Gas & Electric
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2015
Location: Brighton, UK
Posts: 4
Gas & Electric
Gas & Electric, 2 double bedroom house, 3 adults, can anyone help me with monthly/weekly averages?
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 201
Re: Gas & Electric
We have no mains gas so everything electric. No fire/wood burner either so all heating electric. Our bill ranges from about $120 in summer to $240 in winter. So averages out about $180 a month. (3 bed house, 2 adults, 2 kids)
It will depend where you are in the country too, we are in Auckland which is pretty warm for much of the year.
It will depend where you are in the country too, we are in Auckland which is pretty warm for much of the year.
#3
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Joined: Oct 2011
Location: Wellington - I miss Castles, the NHS & English school system
Posts: 9,077
Re: Gas & Electric
you may be able to get bottled gas if set up for it. theres a yearly rental charge of $100 and think it about $90 per bottle? but have a look for gas bottles suppliers.
where we are at the moment we have piped gas and last month our gas and electric came to $513.89 ($400.84 if paid by a certain date) dates from 29th May to 29th June, for a house with just a gas fire in living room, no heating anywhere else ,. four bed house with 2 adults, 1 teenage girl and younger son.
where we are at the moment we have piped gas and last month our gas and electric came to $513.89 ($400.84 if paid by a certain date) dates from 29th May to 29th June, for a house with just a gas fire in living room, no heating anywhere else ,. four bed house with 2 adults, 1 teenage girl and younger son.
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 55
Re: Gas & Electric
We are just electric in a 3 bedroom house in Canterbury our power can be from as little as $60 a month in the summer to $250 in the winter.
There are just to two of us though and my husband is frugal sits at home freezing during the day (works from home) i get in and i flick on all the god damn heating i can get my hands on !
We run a heat pump in the living room and an additional oil heater in there to keep it toast warm but there rest of the house is unheated aside from a small electric heater in the bedroom and electric blankets... off to mitre ten to buy another dimplex tomorrow!
There are just to two of us though and my husband is frugal sits at home freezing during the day (works from home) i get in and i flick on all the god damn heating i can get my hands on !
We run a heat pump in the living room and an additional oil heater in there to keep it toast warm but there rest of the house is unheated aside from a small electric heater in the bedroom and electric blankets... off to mitre ten to buy another dimplex tomorrow!
#6
Re: Gas & Electric
In Tauranga which is pretty mild like Auckland. 3 double bed house with study. 1 large kitchen/diner/lounge open plan. All electric. No gas. 2 adults and a 4 year old. Bills range from $120 summer to $290 winter per calendar month.
We also have to pay water here even though we are renting as it's metered which is around $65 a quarter.
Don't forget refuse collection also as it's not free. You either have to rent a wheelie bin or two/three of them or buy the council bags at the supermarket. We pay $500 a year for 3 bins - general waste, recycling, garden waste emptied weekly although the recycling is only emptied every fortnight. Council bags are around $12 for 5 and must be put out on council bin day for collection. Don't like this as it means you have to store full bags somewhere during the week until bin day and if that's outside you just attract rats/roaches/mice/cats. If inside you risk having the puke bin smell wafting through from the garage.
We also have to pay water here even though we are renting as it's metered which is around $65 a quarter.
Don't forget refuse collection also as it's not free. You either have to rent a wheelie bin or two/three of them or buy the council bags at the supermarket. We pay $500 a year for 3 bins - general waste, recycling, garden waste emptied weekly although the recycling is only emptied every fortnight. Council bags are around $12 for 5 and must be put out on council bin day for collection. Don't like this as it means you have to store full bags somewhere during the week until bin day and if that's outside you just attract rats/roaches/mice/cats. If inside you risk having the puke bin smell wafting through from the garage.
#7
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Joined: Jul 2013
Location: Christchurch
Posts: 570
Re: Gas & Electric
In my shared flat it's all electric except for bottled gas for cooking.
