What are your bills like?

[cpanameno]

I'm wondering if you guys could share what your general electricity and gas bills are more recently, and the sort of usage you use. I'm finding that the bills are getting higher with the same lifestyle. In my house there is My partner, 1 house mate, my 2 year old son and myself. In winter the gas heater is on at night, there are 2 computers running constantly and a small fish tank which also requires constant electricity. Other than that just the obvious things like TV, fridge and things like that. Today i received a $600 gas bill which tops up my $400 electricity bill which i received last week. Does this sound right? Could you share your stories.

[YOUR MATE]

My bills are green and plentyful.

http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/australia/AustraliaP55b-100Dollars-(19)99-dgs_f.jpg

[cpanameno]

Well this month I'll need 10 of those if you could share!

[adrenalin]

My bills generally come on a4 paper with printed ink on them.

[YOUR MATE]

You are still living in the stone age! Email bills is the way, save the gay tree's so people in Thornlie have something to do for 6 months, seeing as they can't eat out locally without dying.

[Fujiwara13]

Harden up!

My house doesn't even have a heater/fan let alone any kind of air conditioning. Computer is good for heat =D

[Bomber]

Check your meter readings and see if they match what you've been charged. Sometimes if they can't get to your meterbox if they check it at all they just make up some numbers and bill you accordingly.

[mitchy]

my balls are oval-ish, and smooth as eggs.

[Tocchi]

My bills are green and plentyful.

http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/australia/AustraliaP55b-100Dollars-(19)99-dgs_f.jpg


dude. no shit... ive heard rumours of red, blue and purple bills... WTF.
ive seen yellow ones sometimes, but wtf... seriously some ppl are imagining a lot of stuff aye.

[SEXUAL TYRANNOSAURUS]

I botox my Balls!

[Milhouse]

^ them shits is smooth as eggs

[evil1]

my bills are what the fuck does it matter to you?

[Macca]

Electricity

i found if i turn the heat lamps down to 60% they draw less power. Only down side is it takes my tomato bushes a couple of extra days to mature.

Gas

Have cut this bill out all together by now hanging my tomato bushes upside down in the shed, instead of gas heaters inside the baby's room. My baby now seems more intelligent because of this as well.

[sami_]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP3u6Pd7XKo

[mitchy]

i found if i turn the heat lamps down to 60% they draw less power.

really? would it be somewhere in the 39-41% range saving in power?

[SK]

dont know if everybody is willing to share financial information like this, i know i wouldnt

[Macca]

really? would it be somewhere in the 39-41% range saving in power?

Actually no, but seeing as your intelligence is far superior i will let you figure out why :)

[DISTRBD]

Electricity

i found if i turn the heat lamps down to 60% they draw less power. Only down side is it takes my tomato bushes a couple of extra days to mature.

Gas

Have cut this bill out all together by now hanging my tomato bushes upside down in the shed, instead of gas heaters inside the baby's room. My baby now seems more intelligent because of this as well.

That is why you steal the nieghbours power :P

[wormbo2]

dude. no shit... ive heard rumours of red, blue and purple bills... WTF.
ive seen yellow ones sometimes, but wtf... seriously some ppl are imagining a lot of stuff aye.

haha, this made me laugh....prick!

[mitchy]

Actually no, but seeing as your intelligence is far superior i will let you figure out why :)

it's called a joke. :)
i do understand using them for longer at a lower power rate will still equal out. :)

[Ryan1080]

FcuK! Just typed a long post and the pingpingpingping quit on me all of a sudden. So I'll be short now:

Gas, from 70 bucks to 400-odd for the five month period, costs more in winter, got a powerful gas heater. Other than hat, gas hws and stove.

Water usage, from 80-odd bucks in winter months to 600 odd bucks in summer months, over the 6 month period. Got mains sprinklers. My bill has a graph that shows I use 3 times more water in my house than the average house in the suburb lol!

Electricity, from $130 in winter months to 230 in summer, probably due to aircond, over the two month billing period. During the whole day, got two fridges, one big, and medium, NAS, and perhaps a comp on the odd day when it downloads something, and other than the usual 'stand-by' consumption on tv and other stuff, nothing else is running during the day.

I don't mind those, it's when you get hit with rates, that's when it shits me lol!

The house is a typical modern open plan 4x2, with only myself and the missus. Hope that gives you some sort of an indication.

[RICEY]

dont know if everybody is willing to share financial information like this, i know i wouldnt

Yes because people can work out your PIN, home address and bank account details from the total of your gas and electricity bills...

[j3rk]

Gas ~ $130
Power ~ $250 - 450 (Electric spa's are rather large users)

Simple solution - PM JAZZA on these forums ;) Solar grid feedback systems = win. http://www.alliedenergy.com.au/
Fork out a few k, small / free bills for the rest of the time... profit?
And yes, he is a forum sponser... also rumored to be a model in his spare time.

