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Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 9:43 am
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Default First BC Hydro Bill

Context:

1 Bed, 17th floor Condo with dishwasher, washer dryer in unit and electric baseboard heater.

Got first BC Hydro bill today for $240, that is for 36 days. Seems high to me but interested in other peoples impressions.

There wasn't any 'new customer' charges either.

Cheers
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 10:07 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Originally Posted by Engineer_abroad
Context: 1 Bed, 17th floor Condo with dishwasher, washer dryer in unit and electric baseboard heater. Got first BC Hydro bill today for $240, that is for 36 days. Seems high to me but interested in other peoples impressions. There wasn't any 'new customer' charges either. Cheers
hat seems pretty high to me. I think we average about $140-150 per month for a 3500 sq ft house with 4 of us in it - all the usual services, but no electric baseboard heating.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 10:09 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Electric baseboard heaters and an electric dryer will likely be the cause. I'd suggest turning the baseboard heaters down to the lowest possible temperature or even off if possible.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 10:16 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

When we first got to BC, we used the dryer a fair bit, saw the spike in the electric usage (the tools on the BC Hydro website are good for this) and promptly stopped using it.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 10:32 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Seems extortionate compared to what other BCers have said in the past.

Not an estimated reading I suppose?
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 10:48 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Originally Posted by BristolUK
Seems extortionate compared to what other BCers have said in the past.

Not an estimated reading I suppose?
BC Hydro have smart meters - no such thing as an estimate.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 11:34 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

That's a lot for a Condo. That's about 65KW per day. Assume 5-10KW runs the condo without heating, so 55-60KW per day for heat and washer/drier. That is a lot. How many baseboard heaters have you got?

Our 3000sq ft house averages $150-$170/mo for gas and electricity combined over the year, so $240 for a month for an all-electric condo in the lower mainland is a lot unless you're up a mountain, particularly in this El Nino winter.

If you want a real shocker, my construction site uses $1500/month in electricity just for half a dozen site trailers.

The rest of the site is on generators for construction power.

Last edited by withabix; Mar 2nd 2016 at 11:38 am.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 11:36 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

No, they said read but it depends on how it is read.

I am going to chat to the starta guy tonight and read the meter for myself, just as a check.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 11:53 am
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

4 baseboard heaters but all down at 18 Celsius so shouldn't be kicking on much at the moment.

I'm starting to think BC hydro either cant read the meter properly or are using estimates because they didn't visit the property. Cant wait for that phone call.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 12:10 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Originally Posted by Engineer_abroad
No, they said read but it depends on how it is read.

I am going to chat to the starta guy tonight and read the meter for myself, just as a check.
(assuming it's a smart meter) Nobody reads the meter - BC Hydro are able to collect the data remotely

https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc...ogram.html#how meters work
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 12:15 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

You can also get your consumption stats per hour from their website

https://www.bchydro.com/evportlet/Sy...onOverview.xml
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 12:33 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Any mystery plugs or cords that you don't know what's on the other end?
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 1:32 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Seems like a lot.

We live in a 1 bedroom 650sq foot apartment and pay about 40 to 45 per month using the first bill of our new place. Old place was a little less.

We have all electric heating, washer and dryer as well as dishwasher.

Heat it baseboard 3 in total set at 15C.

Lighting is LED bulbs.

TV and usual stuff. Laptop etc.

I also have LED aquarium lighting on 8 hours per day as well as 1 13 watt CFL and 1 9 watt LED on 12 hours per day dor a gecko.

TV runs about 6 hours per day.

Avg of 4 to 5 dishwasher loads and 5 to 6 wash and dry loads for clothing.

And of course we have a fridge as well set at 38F.

Cooking I use the electric stove top about 45 mins per day. And toaster oven about 1 hour per day.

No hot water tank so no cost there.

For the last 7 days we have used anywhere from a low of 8 kWh and a high of 16 kWh with other days being 12 to 15.

We are in a low rise on 2nd floor but 1st floor of residential. Below us is empty commercial space. Not sure if a high rise unit would be different hydro wise.

Last edited by scrubbedexpat091; Mar 2nd 2016 at 1:40 pm.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 1:38 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

1,500 is nothing....😉

The hotel I was in Squamish avg 4,000 a month for electric....lol...and that was with an avg annual occupancy of 50%. 87 rooms in total plus pool and laundry and such.

Originally Posted by withabix
That's a lot for a Condo. That's about 65KW per day. Assume 5-10KW runs the condo without heating, so 55-60KW per day for heat and washer/drier. That is a lot. How many baseboard heaters have you got?

Our 3000sq ft house averages $150-$170/mo for gas and electricity combined over the year, so $240 for a month for an all-electric condo in the lower mainland is a lot unless you're up a mountain, particularly in this El Nino winter.

If you want a real shocker, my construction site uses $1500/month in electricity just for half a dozen site trailers.

The rest of the site is on generators for construction power.
 
Old Mar 2nd 2016 | 1:38 pm
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Default Re: First BC Hydro Bill

Originally Posted by BristolUK
Any mystery plugs or cords that you don't know what's on the other end?
You mean like those special hydroponic plants they grow in BC

1100 sq ft condo 4th floor 1 bedroom den new construction all hydro washer/dryer, fridge/freezer, stove, dishwasher and the usual other appliances such as tv's computer etc etc

769 kwh @$0.007672 = $59.00 plus other taxes was $71.20 estimated bill over 28 days.
 


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