what's an average electrical bill?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by gallione11

I'm guessing we are talking houses and condos here. I live in a 2 BR apartment with my girlfriend and we've been averaging about $55/month the last three months. However, I expect it to go up next month as we just installed our A/C (rated at about 800 Watts).

Those rates USD or CAD? Sound comparable to what I was payin in a 840 sq ft 1 bed plus den condo.

A/C will absolutely murder your power bill though, I think I ended up paying an extra 100% when I ran it all the time.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

A/C will absolutely murder your power bill though, I think I ended up paying an extra 100% when I ran it all the time.

I guess it depends on what you have for A/C. I just have a a window unit, and I figure it costs me about $10-15 per month to run. I did make sure to buy a timer for it, so it doesn't kick on too early. I also put a 45 minute power off cycle into the timer; in case its a humid day any ice that builds up can melt and the A/C can go back to regular efficiency.

To answer the OP- check to see if your bill is actual usage or estimated. Also ask them how the last bill from the previous people was calculated; actual or estimated. I ran into a similar problem when I was living in GP. I moved in on the 1st, but came back to Calgary 2 days later and didn't go back until about the 21st. I got a huge bill and tried to fight it, and they explained that because it was estimated it would work itself out. Then the next month there was a problem because my actual usage was negative (because they had estimated too high) and they threatened to cut off my power because they thought I was doing something wrong- like a grow op.

This went on for months, and I kept refusing to pay the over estimated bill. It turns out the guy who had my place before me was using it as a home business. After living there for 6 months the estimates became a little closer to normal; they would only do an actual reading every other month.

[gallione11]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Those rates USD or CAD? Sound comparable to what I was payin in a 840 sq ft 1 bed plus den condo.

A/C will absolutely murder your power bill though, I think I ended up paying an extra 100% when I ran it all the time.

Those are in USD, although with as close as the two currencies are, there wouldn't be much difference.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by fotze

Not sure about mine, but my buddy signed one of those gas contracts when he was drunk and his gas bill last month was $450. Hilarious.

Alberta Energy Savings LP?

[lifer]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

well i just paid the bill so hopefully next month will even things out. but if i switch to easymax right now, would i be billed for a full month as it wasn't Enmax doing the original estimating? or do they get all that info from Epcor?

well, the meter readings and all of the service for your electricity would still be done by Epcor. That part of the industry is regulated, so the price and quality of service that you get from them has to be the same whether you deal with Epcor or Enmax as your retailer. As far as the correction on the bill goes, that would remain an issue only with Epcor. If they owe you money after your account with them is inactive they would have to send you a cheque, because they cannot transfer the credit onto the Enmax bill. That shoudln't be a concern though, because I expect it will be corrected on your next bill, and it generally takes 45-90 days for Easymax to start up in Epcor territory.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Alberta Energy Savings LP?

yeah, those guys have some horrific pricing. They must have the best sales agents in the world to sell that crap.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

I rent an older house with old windows and my total utility bill for gas, electric, water and sewer is around 350-400 a month. There are people that live in the basement aswell that share the bill with me.

Bet they leave space heaters on and leave all the windows open in the winter.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by lifer

yeah, those guys have some horrific pricing. They must have the best sales agents in the world to sell that crap.

I broke my golden rule a while back and signed on with these guys too. I really have no idea what a good rate is on N/G or electricity but I wouldn't say they have been really that bad, electricity wise anyways. I live in a 1600 sq/ft apt and I run a fair bit of stuff. Have at least 1 computer on all evening with pretty big speakers attached, 46" tv with HD box, receiver and speakers, few lights and such and a A/C running in one room all night and another fan in a different room and God only knows how many other electricity sipping appliances, I paid $75 this month for electricity, I'm getting charged 9.5 cents/kWh, I would be really interested to see how that compares to what other pay.

The gas may be another story. I only have 2 exterior walls in this place but the insulation in this place is crap. On top of that, the furnace must be a good 20 yrs old. In the dead of winter this year, my highest bill for gas was$155.53. Looks as though I pay $10.73/GJ. Again, would be interested in how that compares to others.

