how much is your power bill?

**Petar** · 23-09-2009, 06:27 PM

on average, how much is your power bill?

this months ours is close to $800

i have a feeling something is faulty and drawing too much..

**flauntster** · 23-09-2009, 06:35 PM

there was definitely a wiring/electrical prob at our last place, we used to get bills like that too :/
plus so many lightbulbs used to blow there, and quite often it wouldnt just take out the element but actually shatter the globe too, wtf
our bills are alot less after moving house, so there was definitely an issue there

perhaps try turning everything off and check that the meter box isnt still clocking over
or youd be better off paying a sparky to locate & fix the issue to avoid more bills like that

**alba** · 23-09-2009, 06:35 PM

ours is usually 150 bimonthly
and thats with 2 pcs running 24/7
we have gas heating though, electric heaters can be pretty hungry

**frank** · 23-09-2009, 06:35 PM

~$100pm with two AC units & the usual appliances between 3 ppl during winter.

$800pm is crazy! something being br0ken seems likely, unless you forgot to separate the grow lights from your household metre ?

**Tippy Cup** · 23-09-2009, 06:35 PM

The biggest house I lived in. 4 people, and my band jammed there every week, big ass amps and such, as well as one of my house mates having all the gaming consoles.

And the bill was at the most $200 for two months I believe. Yes there is something wrong with your power. Unless you have a hydro setup.

**dart** · 23-09-2009, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by Teknoscape

on average, how much is your power bill?

this months ours is close to $800

i have a feeling something is faulty and drawing too much..

the price of power is TOO high !

that has to be some sort of faulty something, unless your flashy new kitchen is actually a flashy new hologram kitchen.

hey???

can't remember what our recent one was, 150 or something.

but that was after a winter where we hammered the ducted air conditioning.

that's for 2 people.

**whitegoose** · 23-09-2009, 06:51 PM

Ours is about $250 but we are on 100% green power (from synergy)

**Onijin** · 23-09-2009, 06:53 PM

$800 is definitely not of the norm. What size house and how many appliances are you running? Maybe a pool heater?

**osiris** · 23-09-2009, 06:58 PM

between $200 and $280 for 2 months....
2 bedroom house, electric heaters...

**Satan** · 23-09-2009, 07:05 PM

$280-$400 every 61 days (depending on season)

3x big tv's, everything in HT on standby, 2 fridges, reverse cycle aircon, bore, pool pump etc

I don't think I could get it up to 800 if I tried

**j-mo** · 23-09-2009, 07:18 PM

My Mrs was just complaining that ours had blown out to $250 for a family of four.

Someone's stealing your voltz dood

**Petar** · 23-09-2009, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by Onijin

$800 is definitely not of the norm. What size house and how many appliances are you running? Maybe a pool heater?

thats the things, its only my wife and i + baby.. we don't have mega amount of appliances, the air-con we put in is an inverter, gas cooktop, etc etc.. we do have alot of downlights, but try not minimise their use when we can.. maybe the electric water heat could be faulty tho its only 6 months old..

we only moved to this house in May, and have since had 2 power bills - both of them $750+.. For the first bill I just assumed it was all the electric blowy heaters we were running to stay warm..

will call synergy tomorrow to see what we can do, but knowing these companies i'm sure they will try put the blame back on us.. :/

**Satan** · 23-09-2009, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Teknoscape

thats the things, its only my wife and i + baby.. we don't have mega amount of appliances, the air-con we put in is an inverter, gas cooktop, etc etc.. we do have alot of downlights, but try not minimise their use when we can.. maybe the electric water heat could be faulty tho its only 6 months old..

we only moved to this house in May, and have since had 2 power bills - both of them $750+.. For the first bill I just assumed it was all the electric blowy heaters we were running to stay warm..

will call synergy tomorrow to see what we can do, but knowing these companies i'm sure they will try put the blame back on us.. :/

you've got a serious issue there

how fast is your meter spinning??

turn everything in your house off then check your meter

**geisha** · 23-09-2009, 07:51 PM

just got ours.....$400 for 2 months between 2 people. so roughly $100 a month each. it seems pretty excessive given we've barely touched our heater all winter, i think our dryer is old/inefficient.

