I've never had gas before now. And being so isolated, prices aren't great. But I like that the hot water is instant, rather than heating a whole tank that may not be used.
Our gas is around $140 per quarter hot water and cook top only
We have a medium sizes solar system and our bills for this year were
First quater $6.11 credit
Second $130
Third $650!!!!!
Fourth $72
Third quarter we used double the electricity but we had minimal sun and produced very little solar power and new baby meant the heater was on heaps more than normal and I was tired and it was wet so I used the dryer way too much.
I have to budget around $160 a fortnight for our gas and electricity. I think it's insane. We even have solar hot water and its not like we have the air con or heater running much and we are all out at work/childcare during the day.....
I got my elec bill for the last 90 days. We have used 780 kw of power in that time, which = 8.6kw per day... so quarterly bill is about $300 inc supply charge.
I dont understand my friend who says she uses the same as us elec wise and turns everything off at the power point can use 2000kw in a quarter.
We both have gas and use about the same on that $150-$250 per quarter depending on summer or winter.
My gas bill is about $50 a month. Electricity is $400 every 2 months, on average (not much difference between summer and winter as I use the split systems for both heating and cooling). Water is about $300 a quarter including rates - usage is about $80 a quarter.
However, I'm anal about turning things off at the power point, and the heating and cooling is only used when we are at home (which is not during the day, five days a week). And I don't have the kids here every second weekend, so I only use one split system overnight during that time. I am not at all worried about using the dryer for every load of washing - it's worth it to me for the 80c or so that a load costs, rather than the time that I'd spend in the morning and night taking it out to the line and bringing it back in. I'd rather spend that time with my kids - it's worth the money.
When I renovated the house, I bought very expensive but cheap to run appliances. My Bosch washing machine uses 56L per wash and has a 5 star energy rating. My Bosch dishwasher (that I use for EVERYTHING - if it can't go in the dishwasher, it's not in my house) uses 11L per wash and also has a 5 star energy rating. My Westinghouse dryer doesn't have a 5 star energy rating lol - no dryer does! The 55inch Panasonic TV is turned off at the wall when not in use. The Westinghouse fridge is a 5.5 star energy rating. The Mac computer is on all the time - but I do turn it off rather than leave it on standby. The three split systems are the most expensive Fujitsu on the market - energy rating very high (can't remember exactly what, but the running costs were minimal compared to other brands). So the expense I had at startup has resulted in extremely low ongoing costs. I'd rather do it this way - buy quality and have lower running costs - than buy cheaper and pay more to run things. JMHO.
I would check your meter readings. We live in a cold area and pay under £40/month for gas - but then we only use the heating for 1-2 hours a day and use jumpers and blankets instead. Hot water only on for showers/baths so we need to plan ahead. Electricity is less than that.
Over winter our average usage was 32 units/day. But thats with the R/C heater on all night & some colder days. Averaging $8 a day.
IIt gets to the minus's here & I have kids that kick blankets off all night They also strip in their sleep on occasion!
it is absolutely insane. I truely feel for some families who cant afford to pay the bill... our bill is higher over summer. last summer it was more for our place (3 bed 1 bathroom, and was a time when i wasnt even living her just DH who was working fulltime), than my folks (5 bed 2 bathroom) !! and we always turn off power points. we ended up turning off our pool pump. next bill was half the amount of that one. We now pay the same each month, and every 6months it reevaluates how much based on previous bills. makes it so much easier to budget and you're not stuck with a grand to pay at once. over winter ours isn't that bad cause we use our wood fire. we only have fans too no a/c. our gas (which is only connected to a heater) is bottle gas too (no natural gas in our town even though the pipe runs along the highway and every town that surrounds us has it...anyway), we have 2 bottles that were full when we moved in 18mths ago and we haven't even emptied one bottle yet (so havent had to pay for gas at all)
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They also strip in their sleep on occasion!
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