We are in our new house now just about a year and the bill is getting higher each month. We heat with wood we cook with Propane and DH is here alone every night and has only the 1 lamp with the TV on and our bills are up $100 over the last 2 months and I thought they were really high last time now theya re nearly $400 for 2 months. Our last house they were only $200 for the same time period. Does that seem high to you.
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Or - were there a lot of renovations or power tools being used ?
That might suck up extra kilowats of energy/power ?
Think about anything that generates heat or cold for your electric and gas bill. So - clothes dryer, oven, stove, hair dryer, refrigerator, freezer - as well as heating and air conditioning. Have you used any of that extra lately? Was your freezer left open accidently - did you wash and dry a bunch of blankets, seasonal stuff, towels? It doesn't take much - a few teenage girls with hairdryers can make a difference!
For BC Hydro, you pay $.0598/kW.h until you reach the step 1 threshold of 1350 kW.h (per 2 month billing cycle). Any energy you use above that is charged at $0.072 kW.h.
If you have West Kootenay power it may be different.
We"re in Ontario and we pay about $285 a month for natural gas in the spring, fall and winter -- that includes natural gas heat for a 2700+-sq. ft. house, natural gas barbecue, natural gas water heater and natural gas stove. We pay about $200 a month for electricity in the spring, fall and winter, too. Everything doubles in the summer, though, with a pool pump, central air and natural gas pool heater.
If you are an Ontario Hydro (Hydro One, I think its called) customer, listen up. Check your most recent bill. IS IT AN ESTIMATE?? Hydro One only reads the meter from time to time, the rest of the time it estimates. I got my bill for the cottage and the estimate was 3x what they normally estimate. Because its the cottage its not a big difference and I didn't think anything about it and just paid it. But then my mom called and she got hers for her home. The estimate was 4x what they normally estimate. Clearly mine was not an anomaly. In my opinion Hydro One appears to be trying to collect some extra short term cash with this move. In the end it all works out because eventually they will read your meter and you'll have a very low bill, but in the short term (read cash cruch) they have your dollars instead of you having them. YOU CAN GET IT FIXED. My mom called to complain - and they actually have a prompt on the voice menu for "my hydro bill is too high". She told the rep the situation. He had her go and read the meter. Then he said to ignore the bill and he would issue a new one using the actual (much lower) meter reading. If you haven't already paid, do this now!
Well if it makes you feel better, I just paid my bills and both the gas and electric were double what they were the previous month and they weren't estimates. Now considering I have a little house , am the only one using stuff and have been very careful we're talking nearly $400. Guess that cold snap really did it and here I thought I was doing so well keeping my heat down and basically went with fewer baths etc. I did notice they both had price increase so that made for some extra cost. meanwhile checking against last year, it's not a big leap so maybe it's just being colder this time of year.
An electric hot water tank will use up lots of cash. They are constantly heating the water up. If you have one you might want to look at a blanket for it to help retain the heat, they are about $50 from HD or Rona and look at how hot you have it set at. My personal preference is so it isn't scalding hot but I can wash my hands under it without turning on the cold. You don't want it set too cool though because you can get Legionnaires Disease.
Our bill for the [I]whole[/I] year was <$425 for electricity so I've tried to think of some differences.
We do go away lots but still have those silent electricity thieves on (TV-PVR)
Our hot water is gas. That could be a major one.
Our use of air conditioning is minimal.
Outside lights are on all night.
Our house is smaller. 1200 sq. ft. plus a full basement.
Stove is electic. I don't bake much anymore. By the time I factor in the ingredients, my time and cost of electricity, I figured it costs less to buy at some of the local bakeries when they have a sale.
I think that is what is happening but what ddoes it mean is it total useage or the times we use do you know.
BC Hydro went to a tiered system a while ago. Once you go over a certain level the rates go up. Perhaps this has kicked in for you.
Unless these bills are estimates, it may be time to talk to the utility company and have them come take a look. You may have a drain somewhere... or they may be over estimating or your meter may be not working properly, but you won't know unless you can find out what others are paying and what is going on with your particular house.
We pay $200 a month on a equalized payment plan. Our house is not very big. (approx. 2400 sq. feet) We too heat a lot with wood, although I am feeling guilty about that now, and are very careful about lights etc. I don't know what province you are in but our rates went up a lot in the last year. I have been considering finding more ways to get "green" and even had the hydro people come and do an assessment on our house. We scored high....go figure.
Funny you should say that, NancyJ -- that was the first thing that occurred to me, too! It must be because I live in York Region, the grow op capital of Canada!
It seems really high to me even if the cost was going up - it usually doesn't make that big of a difference.
You know what the first thing that popped into my head :eek: - grow op in your neighborhood and someone has tapped into your hydro. I likely watch too many crime drama shows. However, this did happen to an acquaintance of mine.
My hydro bill came in today and it is HIGH. It was equivalent to summer time use of air conditioning. I not sure why it so high....I know I did alot of baking within the last month but holy cow! I need to look it over closely to see if the rates took another hike. I feel your pain Jeep
Considering what you seem to be using, that seems very high to me! Have you called your hydro company to ask why your bills are so high?