**j-mo** · 23-09-2009, 07:59 PM

Electric blower heaters will do it. Try radiators instead. Take a long time to get going, but far cheaper/more efficient.

**Satan** · 23-09-2009, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by j-mo

Electric blower heaters will do it. Try radiators instead. Take a long time to get going, but far cheaper/more efficient.

radiators take a fair whack of power to get going, then they are efficient

no good if you want instant, on/off heat

**j-mo** · 23-09-2009, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by Satan

radiators take a fair whack of power to get going, then they are efficient

no good if you want instant, on/off heat

Agreed

**Satan** · 23-09-2009, 08:06 PM

buyand use one of these if you're interested in power usage (esp in standby)

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...r&form=KEYWORD

I was shocked at the power usage of some of my gear in standby

**Dynamik** · 23-09-2009, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by Onijin

$800 is definitely not of the norm. What size house and how many appliances are you running? Maybe a pool heater?

yeh i was gonna say .. electric hot water?

it's all those industrial coffee machines you're running

**Petar** · 23-09-2009, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by j-mo

Electric blower heaters will do it. Try radiators instead. Take a long time to get going, but far cheaper/more efficient.

when we first moved in we were going nuts with a couple of these, but like i said now we have an fujitsu inverter installed..

Satan, will look into it, cheers..

Dynamik

**j-mo** · 23-09-2009, 08:36 PM

When's the harvest?

**hitmonlee** · 23-09-2009, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Teknoscape

thats the things, its only my wife and i + baby.. we don't have mega amount of appliances, the air-con we put in is an inverter, gas cooktop, etc etc.. we do have alot of downlights, but try not minimise their use when we can.. maybe the electric water heat could be faulty tho its only 6 months old..

we only moved to this house in May, and have since had 2 power bills - both of them $750+.. For the first bill I just assumed it was all the electric blowy heaters we were running to stay warm..

will call synergy tomorrow to see what we can do, but knowing these companies i'm sure they will try put the blame back on us.. :/

ok,this is how i understand it to work.

synergy don't always read the meter. they guess how much power you use based on how much you normally use. and they adjust it when they do check it.eg. they know you will use more power in winter/summer, etc. so i would ask for another meter reading maybe.

our last bill was $325 (3 people), our highest yet.

**brooa** · 23-09-2009, 09:25 PM

it will probably be a combination of your electric water heater, synergy not reading properly and your a/c. what sort of water heater is it storage instantaneous etc.

gf's parents got a bill previous for $50 (wtf) and then this month 360.

i would call synergy and ask them what they last read your meter as and double check it, because $800 is MASSIVE

go turn everything off then turn them on one at a time till it starts spinning like crazy and that will tell you. if it spins like crazy with everything off, switch your circuit breakers one at a time untill it stops. that will tell you.

Q. · 23-09-2009, 09:29 PM

maybe someone is stealing your power. No idea how likely this is but I can't imagine a faulty device 'drawing too much'.

**theloadedjuggler** · 23-09-2009, 09:41 PM

Sheet- ours was like $275 last time around & that was with 2 fridges & hardout electric heaters going a fair bit through the coldest part of winter.

Definitely get that looked at.

**osiris** · 23-09-2009, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by hitmonlee

ok,this is how i understand it to work.

synergy don't always read the meter. they guess how much power you use based on how much you normally use. and they adjust it when they do check it.eg. they know you will use more power in winter/summer, etc. so i would ask for another meter reading maybe.

our last bill was $325 (3 people), our highest yet.

i'm pretty sure that's not how it works, they would actually measure your usage in some way or another...