We pay anything between about $120 per month in Summer through to about $220 per month in winter (that's with a prompt payment discount)
We pay anything between about $120 per month in Summer through to about $220 per month in winter (that's with a prompt payment discount)
#8
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
Posts: 5,249
Re: Gas & Electric
We're all electric, two adults and nobody home during weekdays - we generally try to avoid using heat during the daytime at weekends.
Most recent bill $249 in Auckland where it has been notable colder than 'normal' to the tune of coldest ever known for 63 years LOL but still that's not the worst bill we ever had, it has been as high as $350
Much hardier souls will tell you that you only need heating for five nights of the year in the Winterless North but for us it on every night from late April / early May until late October / early November.
The lowest bill we've had this year was $133 in January
Most recent bill $249 in Auckland where it has been notable colder than 'normal' to the tune of coldest ever known for 63 years LOL but still that's not the worst bill we ever had, it has been as high as $350
Much hardier souls will tell you that you only need heating for five nights of the year in the Winterless North but for us it on every night from late April / early May until late October / early November.
The lowest bill we've had this year was $133 in January
#9
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Joined: Oct 2014
Location: North Canterbury
Posts: 487
Re: Gas & Electric
Just to give you a bit of a heads up about electric in the winter months, if you have to use electricity for heating...
For the month of June, we decided to follow the experts when it comes to Heating. The ones that say have your heat pump (best way to heat apparently) on at 22 degrees for 3 hours in the morning and then 3 hours in the evening (set on a timer). As we have two toddlers, we've also had to have heaters in the room and our house layout unfortunately places their 2 rooms by the garage. The nights we've had this winter have been well, below freezing many a times (please amend this to baking hot due to the country demands) and therefore have had to have their heaters on a low setting throughout the night. Again, recommended by the experts, Plunket and some associates I have at Meridian Energy.
Our bill for June was over $700! OUCH. Thankfully our energy supplier 'Contact' amended our smooth pay to an acceptable amount. This months bill with my nasty lets live in Victorian times ruling has decreased the bill to $235 which is around our usual winter month bills.
For the month of June, we decided to follow the experts when it comes to Heating. The ones that say have your heat pump (best way to heat apparently) on at 22 degrees for 3 hours in the morning and then 3 hours in the evening (set on a timer). As we have two toddlers, we've also had to have heaters in the room and our house layout unfortunately places their 2 rooms by the garage. The nights we've had this winter have been well, below freezing many a times (please amend this to baking hot due to the country demands) and therefore have had to have their heaters on a low setting throughout the night. Again, recommended by the experts, Plunket and some associates I have at Meridian Energy.
Our bill for June was over $700! OUCH. Thankfully our energy supplier 'Contact' amended our smooth pay to an acceptable amount. This months bill with my nasty lets live in Victorian times ruling has decreased the bill to $235 which is around our usual winter month bills.
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 103
Re: Gas & Electric
I was just curious how bills in NZ are structured. Is there a day/night rate and is there a standing charge? Prices here in UK for me are £0.1337 plus 5% vat for day rates and a standing charge of £0.1409 plus 5% vat per day.
#11
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
Posts: 5,249
Re: Gas & Electric
The rates vary vastly according to location too and GST is 15%
Ours is:
Night @ 15.74 c/unit
Day @ 20.58 c/unit
Daily Fixed Charge @ 178.56 c/day
You can have a go at plugging details of your latest bill into here to do a comparison
https://www.powerswitch.org.nz/power...9a7abc0?num=76
Last edited by Bo-Jangles; Aug 5th 2015 at 12:25 pm.
#12
Re: Gas & Electric
One thing I find helpful when it comes to paying our power bill is to work out how much it costs over the course of one year, divide that amount by 12 and put that amount (plus a tiny bit more just in case) into a separate bank account. By the time winter comes around you should have surplus in the account that can be used on the high winter bills. Just a bit of forward planning means feeling much less stressed when a bill lands in your mail box in July/August!