fingers456 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hi, we've been renting for 5 months and have just received our electricity bill for the last 3 months. It's $1300 which seems a bit steep, even for a 4/5 bed house in the suburbs. We have been using the ducted air heating in the evenings and first thing in the morning and we have an electric oven, and I think electric water heating via combi boiler, but other than that just the usual TVs and lights and stuff. i know electricity seems to be pricey over here, but even so, this seems outrageous. Does anyone have any similar experiences, or can shed any light on the matter? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 When I was recently in Adelaide,my son and his partner has an electricity bill for just over $800 (for the 3 mths).This was over winter though.They have a gas fire,so I am guessing its higher in summer with the air con going.$1,300 seems steep to me though!Have you queried the bill with your utility company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoadedDog Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Five years ago, I'd pay about $180 for a summer bill, and about $280-300 for a winter one. Now, it's about $500 and $760 respectively. And I live alone in a bedsit. One small heater but no aircon, I have electric hot water, washing machine, and oven. I run a computer but never watch TV, and have energy saving lights. I work, so am out of the house up to ten hours a day, with everything switched off, and nothing on stand-by (all off at the wall). I can easily believe your bill of $1300. We are being told to bend over and take the big one in this country. This sort of acquiescence is an attitude we Australians have that I am not proud of. We just seem to cop it sweet when basics double or triple in price. Gas is next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echidna66 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Our bill for 3 months down here in Tasmania, a cold place is $ 400 approx.. We have 3 phase heating..and a huge house with no underfloor insulation..have friends that have a tiny unit and pay double what we pay..Crazy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestyBlue Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 We have just received our bill which was for the last two months and it was just over $500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Don't set your ducted heating to anymore than about 20 degrees. Every degree higher will put your bill up. You need to use power sensibly or it will cost a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 $1300, wow I'd be crying at that one..our last winter one was close to $700 which gutted me and was obviously because we had bought 3 new electric heaters for Winter and used them A LOT when it was cold as opposed to just having 2 last year. Spring and Autumn bills are less than $300 and Summer comes in just around $500 usually with high useage of the ducted evaporative air con Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearlythere1 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hi, Electricity bills can differ greatly between houses. It's dependant on so many different things. Insulation efficiency. Age, efficiency and condition of electrical items such as air con units etc. Whether or not you have a pool, to how often you boil the kettle for a cup of tea. In the UK you can get these little boxes these days that monitor the amount of electricity being used at any time. I t has a little digital display on it. So that you could really identify which items are costing the most electricity. This can help you to either manage them better or if needs be replace for more cost efficient items.. :chatterbox: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Sounds a bit high to me. Our last quarter bill was $457. We have ducted air-con 3 bed town house. We got through most of winter without reversing it, but we are using it now in summer although for cooling I insist on 24 degrees and I'm sure this keeps our bill down. Might be worth querying the meter reading or sorry to say this checking you are using the ducted air-system in the most efficient way you can - both zonal control and temperature control and making sure heating and cooling settings are correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 My last power bill was $235, that was for two months. Our hot water/cooking is heated by gas, so add on another $100, so still around $300 every two months. That is still a lot less. I would be horrified by your bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Heating tends to be way more inefficient that cooling and quickly adds the $$$. Do you have recessed lighting? My parents have got them in their place, about 50 of the buggers in all and they chew through electric something rotten. We notice a huge jump in bills when we use a single oil heater in the 2-year old's room, so for the size of the house (assuming it's all occupied and not just two of you) it doesn't actually sound too unreasonable; people I work with have similar bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 generally if it gets hot or is an airconditioner it's gonna use a shed load of power. heat less, air condition less, use curtains to segregate your house. house airtightness is key. there's a lot of bullshit out there, people making money from general naivety, lets have some truths.... tv's etc on standby. (comedy boxes issued here in victoria that switch it off) appliances on standby use bugger all in the grand scheme of things. lighting, you heard me right! compared to heating / cooling it uses bugger all! appliances, these can make savings more than lighting but again compared to heating / cooling close to bugger all difference. the biggest issue for power use here in Australia is the quality (read airtightness) of the housing stock. we live in hardened tents people. im sure they were designed by the Abbott, Hunt Associates architectural practice. fix the house, or use less of it sadly it's the only way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srg73 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Being fairly new to Australia I will throw my 2 pennies in but expect to get shot down. 1 vast majority of energy passes through the roof. I'm surprised not to see more white painted roofs here to reflect the heat. The multi layer metal insulating films are great at stopping heat loss/ gain and I know are used here. 2 walls, not a major issue with heat gain just heat loss. 3 floors, ground bearing slabs are usually cooler however Queenslanders etc do have their place. 4 a/c yes it eats electricity. I have been told the trick with any cooling or heating is to keep it on for prolonged periods but at a low setting so it is not working too hard and therefore not needing too much energy. Also ensure the at units are cleaned and serviced. 5 natural cooling, open windows early and late, close windows and blinds/curtains during the day. Local Queenslanders I have spoken to swear by this and even suggest this is better than ac. 6 low energy bulbs DO make a difference. I have worked on buildings where 100's of down lighters were installed at 50w each light. This adds up very quickly as down lighters are poor for lighting a room but give localised feature light. Replace only 10 50w bulbs with 7w equivilant, you do the maths! 7 white goods, tv's etc all add up but hey you have to have some sort of comfort! S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I too was shocked at our first electric bill, we then checked out the Metre to work what sent it spinning the most and it was the pool pump and the air con. Our most recent bill was nearly $600 and that's with no air con/ heating on at all and a pool pump on for 6 hrs a day. Everything in our house is electric. We have a detached. 