**Vilandra** · 24-09-2009, 08:18 AM

mines only like $70 each time or something.
But Im just one person, and i switch everything off at the wall and im barely home at night.

**OSC** · 24-09-2009, 09:39 AM

Maybe one of those dodgy tradies you got in to fix it up?

My last bill for 61 days was $54.93. Hot water, heating & cooking is gas.

**Slurm** · 24-09-2009, 09:43 AM

Go check your fenceline for extension cords.

**hitmonlee** · 24-09-2009, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by osiris

i'm pretty sure that's not how it works, they would actually measure your usage in some way or another...

they do just maybe not as often as they claim to.

**kantankruz** · 24-09-2009, 10:19 AM

Bout 120ish bi-monthly.

**basic** · 24-09-2009, 10:30 AM

I too question this as i live alone and my power bill is $200 every 61. I never cook, am rarely home. I have 1 pc + 1 laptop on 24/7, 1 x barfridge + normal, never use my electric heater and rarely use my dryer. Surely 2 computers + 2 fridges cant use $100/month!

**Nyx** · 24-09-2009, 10:41 AM

My last one was $580ish. Fish tanks, elec. water, inefficient split system A/C + room heaters to compensate (big tiled house), downlights, 4 TVs, extended wet winter so dryer being used lots (3 kids), big 2 door fridge/freezer... pretty terrible

**Satan** · 24-09-2009, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by hitmonlee

ok,this is how i understand it to work.

synergy don't always read the meter. they guess how much power you use based on how much you normally use. and they adjust it when they do check it.eg. they know you will use more power in winter/summer, etc. so i would ask for another meter reading maybe.

our last bill was $325 (3 people), our highest yet.

you are correct, synergy don't always read your meter, they are within their rights to "estimate" your meter reading based on previous readings

I'm not sure about Synergy, but with Alinta, its a requirement that they read your meter ONCE A YEAR

**Slurm** · 24-09-2009, 10:55 AM

Its a bit of a laugh that they are allowed to do this, in my opinion.

**alba** · 24-09-2009, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Satan

you are correct, synergy don't always read your meter, they are within their rights to "estimate" your meter reading based on previous readings

I'm not sure about Synergy, but with Alinta, its a requirement that they read your meter ONCE A YEAR

i think they have done this to us because last year we had a positive gas bill, as in they credited us $50 or so
we'd installed thick blinds, rollershutters and upgraded our heater from the last year so it made a huge difference to our gas usage

**Satan** · 24-09-2009, 11:19 AM

yeah it looks like synergy have the same policy

they say its for situations where they can't get access due to locked gates/dogs etc but I can imagine they can save a fair bit of money not reading every meter in perth at least twice a year

**vapours** · 24-09-2009, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Satan

yeah it looks like synergy have the same policy

they say its for situations where they can't get access due to locked gates/dogs etc but I can imagine they can save a fair bit of money not reading every meter in perth at least twice a year

Yeah I knew somebody who read the water meters and said he just made half of them up.

Waters cheap as chips anyway so can't imagine anybody caring. Which brings me onto my next thought about water being so cheap if we're supposed to be conserving it.

**Mono Lisa** · 24-09-2009, 11:34 AM

My bill was like $100 more than this time last year but they have hiked up electricity prices twice since then.

**Nyx** · 24-09-2009, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by vapours

Which brings me onto my next thought about water being so cheap if we're supposed to be conserving it.

I've wondered about this, but I figure it's to do with it being a necessity for life. Still think it should cost more.

**Slurm** · 24-09-2009, 12:28 PM

Raising the cost of water?

Unaustralian!

Anyway, the damns are full, crisi averted

**voi** · 24-09-2009, 04:52 PM

friggn just under 400 bucks for 2 months, wtf?

**David** · 24-09-2009, 08:26 PM

i lived in a house that had a 800 ish bill. We had a visit from the local police.

