Your heat and hydro costs this winter?

[npt1]

Hi All,

Just to justify the cost of living in the Hammer,

Post the cost of heat and hydro in your area,
We all had a wicked winter with cold and winds,

With your anwers, please add any comments

regarding hardships, frozen pipes, etc.

Thanks,

npt1.

[leaf4]

Don't know my costs exactly but ballpark $450 for 2 months of hydro and it was $100-200 for gas.

 

Though keep in mind I have 4 tenants along with myself and my brother, so nothing too crazy all things considered

[Raf]

we're 20 mins west of orangeville. 2 adults and a 3 yr old in a backsplit.

 

our water tank & dryer are electric, our hydro has been around 130-140 a month and that includes water.

 

our furnace is gas, as is our stove but we're on equal billing though so hard to gauge.. we also supplement heat with a wood stove (about a bush cord / year). we keep it at 73 when home and 68 when not. those really cold days back in feb, our furnace almost never ran but the fire was going, strictly wood heat which kept the middle floor at 75-76. anyway, it was around 700 for the year last year which is 55 a month. according to the last bill, we used less gas this year (15%) and about the same wood in the stove.

 

So i guesss we are at 180-190 a month for all utils averaged over the year Plus a bush cord.

 

hot water tank replacement this spring i think and we'll go gas, which should decrease our monthly bills (slightly more gas and quite a bit less hydro).

Edited March 22, 2015 by Raf

[DRIFTER_016]

I heat with propane and spend about $2,000 per winter on heating.

Plus I live in the Arctic!!!

[Raf]

I heat with propane and spend about $2,000 per winter on heating.

Plus I live in the Arctic!!!

 

we were up around 1600-1700 heating with propane in our last place.. in good ole southern ontario. LOL

[Canuck2fan]

My costs were the same... heat is included in my rent and my electric is always less for the juice than the taxes add ons and debt pay down... Of course the boiler is broke in the building I live in so the ambient temperature most mornings was 16C when I woke up.

 

My parents however is another matter. They moved out of their house on Nov 4th and it sold on March 9th.

 

A new 27 month old Rheem furnace quit 4 times over that span. 3 times due to a Reliance repairman being more concerned about his "average visit count" than doing the job right. It eventually took 7 visits by repairmen to "fix" a furnace less than 3yrs old. Thankfully it was all under warranty or I would be in jail. LOL.

 

18 separate water leaks caused by the furnace being off 31hrs less than 24hrs after it had "repaired" while we were out of town and couldn't do our daily check.

 

1 exploded toilet luckily the ice was still holding it together when I carried it outside, so no water damage LOL.

 

All this was discovered 6 days before the sale was supposed to close. A friend, my dad and I repaired all the damage in 3 nights after my friend got done work. We should not have hurried so much, because the buyers wanted another week extension on the Friday before the house was to close on the Monday.

 

Total cost of the repairs, including food and beverage was just under 400.00 (beverage 25% of that and my dad and I don't drink LOL)

 

Cost of gas for the 4+ months was a little over 700.00 for an empty house set at 62 then 72 for the last 2 weeks.

 

Hydro and water was 326.00, for the 4 months.

 

The cities water had never frozen into the house in 46 yrs but my parents would run water when it got really cold as most homes in areas prone to freezing are told to do here. Well it froze this year, having no furnace working for 31 hrs when it was -27C probably didn't help. It took the city 6 days to get to us to thaw out the line. When they came they were using us as the ground side trying to get the house next door flowing at the same time. Ours was thawed in 15 minutes, next door took 47 minutes.

 

So I don't know how that stacks up to the hammer, but my parents said it was about the same as last year, but they were paying rent on top in their apartment, where heat is included and the thermostat is to open the balcony door. It NEVER got below 82F and the bathtub has been leaking a pencil stream of water since they moved in but SKYLINE LIVING has new taps on order now for 3 months LOL. So they were thankful, heat, hydro and water were included in the rent.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Canuck2fan

[OhioFisherman]

I am in tropical Ohio, my home is almost 2000 sq. ft. with a basement, all electric and I have a wood stove. My electric bill has run around 300 bucks a month since December, it has though been the 5th coldest winter on record here.

[porkpie]

Gas, hydro, water cost me around $300-325 a month. Water bills here are as much as electricity. It's criminal. We don't use any more water than we did in our last house and it's 3x the price. We heat with a gas furnace and gas hot water heater.

Edited March 22, 2015 by porkpie

[Sinker]

I burned less wood thaan last year, and hydro has been the same. I found last winter much colder and twice as long. This winter was only a month...

 

S.

[bigugli]

Equal billing on the gas at $120 month, but they just dropped that by $20 this cycle. Hydro over winter has leveled at $100. We did have to replace the rental gas hot water heater last month. It was 30+ years old. Worst week of winter and it died. Took 2 weeks to get a crew in because of the backlog of work orders due to extreme cold.

[Freshtrax]

I'm not on equal billing. 100 year old house. Only thing on gas is my furnace 150-180 last 3 months.....what burns me is the delivery charge the 8 months of the year the furnace doesn't kick on.