4 bed on the Gold Coast. I go with no 5 from srg73, I open the windows in the shade and keep the blinds closed on those in the sun, luckily we get a breeze in the afternoon so can open all the doors and windows and get a through breeze. It didn't work however in the height of summer !! Also, check out your loft, we have absolutely no insulation in ours and you can see the lights through the tiles at night !! We Also have those down lighters. We rent so not an lot we can do. I've also noticed that though the price for electricity used has gone down following the carbon tax being removed, our company has upped the supply charge to more than cover it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 "6 low energy bulbs DO make a difference. I have worked on buildings where 100's of down lighters were installed at 50w each light. This adds up very quickly as down lighters are poor for lighting a room but give localised feature light. Replace only 10 50w bulbs with 7w equivilant, you do the maths!" ok i will 100 (we'll go for the max number) of 50w lamps pull 5Kw (and thats if they are all on!) replace all of them with 7W lamps your 5Kw just became 350W, sounds good eh and to a degree it is, however when was the last time you put all the lights on in your house at the same time; for hours? to heat or cool a small home takes in excess of 7-8Kw and these airconditioners / heaters are running for hours at a time, they cut in and out but in the leaky housing stock here spend far more time on than off. an air conditioner on for less than 10 minutes will use more energy than a days worth of lighting. the maths is clear, energy saving devices are great, but fabric first, the cheapest watt is the one you don't have to generate in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I have given up trying to work it out. Ours are over $600 despite being out mostly in the day, not using air-con more than a couple times in the quarter, no tumble drier etc. We have compared bills with friend with a pool, friends who always have their air-con and tumble drier going, and ours is higher. We even unplugged the extra freezer to see if it dented it but it didn't. We are moving soon (and will have a 3kw solar system) so hoping to see a bit of a reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearlythere1 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I have given up trying to work it out. Ours are over $600 despite being out mostly in the day, not using air-con more than a couple times in the quarter, no tumble drier etc.We have compared bills with friend with a pool, friends who always have their air-con and tumble drier going, and ours is higher. We even unplugged the extra freezer to see if it dented it but it didn't. We are moving soon (and will have a 3kw solar system) so hoping to see a bit of a reduction. Before you move, make sure your neighbour hasn't got his pool plumbed into your electricity supply.. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I have given up trying to work it out. Ours are over $600 despite being out mostly in the day, not using air-con more than a couple times in the quarter, no tumble drier etc.We have compared bills with friend with a pool, friends who always have their air-con and tumble drier going, and ours is higher. We even unplugged the extra freezer to see if it dented it but it didn't. We are moving soon (and will have a 3kw solar system) so hoping to see a bit of a reduction. Yes it's quite frustrating, it seems to be the same whatever we do. We move next weekend to a newer house with no pool, so I'm hoping the bill will go down too. Not sure if it is the age of the house that makes a difference, I have a friend who moved to a similar house to ours but only a few years old, so I'm interested to see what her bill is. She is also home with children like me. I have been told that the trick to getting the most from solar is setting appliences to run whilst the solar is generating, one after the other, if you can do that with yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearlythere1 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Do you get to see anything like this in Aus, prior to buying or renting houses? We have to supply these when selling or renting, in the UK. It shows how energy efficient the property is.. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Not when renting no. Couldn't comment on buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearlythere1 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Not when renting no. Couldn't comment on buying. Do rental agents not supply any information on the housing, even in the literature/descriptions? :confused: If not, I think I would probably view the property quite closely, for things like insulation in the attic/loft, glazing and age/condition of AC units (apparently some of the older AC units can be a bit thirsty with electricity).. Do landlords have to have AC units serviced annually, similar to heating systems? :chatterbox: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 They, supply the obvious stuff, if it has air con, pool, solar power( not many rentals do that I have seen). In my experience, It's not really possible when renting to look as closely as you would like ( certainly if you wanted to stick your head in the loft I think it would be frowned on )as viewings are generally only for 15 mins with other people, you could ask about insulation, but I would be doubtful a rental agent would know. OH went for a viewing when we were recently looking when over 30 people turned up at once. I have found the rental market here to be a different kettle of fish to the UK, far more people looking to rent and lots of competition. So really you can note if something does look old, therefore possibly inefficient, but if this is the only house you've found that suits you, and you have a deadline these things can you out of the window. I don't know if it is a requirement to have the air con unit serviced regularly. We rent our house in the UK and as far as I know we don't have to have our boiler serviced once a year, we do this as we get it done with the fax safety certificate at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Hey Fingers , we set up a DD ......they owe us over $600 only a phone call .........is the same every 3 month ....a good come back ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearlythere1 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 They, supply the obvious stuff, if it has air con, pool, solar power( not many rentals do that I have seen). In my experience, It's not really possible when renting to look as closely as you would like ( certainly if you wanted to stick your head in the loft I think it would be frowned on )as viewings are generally only for 15 mins with other people, you could ask about insulation, but I would be doubtful a rental agent would know. OH went for a viewing when we were recently looking when over 30 people turned up at once. I have found the rental market here to be a different kettle of fish to the UK, far more people looking to rent and lots of competition. So really you can note if something does look old, therefore possibly inefficient, but if this is the only house you've found that suits you, and you have a deadline these things can you out of the window. I don't know if it is a requirement to have the air con unit serviced regularly. We rent our house in the UK and as far as I know we don't have to have our boiler serviced once a year, we do this as we get it done with the fax safety certificate at the same time. Sounds like a completely different set up altogether.. I've heard of the "open house" viewings for sales, but didn't realise they do the same for rentals.. Another eye opener.. Got it all to come in a month or two.. Thanks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Hey Fingers , we set up a DD ......they owe us over $600 only a phone call .........is the same every 3 month ....a good come back ...... Do you get a discount for a monthly payment on DD ? I would like to set one up to lessen the quarterly bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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