**Satan** · 24-09-2009, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by David

i lived in a house that had a 800 ish bill. We had a visit from the local police.

**Onijin** · 24-09-2009, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by vapours

Yeah I knew somebody who read the water meters and said he just made half of them up.

Waters cheap as chips anyway so can't imagine anybody caring. Which brings me onto my next thought about water being so cheap if we're supposed to be conserving it.

Raising the price to reflect the true cost would be politically unpalatable for whoever is in power, particularly raising the price for residential customers. Like how it was with the massive jump in electricity prices, due to a political deal between Labor and the WA Liberals to freeze electricity prices for a number of years to allow for the disaggregation of Western Power into Synergy, Horizon, Verve and Western Power (as a network owner). Then again, that was a major political fuckup that somehow the Liberals managed to avoid being brought to justice over, whereas Labor got scapegoated for it.

It's needed though, especially in Perth where people seem to waste it more. It'd reduce the taxes that subsidise the costs, in the end, so would reduce the amount of churning in the states tax system. The extra money could be put to use replacing aging pipelines and funding a metropolitan area-wide recycled water pipeline system for irrigation. It'd also reduce the payback periods for rainwater tanks and replacing old single-flush toilets with dual-flush ones, making them more attractive and cost-effective for businesses and consumers alike.

It'd be the same with electricity as well, if the tariffs didn't have a maximum ceiling. People would be more encouraged to reduce their bills if they were being charged the full cost of what they were consuming, rather than indirectly subsidising this through taxes. And it'd make energy efficiency and renewable energy options (such as a home PV or wind turbine system) more attractive by reducing their payback periods. Unfortunately, Joe Q. Public and the moronic far left don't fucking realise that whinging and begging for keeping prices artificially low is the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot, as taxes will be going to stop companies like Verve from collapsing due to not being able to charge what is needed to generate the power required instead of elsewhere like hospitals, police and schools, which are more important and a better use of tax revenue.

/rant

**heyuinthebush** · 25-09-2009, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by Nyx

My last one was $580ish. Fish tanks, elec. water, inefficient split system A/C + room heaters to compensate (big tiled house), downlights, 4 TVs, extended wet winter so dryer being used lots (3 kids), big 2 door fridge/freezer... pretty terrible

i dont have 3 kids, i have 3 housemates.. who constantly leave the lights on, use the dryer when its sunny, we have a fish tank and a pool pump/filte r(which I have just turned off!!).. and ours is about the same.

**heyuinthebush** · 25-09-2009, 12:55 AM

Originally Posted by OSC

Maybe one of those dodgy tradies you got in to fix it up?

My last bill for 61 days was $54.93. Hot water, heating & cooking is gas.

oh f sticks, i totally forgot that our cook top is electric.. im so used to gas that i dont even think about that affecting the power bill.. what would that be in a percentage scheme of things on the bill tho? we got out gas bill in and it was like 300 bucks.. i nearly died, but we have this massive gas heater in our lounge room that gets turned on every f'ing night for quite a few hours.. cue housemates

**Petar** · 25-09-2009, 07:50 AM

i think i have isolated the problem, pretty sure its the electric hot water system..

will be looking into taking the shit out and getting solar..

**heyuinthebush** · 25-09-2009, 08:23 AM

i dont even know where my hot water system is.. like i havent found the tank - not sure if its gas or solar or what else..

**Onijin** · 25-09-2009, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by Teknoscape

i think i have isolated the problem, pretty sure its the electric hot water system..

will be looking into taking the shit out and getting solar..

Given the incentives going about, will be a worthwhile investment. Besides, electric hot water is one of the most inefficient systems available. If you can, see about getting a gas-boosted solar.

Originally Posted by heyuinthebush

i dont even know where my hot water system is.. like i havent found the tank - not sure if its gas or solar or what else..

From the sounds of it, you've most likely got an electric instantaneous system in your house.

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