[Fisherman]

Last month which I would say was one of the coldest ever for us, $88 for electricity and $144 for gas. Gas is for hot water, furnace, dryer and garage. The more regular bills run around $70 for electric and around $85 for gas.

[Rod Caster]

Last month which I would say was one of the coldest ever for us, $88 for electricity

Nice, good job keeping it below $100.

 

I average just over $100 for hydro ($98 last month).

 

Propane for my hot water/stove/furnace about 50-60/month

 

Wood stove burned about 13-15 cords this year, about 15-16 last year.

 

Love my house and property for the low maintenance costs.

[ccmtcanada]

I live in Whitby. My average this winter is $102 per month. Laundry (electric dryer) is done after 7pm or on weekends when time of use is at the least expensive rate. House kept at 21c during the day and 18c from 10pm to 6am. As cold as it was I was expecting a lot worse!!!

[ecmilley]

Use pellets so far just started on 5th ton since september at $300.ton

Hydro for me.is 300 month from november to april rumning hot water tank heatline for water. Water pumps septic pumps and a 5 man hot tub go backndown to 115-120 month.in warmer.weather

[Canuck2fan]

I'm not on equal billing. 100 year old house. Only thing on gas is my furnace 150-180 last 3 months.....what burns me is the delivery charge the 8 months of the year the furnace doesn't kick on.

 

That is one of the perks of having necessary utilities provided by private companies with "competition" of a product delivered through the same pipe!!! With prices set by speculators... YEAH LOL.

[Beavertail]

KW area resident. 3 people at home in a single detached. Gas averaged $146/month for Jan and Feb, Dec was $119. Hydro averaged $92/month for Jan and Feb, Dec was $75. Lived in the house for 10 years and for the first time our main water line to the house froze. We have been hooked up to our neighbours for over a week now with our basement faucet running 24/7. Was told this arrangement could last until the end of Aprill.

[Spiel]

My hydro has almost doubled in the last few years from and average of $80.00 a month to an average of $150.00 month.

Yes, smart meter and I do all laundry and such in the non peak hours.

 

Gas for my annual budget billing (Aug to July) in the same time frame has gone from $76.00 a month to a $119.00 a month and I'm currently sitting with an $85.00 credit.

 

Water averages about $35.00 a month, it's up but I'm not sure by what %.

 

For perspective that's for 1500 square feet with another 1500 for the basement.

[Locnar]

I'm in Courtice... my hydro was like $80/mo, and gas is on equal billing at $103/mo. No frozen pipes or any serious issues. My bedroom, which is located on top of the garage, had a cold floor.

[DOS]

I could have all the lights off in the house and not use any electricity at all and I will still be paying $75 a month just for the privilege of being hooked up to hydro! Stupid delivery charges.. I burn 8 bush cord of wood a season and right now I have 1 face cord left(cutting it close, I know) We have propane hooked up to our furnace and are still on our first fill ($700) so we have done pretty good so far. But back to the hydo costs. $130-$150 a month.

 

Dan

[miami]

We live in Simcoe County. 1200 sq ft house. Our Hydro averages $125.00 per month year round - electric dryer, electric hot water tank, electric stove, 2 freezers and deep well pump. I'll add, we really monitor the times when we use the washer and dryer along with most everything else on hydro.

Propane to date (since top up in October) $1020 with thermo set at 68 evenings and 72 daytime.

Water - we have our own deep well - subdivision next to us pay min of $80 per month.

[Fisherman]

We live in Simcoe County. 1200 sq ft house. Our Hydro averages $125.00 per month year round - electric dryer, electric hot water tank, electric stove, 2 freezers and deep well pump. I'll add, we really monitor the times when we use the washer and dryer along with most everything else on hydro.

Propane to date (since top up in October) $1020 with thermo set at 68 evenings and 72 daytime.

Water - we have our own deep well - subdivision next to us pay min of $80 per month.

I would do a bit of research and see if it would benefit you to switch your dryer and water heater to gas, those two are both extreme power hogs.

[miami]

I would do a bit of research and see if it would benefit you to switch your dryer and water heater to gas, those two are both extreme power hogs.

 

Agreed Fisherman. The dryer is on it's last legs and the replacement will be gas. Not sure what to do with the tank as of yet. It's 2 yrs old. As for the stove, same as the dryer and the new one will be gas.

[Consigliere]

Got an ecobee smart stat si this winter and saved me over 20% on heating. 1000 cubic meters

To 800 dec-feb 2014 vs 2015. And overall I believe 2015 was on average colder. The thermostat has a wifi connection and algorithm that uses outside temp and furnace performane to optimize your home heating. Was skeptical but it works.

[mattyk]

I live in southeastern Pennsylvania in 3000sqft house. We set the heat to 65f(18.33c) during the daytime and 63f(17.25c) during the night and 60f(15c) when we are not at home. We do budget billing and pay $100USD for gas and $125USD for electric and $30 for water. We have 3 little kids and are constantly running the washer and dryer at all times.