Trying to get an average for...
 

Electricity, Council Tax?, and water rates per month, oh and community fees. I appreciate everyones circumstances are different. I am trying to build a spreadsheet to see if life in spain is affordable and am missing these key points. Any info appreciated ie post what you would suggest is the average for each of theses please :thumbup:

Thanks all :D

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

I can't help as we are not there yet but I am interested in watching this thread.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Electricity, we're billed every two months last six bills:

103.25€
67.89€
92.63€
95.71€
91.06€
113.89€ Total 564.43€ for the year. We heat with electricity.

Gas, currently 11.80€ per 13kg bottle. We use about 2 a year for the hob and and fortnightly for hot water. So 28 x 11.80€, 330.40€

Water is on a meter and paid quarterly. Last four bills total 379.23€

Council Tax 197.59€
Rubbish Collection 122.00€
Car Tax (paid to council) 47.71€

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

I think it will be hard to work out, as every situation is different.
Where we rent the urbanization has its own water supply, they have brought out a minimum charge of 15€`s a quarter and we have only gone over this twice, yes we do bathe and shower lol.
Our electric is around 60 to 70 €`s in the winter and less in the summer.
We cook and heat by bottled gas 12€`s a bottle, summertime a bottle lasts about 4 weeks and depending how cold it gets possibly 1 bottle every two weeks for heating for a couple of the winter months. If its below 15c its cold to us lol.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

I, too, will be watching this thread as we're thinking about moving from cold and snowy Canada to Spain. Although you've kindly provided figures, you don't say how big your house/apartment is....how many bedrooms? Is there a separate dining room, living room, kitchen etc. Also the figures for Council Tax, rubbish collection and car tax - is this monthly, quarterly?

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

4 bed detached, living/dining room, kitchen, and study. 8x4m pool.

Taxes are annual.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

our bills (all approx)

phone 80€ per month which includes adsl
water 60€ every 2 months
elec 1100€ per year
council tax 350€ per year
rubbish 60€ per year
car tax 70€ per year

3 bed town house with usual appliances dishwasher, washing machine, hot/cold air con and gas fire is only form of heating

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Thank you both, derek500 and spain - very informative and helpful.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Thanks for the responses much appreciated ;)

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

And lets compare to the UK:

Phone 42€ per month includes ADSL before calls.
water 56€ every 2 months
elec 1008€ per year
council tax €1680 per year
rubbish 0€ per year (at the moment)
car tax 140€ per year.

for 2 bed semi detached

so ur total in spain is 1720€ and in UK €2920
Nice to see a 1200€ saving by living in spain.

Im suprised your electric is so high though, you shouldnt need lights on as much with longer daylight hours and the fact its generally brighter down there even when cloudy. on a gloomy winter day in the UK you need ur lights on during the day.
You shouldnt need to heat the place as much, maybe just need to cool it down instead!
and with the weather being dryer, you shouldnt need a clothes dryer.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

mmmmm use tumble dryer Im afraid

also have electric blankets on in the winter - also use air con to heat

It gets very cold in the winter and is often colder inside than out as has been commented on before

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Hi spain - what do you call cold?

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

yep i agree with this. Is it that you have such hot summers it makes u a bit namby pamby when it goes cooler ? So no way on earth would i expect to run Tumble Dryers , Electric heaters and stuff that often !!

:confused:

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

If its colder outside than inside then simply open the windows at night and let the heat in ? simple isnt it ...

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

at night :confused: no the windows are open in the day if its warmer outside than in

I for one didnt expect it to be as cold as it is here sometimes - but then who thinks about winter in Spain :blink:

of course its not as cold as in UK but like you say you probably acclimatize to the warmer weather so feel a lot colder when the temp drops a bit

dont forget all the floors are tiled and a lot dont have central heating and the houses are not built to retain any heat

Im sure this will all be clearer once you move over:thumbup:

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

you will see :D

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

It can`t possibly get cold and damp in Spain !
Or can it, lol
I have certainly changed my mind after a few years. ;-)

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

mmm me too

and when people ask "does it rain in Spain ?" --- not too often but when it does, boy you will know it - thats when you find out your roof leaks :mad:

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Without getting too technical, another factor to take into account when comparing weather is the differences between daily maximums and minimums in both Spain and the UK.

Here are the 'official' forecasts for Valencia and London for the last four mondays

05/3 Valencia 19 max 12 min London 11 max 6 min

26/2 " " 21 max 7 min " " 10 max 4 min

19/2 " " 17 max 4 min " " 11 max 7 min

12/2 " " 22 max 13 min " " 10 max 7 min


What stands out, is in London on those four days added together the biggest gap between max and min is only 7 degrees. Whereas in Valencia a difference of 18 degrees.

So when you've had a warm day, which most are here, you notice how nippy it is in the evenings.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Yea that makes sense, woops you forgot to add your average bills on the end :p

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Yes it does get cold in spain and we do need tumble dryers when it is raining for 5 days solid and the air is damper than the clothes you are drying! Houses are not constructed in the same way, they are designed to be cool in summer, not warm in winter and many are damp in the winter. If you live in the campo it can be worse. We have found it very different living in a house in the campo to living in an apartment in an urbanisation. Dont be under any illusions about it being warm in spain all year round, in some places they have snow and ice, and this occurred 30km from the coast last year.
Its still better than the uk though.:thumbup:

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Also where you are moving to is inland. The local forecast for Hondón de las Nieves shows predicted lows for the next week of 4, 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, & 5. Not dissimilar to Liverpool. The cold months are January and February.

Bit of a clue in the town name.

The highs are good though!! 18, 19, 19, 19, 20, 19, & 18.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Oddly enough I struggled to get sheets dry last summer in August when the temperatures were in the mid 30s. I would have expected them to dry in half an hour but the high humidity levels and lack of breeze meant that they took nearly a day to dry!

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Living in the campo our monthly bills are slightly different -

electricity - 5€ (no mains, just solar plus occasional generator)
phone - 50€ (mobile only)
Internet - 46€ (can use voip but still use mobile as well)
water - 48€ (mainly for irrigation)
council tax - couple of euros per month maybe
rubbish - 0€ (we have to take ours to the village bins)
gas - 1 bottle for fridge, 1 bottle for hot water (winter only)

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

Certainly no need for tumble drier here on the Costa Blanca, BUT, there are people living on this urbanisation that have them. We don't get the humidity, so clothes in summer will dry in a couple of hours, even thick beach towels.

Re: Trying to get an average for...
 

I was referring to the Costa Blanca actually. I guess the humidity levels differ greatly between the North and the South - my Spanish base is Denia. And normally clothes dry very quickly but last summer during late July/early August the humidity was exceptional. It was the first time that I felt the need for air conditioning as we find the mountain breeze is usually sufficient.