BristolUK

Not guilty m'lud.

Linotype

Good one

The house was up for sale for over 6 years, needed some work. Even at $50,000 there were no offers. Demolished last year to avoid property taxes and insurance costs of $3000 per year.
Another property on the same street was also demolished for similar reasons.
Really bad market for property in Moncton.

BristolUK

Some, by no means all.

I recently sold my duplex. The rental market's not good, although that's because loads of new apartment buildings have gone up.

I did actually have an agreed sale within 24 hours of seeing my realtor - although the buyer couldn't get his financing sorted. But it took about 2 and a half months and a reduced price.

A house over the back of me was available for about $70k and was sold within a month.

The real estate association reports increased sales on last year. It all seems fairly stable without peaks and troughs.

magnumpi

Wynne has held up her hands and stated she is responsible for the out of control Hydro bills in Ontario. But she has done nothing to correct the issue. I am paying $200 a month, of which approx $50 is actually usage and I heat with gas. But I do use my electric cooker and dishwasher and washer and dryer and had been using AC 24/7 over summer.

Souvy

We're all-electric and on three floors. A mixture of baseboard and convection heaters, washer, dryer, AC, hairdryer and curling iron, 220V vibrator etc.

The equalised Hydro Quebec bill I just paid was $124. Our monthly payments were reduced recently.

I can't complain (although HQ is government-owned, so I'm getting taxed to buggery elsewhere).

dbd33

Isn't it the watts, rather than the volts, that matters with vibrators?

Souvy

I hadn't thought of that but I can see that size might be more important than speed.

Zoe Bell

but it is the volts that make you jolt

BristolUK

And the size that brings on the sighs?

Souvy

This is thread drift in spades!

It's not even a Friday.

leith

Be interesting to hear from people in other provinces such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan. BC doesn't seem to be too bad. We're in a two-story 3-bedroom duplex with baseboard heaters. Along with all the usual electrically-powered gadgets (fridge, stove,washer, dryer, TV, computer etc.), our monthly bill averages about $50 but it rarely gets very cold here and we tend to keep the house fairly cool and wear sweaters and other warm clothes. Some places here have gas fireplaces but few have forced air furnaces. Our hydro bill here is a lot less than it was in Alberta.

wheatsheaf

Beware of apartments that are corner units (exposed to the elements), those wwith floor to ceiling windows, and especially to apartments that are above parking garages. If the floors are cement and not insulated, baseboard heating can become hugely expensive in winter months. Same with electric furnaces. Some condominiums now install individual meters per unit because hydro bills which once were included in maintenance/condo fees, have shot through the roof. It is frequent now for seniors on fixed incomes to sell their condos just because of the electric heating costs, and the future seems to hold further increases. Hydro management is yet another example of wasted resources plus huge+++ salaries paid out to those that should be managing.

not2old

agree & I'm one that is really pi$$ed off about the high cost of utility bills

With the cooker, washer, dryer & dishwasher on electricity. Natural gas for hot water & heating. We do use the AC in summer, but turn it off when we go to bed leaving the furnace fan running

Here in Pickering back in 2013 we'd get an electricity bill every 90 days, then it became every 60 days, then in October this year from here on in its now every 30 days. Maybe Wynn's con job to try to fool us that the bills are not as high.

Since we became seniors, its more so about 'a penny saved' when possible & I track every bill

Just the two of us, the yearly electricity bill as follows

2012 $1383
2013 $1359 is when the wife started washing, dryer & dishwasher in off peak rates
2014 $1366
2015 $1588
2016 $1903
2017 $2025 estimate

The rise in charges have gone through the roof compared to our income.

Add to that Natural gas, water/sewer & property tax increases

scrubbedexpat091

In BC it's been the norm for a long time for unit residents to pay hydro, none of the buildings I have rented in included hydro, or anything beyond hot water and many don't even offer that anymore.

Pretty sure we don't have insulated floors and they are concrete and they are cold, and yes the baseboards struggle to even keep the place at 67F let alone any warmer.

The last day or so has been the first cold days and the electric use for yesterday is about double vs a more typical day, total monthly bill estimated at $80 based on current averages, so a nice chunk more then normal.

Luckily BC Hydro has fairly low rates, but if this winter is cold, electric bill might get a bit too high.

This apartment is poorly insulated and you can feel drafts of cold air, heaters set at 67F and struggle and we still are cold and bundled in warm clothing.

This unit sucks in winter for sure, the baseboards suck power like no tomorrow.

BristolUK

Anyone find inexplicable highs and lows?

I recently sold my duplex and it had been unoccupied since August to improve chances so the bills for a 2 bed/1 bed apartment have been in my name since.

Nothing on other than water heater and fridge/freezer for each apartment. Same size water heaters and fridge for the 2 bed is older.

Difficult to do a comparison for the first bills as the tenant for the 2 bed apt had been disconnected for non payment and I was lumbered with the reconnection fee even though I had registered on the province "landlord plan" that is supposed to protect the supply but appears to offer little advantage. (whinge, moan, bleat etc)

But it was about $30 and $23 for August.
Then $59 and $43 for September. Strange that it would go up like that for both apartments. I had a contractor in, so it's possible that used up power but what he did was mostly in the 1 bed unit.

Then $52 and $49 in October. The reduction in the first might make sense given definitely no power used compared to the previous month but the same should have applied to the 1 bed unit and it was slightly more.

Nothing to fuss over, but maybe the older fridge in the 2 bed is using power at a greater rate.

Here's the shock. Upon sale (and still no heating having been put on - I was about to do it and then suddenly there was a quick sale) the final bill covered 33 days so I wasn't surprised to see the $52 for October become $57.

But it was shocking to see $49 for the 1 bed become $104.

I checked the actual consumption and it was four times that of the previous month.

Any ideas why?

I took it up with the power company and they said they agreed it didn't look right and they'd investigate.

But the next day they confirmed it was 100% accurate and kept telling me that heating costs would likely make the difference - even though I had told them there was no heating on. Oh...and the two water heaters are both located in the basement so it's not as if one is exposed to conditions and the other not.

They then said that if heating was not off at the breaker switch then it would not truly be off - and I said that might account for moderate fluctuations but that maybe they should stop looking at the one bill in isolation and do a comparison for the two and explain why one apt had the lower bill for three months running and then suddenly went double the other one with 4 times the power used in the previous month.

I got nowhere and there's no provision for disputes like I've seen in other provinces (yay Alberta).

Closing was 5 days after the agreed price, so it's not like the buyer was in for a month using up power while the bill was still in my name.

Is it something daft like someone sees a for sale sign, observes a place is empty, finds an external power socket and plugs things in?