[algernon]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

I broke my golden rule a while back and signed on with these guys too. I really have no idea what a good rate is on N/G or electricity but I wouldn't say they have been really that bad, electricity wise anyways. I live in a 1600 sq/ft apt and I run a fair bit of stuff. Have at least 1 computer on all evening with pretty big speakers attached, 46" tv with HD box, receiver and speakers, few lights and such and a A/C running in one room all night and another fan in a different room and God only knows how many other electricity sipping appliances, I paid $75 this month for electricity, I'm getting charged 9.5 cents/kWh, I would be really interested to see how that compares to what other pay.

The gas may be another story. I only have 2 exterior walls in this place but the insulation in this place is crap. On top of that, the furnace must be a good 20 yrs old. In the dead of winter this year, my highest bill for gas was$155.53. Looks as though I pay $10.73/GJ. Again, would be interested in how that compares to others.

I signed up for Easymax in March, and locked in for 5 years at 8¢ a kWh, and 8.95¢ a GJ, on the advice of a buddy in the oil business. He said natural gas was really undervalued at the time...
My tiny 600 s updown duplex house averages $2-300/ month combined with or with out renters upstairs.

[kaisin82]

raised an old thread, the figures are prob out of date anyway.

How much are you guys paying for your monthly utility bills?
Summer:
Winter:
Size of House:
Occupants:

[Huntingwhale]

In my 1200sq ft townhousev by myself, I pay $150/month for heating, power and sewage all together.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

In my 1200sq ft townhousev by myself, I pay $150/month for heating, power and sewage all together.

[MarchHare]

In my 870 sqft condo, we pay $60-80/mo for electricity depending on the time of year. Note that this does not include heating and water, which are paid by the building management with money from our condo fees.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

In my 1200sq ft townhousev by myself, I pay $150/month for heating, power and sewage all together.

Same except the sq ft is a bit lower and it's closer to 200 on average per month.

[CubicleGeek]

$1200 sq ft 2-bedroom, I average around $70 for electricity.

I could probably trim $5 off the bill if I changed 2 behaviours. I always leave my desktop on and I have power settings such that it never sleeps. I'm not home a lot (about 50% of my non-sleeping, non-working time), but my TV is always on when I am even when I'm not watching.

[Regular_John]

I'm a geek and keep pretty meticulous track of my utility expenses since the time our meter went and Enmax saw nothing wrong with billing us for 0KWH for a few months.

1,100sq ft. two story, three bedroom townhome/condo.

[V]

1800 sq ft bungalow with four kids, and we pay on average about $150. Stupid kids leave the lights on everywhere.

[calgarygeologist]

My bills are probably on the high side (especially in the winter) for our ~1600 sq ft, split level with a family of four.

Summer:
Electricity = $40
Gas = $70

Winter:
Electricity = $300
Gas = $200

Water is $45.

Our winter rates are extremely high because of a home business which means we have lights on in our basement for most of the day (although I've replaced the bulbs with LED's this year. I also have a detached garage which I heat with baseboard heaters to about 17C and the overly cold winter last year required a lot of heating.

Our house also has half a dozen old, drafty windows which are being replaced later on this fall so that should make us a little more efficient for heating in the winter and should reduce our NG consumption.

[The Yen Man]

1800 sqft single house
1 occupant
Summer: between 200-250
Winter: between 280-320

Mentioned it before, but don't get an electric water tank. I end up paying about 50 more a month because of it. Doesn't help that it's an ungodly 70 gallons either. I guess it's good if I had a family of 4, but for just one person, it's excessive.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Over 5 years of home ownership in Alberta, I've found that I've paid as much or more for electrical than I have for Natural gas. Lately I pay more due to the fact that I'm running a home office, but I pay 120+ every month for electrical and my gas bills vary from 45 to 250 during the course of the year. I don't know why when they do mortgage calculations they ask you for heating costs of the house as I find electrical combined with your municipal water/sewer/garbage to be the bigger kick to the nuts.

Pretty much this.

80$-120$ a month in electrical, though I do have a hot tub that eats about 25$ worth of electricity a month.