[DCEVO]

^^^ On the buy back system though , From what I gather they are buying the excess back at off peak rates ??? Does'nt seem to profitable??

[coFF33]

1970's house in balcatta
Brick, No gas, New but tiny elec hot water system.
3 PC's constantly running, All energy saver globes in every socket.
In winter we have 2 heaters , 1 in lounge and one in bedroom, the other housemates have elec blankets. but all of this only gets used for a few hours a nite, and the heaters are those bright ones with the line thing that heats up.

Elec in summer: $180
Elec in autum: $250ish
Elec in winter : $480
Elec in Spring : $250ish

Fucking elec hot water system is a fuckin jerk

[SEXUAL TYRANNOSAURUS]

Gas ~ $130
Power ~ $250 - 450 (Electric spa's are rather large users)
.

ALLL LIES, THAT SPA DOESN'T WORK!!!!!

[AGIT8D]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2k2cxQbzmE

[Ryan1080]

Simple solution - PM JAZZA on these forums ;) Solar grid feedback systems = win. http://www.alliedenergy.com.au/
Fork out a few k, small / free bills for the rest of the time... profit?
And yes, he is a forum sponser... also rumored to be a model in his spare time.

I had a look at those solar things, seems hardly worth it, at least in my circumstances.

I worked out that after the rebate, with my current electricity usage and so on, it would take about 13 years for it to pay itself back. However, because I got a mortgage, I have to factor in the opportunity cost of paying off my mortgage vs buying these solar panels, so at 6.8% interest, it would actually take me 57 years to break even.

There's a reason why most of the people who buy these solar panels are retired people, with no mortgage etc...

[Bridantay]

fucking scared havent had a gas bill in a year and we have a gas hotwater system

[cpanameno]

Thank you to those who have given me something to compare with and also to the smart arses. Well.. I'm gonna do what you should have done when you read this thread and had nothing good to say, ignore it.

[R31 POWER]

Electricity is around $130. 2 people, computer on 24/7, elec hot water, split system and no gas.

[cpanameno]

I just feel as tho the bills are way too high for the consumption we use which hasn't changed in years. Another reason is that last winter we used an electric heater every night and got a $450-$500 electricity bill whilst the gas bill remained the average amount. This year we purchased a gas heater with the assumption that we would save some money and got a shock when both bills were high.

[Jazza]

Gas ~ $130
Power ~ $250 - 450 (Electric spa's are rather large users)

Simple solution - PM JAZZA on these forums ;) Solar grid feedback systems = win. http://www.alliedenergy.com.au/
Fork out a few k, small / free bills for the rest of the time... profit?
And yes, he is a forum sponser... also rumored to be a model in his spare time.

LOL Paul, good yet bad mate at the same time!

Guys if you want an understanding of what's using your electricity/gas and how you can reduce this then please feel free to send me a PM. In some circumstances payback periods can be under 5 years on solar power and considering the tariff is gaurenteed for 10 years and the panels should be lasting you around 20-25 years it's a VERY good investment but of course it's not suitable for everyone!

If anyone still has an electric storage hot water system get in touch asap as there is currently still an additional rebate structure in place for replacement of these as they are crazy expensive to run due to how much power consumption they get through. Like the solar power payback periods can be under 5 years if you are running these and replace them with a decent solar hot water system.

[DJDINO]

Mate I have heard that it is cheaper to heat a house via a split system (elect) rather than a gas heater.

[Jazza]

Don't mean to be rude DJDINO but just because "you've heard" doesn't particually mean its correct and it's not that hard to understand why.

Split systems (ducted or single rooms) are designed to be used as cooling units first and foremost. This is why they have roof vents or are mounted high on walls (hot air rises). Secondarily and more importantly if you go and have a look at your gas price per Mj and the gas consumption by the heater as opposed to the electricity price and how many kW the split system (remember its based on input not the output rating of the unit as that is something completely different) will use it's not hard to work out what costs the consumer more.

It's like comparing an electric storage unit to a gas storage, the electric storage is actually far more efficient in the fact that its energy is turned to heat and put directly into the water (via an element) but where as a gas unit heats the tank via a burner but the gas per unit is far cheaper so the end cost to the consumer is less even though its less efficient in how it goes about heating the water!

[Bomber]

I just feel as tho the bills are way too high for the consumption we use which hasn't changed in years. Another reason is that last winter we used an electric heater every night and got a $450-$500 electricity bill whilst the gas bill remained the average amount. This year we purchased a gas heater with the assumption that we would save some money and got a shock when both bills were high.

And you are obviously assuming that the price of electricity hasn't gone up in the last year? VERVE won't buy themselves out!

[Jazza]

Expect electricity prices to come inline with the other states (around 25c/unit) I believe by July 2011!