Go Native 70 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Here in Aus it seems to be a national pastime to complain about the cost of electricity but since being back in Aus I've found electricity here to be pretty cheap, at least compared to Japan. From what I can tell though it's not that Aussies pay that much for electricity it's that they use so god damned much of it. We now live in the biggest house we've ever owned and as it was built prior to gas being connected to the town everything is electrical. We also have for the first time a dishwasher and as we live in quite a cool and wet part of Aus we have to use the clothes dryer quite often. Anyway we're probably using more electricity now than we ever have in the past. Our daily consumption on our last bill was 9.5 kWH per day. On the bill they advise what the average usage is for different size households; 1 person - 12.4 2 person - 14.8 3 person - 17.1 4 person - 19.5 These figures are for households without a swimming pool. Assumedly those with one use much more. So even though we're a 3 person household we are using almost 25% less electricity than the average 1 person household. And 45% less than the average 3 person household. I just can't quite understand how they're using so much! Anyway how much do you guys use? Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Interesting. I just looked my bill the last few months has been around 300kWH. So that's 10 a day, right? For two of us. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 We seem to use just under 300 the last few months. It used to be a chunk more actually. I think all the new stuff that we bought is using less of the stuff. We certainly aren't using less from our point of view, I would guess more lights and things. Good to see it less though. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 We have time-based metering, so we don't get a single total. At this time of year, we use about 300-350 kWH a month combined for the day peak and morning/evening zone, plus 200 to 250 more overnight, which will be the water heater. That might sound a lot but its the equivalent of 25 litres of kero. For a 200 litre home kero tank feeding a boiler, that would be one fill up lasting eight months. We've got three kids. We don't use gas or kero. I work at home, so I'm usually around during the day and there'll be a cooked lunch and umpteen cups of tea and coffee in there too. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 How much are you usually paying for that Mt Wiggles. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Mr Wiggles, even! Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 About 300 kWh/month for us, family of 3 -- or 4, if including the dog. (And the dog is responsible for most of the aircon bill in the summer, since nobody else is at home during the day then...) Though we also have gas for cooking and hot water. Average monthly bill is half electricity, half gas. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Just checked mine, was at 320. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Those numbers do seem high. Last few months for us was 286, 310 and 324. No doubt the aircon is pushing it up there. At 28 degrees of course. Link to post Share on other sites
1 4 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Absolutely no idea. How do I check?! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Two of us, last few months has averaged about 300, and 10,000 yen. We have gas too for water and cooking. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 We used 290kwh last month and our house is all electric. But this time of year no heating system being used and no aircon. Was under 7000 yen but we will get some or all of that back if not more back then we paid because we have solar panels on our roof. Mind you with all the cloud we have had I dont suppose those panels have been working to full capacity. In winter we are using a lot lot more electricity for the heating system. Link to post Share on other sites
DoctorOctopus 2 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 With the solar thing do you have some sort of panel telling you how much is being generated etc, or do you rely on the company to tell you once a month? Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 260 here for last month. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Ours has gone up quite a bit since the disaster and around 15,000 now. Its double in winter, but that includes some of our heating too. The rest comes from firewood. Its way better than the Bubble era house we lived in before. The electricity bill there was the same, with a huge toyu bill on top for hot water and heating. Plus a couple of thou a month for gas for cooking. Link to post Share on other sites
Nisoko 6 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Friend of mine has solar panels on the roof and they keep on telling me how much they generated in a day, so seems they are on top of the info! Just under 300 here too. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Yes we have a little display that tells us how much electric we produce and use. It has bar charts and tables which can be used to show the months totals or week,day, or hourly usage / storage. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I don't know..... I just stand outside staring at the meter spinning like an old 45 record yelling at the top of my lungs...."Somebody turn something OFF..!!!" Link to post Share on other sites
ug 0 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I don't want to know! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 I must admit I had no idea how much we used until I noticed our last bill on the kitchen bench (my wife normally takes care of all the bill payments). I was just amazed at how much less we were supposedly using compared to the average Aussie family. We do have a solar hot water system which I guess saves us quite a bit and a slow combustion wood heater for winter. Plus as we live so close to the beach we normally get afternoon sea breezes which cool the house down in summer meaning we rarely need to use the aircon. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I never look at our bills. Just comes from the bank. As long as it's not wildly different I ignore it all. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Do many Aussies have swimming pools? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Every single one! My aunt has one.....it was lush when we were staying there, just lounging in the pool supping beer all day Link to post Share on other sites
HeatherLocklearRocks 1 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 But for people to mention it, sounds like quite a lot must have. They must be pretty high maintenance. Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 It is very common to have a swimming pool here in Perth, and I am sure that is the case in most of Australia. Link to post Share on other sites
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