Discussions

It seems my hydro bills have almost doubled. Anyone else seeing this? A 3.5 % increase shouldn't have doubled my bill for October and November, especially when these have been very warm months.

What are your usage figures compared to a year ago? They should show on your bill.

Yes I’ve noticed! Last year we would be typically using 400$ max these months and now it’s 600 on the minimum. This is actual monthly reads

Go on equal payments ………….

.....Even on equal payments that doesn’t change the usage. Just means a bigger year end bill....

Not really because I have been on equal payments for five years and have received a credit quite a few times. You need to learn when to turn off lights, unplug appliances, etc. It is not difficult

$400??? and $600?? how? how much is your thermostat during the winter months?

We're on EPP, but our billing for this year for the electric portion has remained the same, and our gas charges actually went down.  
 
Did you get some new appliances that are sucking phantom power? A smart something or other maybe? Has your heating system been tuned up/serviced/checked?

Not read the meter yet this month but I expect my actual usage will be at least $500. A drafty old house sucks a lot of power to keep it halfways warm in here-not that it is really "warm" but at least we are not quite freezing either. Add to that, we use a lot of hot water in winter (thawing g ice out of stock tanks). I haven't even looked at the unit price of hydro so can't say if it has gone up or not.

That does seem like quite a difference for just a 3.5% increase, especially if you're still setting your thermostat at the same settings as before. Maybe you have something staying on. Possibly a sticking thermostat somewhere or a sticking sequencer, if you have an electric furnace. I would suggest checking for something like that, assuming the billing is correct.

take a look to see if its an estimated as said above but also if you see double of everything under the natural gas portion. your first bill since the rate hike may have a partial month charge plus the regular month

Any chance you might respond to all those who have commented on your post? We have taken our time to give you possible answers maybe you could now give us some of your time.

If you have an electric furnace get it checked to make sure an element or two aren’t sticking on. Depending which sequencer sticks on you could have an element stuck on without the fan running so you wouldn’t notice it but your hydro bills will definitely increase.

Haven't changed since June, where it went from 8.527 cents to 8.74 cents, unless there has been one in the last month and I'm not aware of it. The same with the basic rate, for us, going from $16.84 to $17.24.

Lowest hydro bill I had over the summer was $280. That was for August when we weren’t even home for most of it. In the winter.....$600 plus and we don’t even heat the house with hydro. Cattle waterers don’t help during the winter, but summer bills seem just as ridiculous. Last year or so have been high compared to previous years and I don’t think we have increased consumption.

I think everyone should mention the square footage of their home as I find $300-$600 per month is ridiculous. I only pay $110 a month (I am on EPP)

What their primary heat source is. $300-$600 is actually pretty typical for someone who heats with electricity in an old house. We pay roughly the same as you, but we heat with gas and have a newer (70's era) house with upgraded windows etc.  
 
There's lots of variables. I think a better metric is probably if their amount has gone up or down etc. In the country, you're also paying power to pump water etc so it all adds up.

carbon tax went up in April and gas wasn't used much then.

In the cold months were in the range of $700 - $750 a month. However, that was a 1400 sq ft 2X4 house, with 1200 sq ft basement and a 1700 sq ft workshop. All electric heat. We have since added solar so it has greatly lowered that cost.

Last year my hydro bill averaged 400-600 a month during the winter.  
Since then I upgraded to a high efficiency furnace, and did lots of weather proofing on my old drafty house, and i re installed some doors to seal larger cracks.  
 
My hydro bill was $170 for the month. On the usage the bulk of that was actually electricity. My gas usage was only $78  
 
Overnight and while my husband and I are at work the heat is set to 20. So about 16 hours of the day it’s barely kicking on. We found this helps a lot.

I'm curious to know what sort of reduction you're seeing! We've talked about putting up a small array on the south side of our house. Are you storing the energy at all?  
 
So many questions!

Our annual hydro bill was around $4500 a year. Last year, it was $257. Had we been able to get the PST and GST back, we had have had a credit.  
We installed a large 31.5 kW, 100 panel, free standing (on the ground) system, with no batteries. In winter, I clean the snow off the panels to keep them working as much as possible.

I think you have solved my issue here. Electric furnace had a retrofit last year and now is making a humming noise when the blower is not running.

Yep that’s what it sounds like is going on. Sequencers are common to fail but luckily easy and inexpensive to fix.