Utility Bills

[Frugalbigmama]

I have a 4 bedroom 2 story house and 3 years ago my monthly hydro bill averaged $33/month. Now $66/month (we have more wide screen tvs, 3 ipads charging etc now). I rarely use my dryer and make sure lights are off etc.

[saundyl]

We live in the NWT - theres 2 of us 100% of the time and 2 boys 50% of the time. We turn off lights when not in use - in the summer with extended daylight lights dont get turned on til much later at night.

I admit - I'm not near as frugal with power as i was when i was single. Prior to moving here I used to line dry all summer (harder to here with no line and we have yet to put some posts up to put one up) and i had most of my appliances and electronics unplugged when not in use. Since moving here I unplug my stuff but the boys often leave theirs plugged in and have nightlights on. I find it a little harder to "police" whats plugged in or not and what is being used/not/charging and not when theres more people in the house.

in the summer our bill averages a low of $160 - unless we turn on the A/C - which we use to take the edge off the heat and turn back off. In the winter its been as high as $370 - it goes up the colder it gets esp with having the block heaters on the vehicles (on a timer though) & the furnace kicking in more/more lights as shorter daylight hours.

[hirev]

with a few changes I was able to get my power bill down to about 90 to 100 bucks. This is from 160 I was paying previously. Some changes include switching 6 60W or 100W lights out for 11W led's and Changing my water pressure tank to a new one(Old one didn't hold pressure and pump was almost always on). Other tips I am going to try next. Cleaning the dryer and the vent line - People say that the dryer can use 30 percent more power if its full of dust and lint Timer on hot water tank. I have electric hot water I am only home at night sleeping and I am at work from 8-5 so I really only need hot water at 6:45 AM to shower and again after 5 for cleaning and the kids.

[holmz__68]

My hydro bills are outrageous. I am VERY energy conscience. I live in a super small 1 bdrm apt(maybe 400 sq ft). I use the light generated from my TV for lighting at night. I use 5 watt LED's for other areas, and have replaced all the light bulbs with energy saving ones. I never pre-heat the oven...in fact, I barely use it. I have an air conditioner, but never use it. I do however have a fan that I use on hotter summer days, and have another one in the window to suck in the cooler air at night time. Fortunately, it's been a cooler summer, so I don't use them very much. In winter, I only turn on the heat on VERY cold days, and never run it longer than 1-2 hours a day. Heat rises, and fortunately for me, the business below me has their heat on higher, so I take advantage of that. I just put on a sweater and wrap up in a blanket to stay warm. I have done everything possible that I can think of to lower my bills, and here is what I pay:

summer months bill: average of $150
winter months bill : average of $300-$350

Any suggestions to help me lower my bill is more than appreciated.

[SassyAshley]

Holmz, I would be looking into if your meter is working correctly or if you have stray electricity. Something is not right you are paying more than we do for a 2 story with a basement with no insulation on outer walls (okay there maybe some but not enough), very few rads so the ones we do have work overtime to keep the house warm and we use our oven ALL the time (my mom is baker).

[holmz__68]

Hi Ashley,

I have called the hydro company on this. They say it's working correctly, and have looked back in previous years and say my bills are cheaper than previous tenants. I'm really stumped on this. I have talked to multiple people in my building, and a lot of them say their bill is quite high, while others are saying that their bills are a lot lower than mine and they are not being energy conscious. Hydro says that there is nothing they can do for us. I find it quite disturbing that I(and people in my building) are paying this outrageous amount.

[hirev]

holmz. might want to have the wiring checked. If others are paying really low and some are paying really high i would map out who pays high and who is low.

I have a feeling you might have bad wiring and might be tied into some other apartments for a few lights or maybe plugs or heating.

Try to turn off your breakers during a busy time of day and see if you hear your neighbors complain the power went out. lol

[SassyAshley]

This leads to me to think 2 things, one like hirev mention there is some off wiring in your building and you may be paying for others usage (we also have this in our complex, some of the outdoor lights are wired into people houses and they are paying for the outdoor lights no the complex).

My second thought is Hydro is playing games with you. Both myself and a co worker dealt with this after moving. All of a sudden our hydro bills were spiking and at one point I was showing usage when no one was home to which Hydro tried to convince my mom when she phoned that I must be staying home during the day and not going to work and she should call my work to check my attendance record, when she than told them that I worked for my Dad and she would know if I was not going to work they changed their story to we must have old appliances um no bought all brand new energy star appliances when we moved in. Than then went on to tell us our bills were lower than the previous owners even going into details telling us what they were paying and how our house is deemed to use xxxx amount of energy. First and for most how do you deem what a house should use when new people move in. The previous owners included a stay at home with a child she keep the TV on 24/7 and did not care about on or off peek, they were home all the time and she did what wanted when she wanted.

A co worker also had this happen where the hydro company told her the house generates so much Hydro which her and her husband use no close too. The previous owners were elderly and never let the house go below 82 and would even have the heat come on in the summer as well the husband was known to heat the great out doors as he would leave the heat on in his and shop and leave the door open all night. They have had numerous fights with hydro even getting the OEB involved and Hydro keep telling them their house generates xxxx amount of hydro.

So yeah I strongly believe hydro plays games especially since every time I complain my next bill is considerably less.

Hi Ashley,

I have called the hydro company on this. They say it's working correctly, and have looked back in previous years and say my bills are cheaper than previous tenants. I'm really stumped on this. I have talked to multiple people in my building, and a lot of them say their bill is quite high, while others are saying that their bills are a lot lower than mine and they are not being energy conscious. Hydro says that there is nothing they can do for us. I find it quite disturbing that I(and people in my building) are paying this outrageous amount.

[holmz__68]

Hirev and Ashley,

I have often thought that I could be paying some of the bills in the building, but never investigated it before, I think I might try both of your suggestions and see what happens. If I hear some yelling when I turn off some breakers, I'll know that I'm paying someone elses hydro. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll call hydro and complain again. I might get a lower bill like you do. Not crossing my fingers on that one tho. lol

Thanks to both of you for your input on this.

Chris

[addsup]

Hirev and Ashley,

I have often thought that I could be paying some of the bills in the building, but never investigated it before, I think I might try both of your suggestions and see what happens. If I hear some yelling when I turn off some breakers, I'll know that I'm paying someone elses hydro. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll call hydro and complain again. I might get a lower bill like you do. Not crossing my fingers on that one tho. lol

Thanks to both of you for your input on this.

Chris

Wow some of you have seriously low bills! Holmz, did you get to the bottom of this with Hydro?

I had thought we were energy conscious but it turned out we were pretty average. We have an electric hot water heater and they bill us $140 a month. We used $100 on our last bill and since then I've made some changes and are hoping to see a big drop. We're two and a toddler in a small two story.