa filter on a timer for an hour a day costs $6.89 per 1/4 Running the fan heater for 20 minutes a day costs $8.79 per 1/4 Leaving the PCs on at the point costs $29.38 per 1/4 So by turning PCs off at point (just purchased leads with switch inline) and same deal for the 'tv units' saved ~$85 per 1/4. Fixing the spa pump timer (had a wired timer which was busted so we just put a plug in one in) saved $158 per 1/4. Unfortunately we have electric hot water and ducted evap but they are hard wired so we can't get there ratings easily. Re: Power Bills.... 33Jun 17, 2009 8:34 pm TinaG Yep, it's your TVs and computer that do it, plus the dryer. A decent computer can be 400W, so if you run that 24/7 that's 67.2 kWh (or units) per week, over three months it's almost $130, assuming 16c/kWh. LCD TVs can vary greatly in their use too, some are 100W, others 500 (a sticker on the back should tell you). Just think how high your bill would be if you didn't have so much on gas! I agree. 3 PCs (current models consume around 700 Watts or more) and your large screen TVs would be the main culprit. Plus everything else you have on stand by power. Even a mobile phone charger that's not plugged in to a phone consumes power. Re: Power Bills.... 34Jun 19, 2009 8:52 am we have recently received our gas bill. $416 for the last 40days!!! we have gas water heater, gas cooktop and gas ducted heating. we open the ducted heating for 10-12hours everyday at 20-22degs. does this bill sound right? \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: Power Bills.... 35Jun 19, 2009 10:13 am dembi_2000 we have recently received our gas bill. $416 for the last 40days!!! we have gas water heater, gas cooktop and gas ducted heating. we open the ducted heating for 10-12hours everyday at 20-22degs. does this bill sound right? How big is your house? How old is your heater and if it's newish what evergy rating does it have? But if you are running the heating for that many hours then yes 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Power Bills.... 36Jun 19, 2009 10:17 am lisanne How big is your house? How old is your heater and if it's newish what evergy rating does it have? But if you are running the heating for that many hours then yes The house is 35sq. Its a new house and a new heating unit from Brivis. So the amount sounds reasonable??? \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: Power Bills.... 37Jun 19, 2009 11:02 am dembi_2000 lisanne How big is your house? How old is your heater and if it's newish what evergy rating does it have? But if you are running the heating for that many hours then yes The house is 35sq. Its a new house and a new heating unit from Brivis. So the amount sounds reasonable??? If you are heating the full 35sq, then yeah I reckon it is. My sister is a stay at home mum, they have a smallish 3 bedroom house and they run their ducted heater for 12 or so hours a day and their bill is about that or higher 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Power Bills.... 38Aug 17, 2009 3:56 pm We recently received our 2nd gas bill. For 60 days, the bill is $454.18. This time, we are only using the ducted heating for 4hrs a day (2hrs in the morning, 2hrs at night) House again is 35sq. We have gas cooktop and oven. And gas hot water (Rinnai Infinity 26). Also a gas log fireplace (open for 2hrs a day) Even though the gas cost is at its peak period, I still think this is way too much. Does this bill sound right? \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: Power Bills.... 39Aug 17, 2009 4:05 pm vid friends who have a large house pay about $1500 a quarter but they also leave lights on when they shouldn't and they have underfloor heating. But isn't underfloor heating more efficient then heating in the roof as hot air rises??? Re: Power Bills.... 40Aug 17, 2009 4:31 pm well check this out- 2 people, no gas except for a lpg heater no one home all day 4 days per week, nothing working on those days an all other items turned off at the wall 3 dryer loads 4 washing loads and our last bill was $770 wtf??? when there was 5 people here always someone home 6 tvs 10 washing loads 3 dryer oven,hotplates all going more and it was never over $400 Same house, same supplier Would also like an opinion from anyone that has used xcem over hebel for floors. Thanks 1 13244 2 15443 Our relationship with the owner is good, but I'm not sure if I want to impose putting a pole on their property. Your conversation with your neighbour must have gone well… 4 9282 |