Utility costs

How are your utility costs considering you are home with the kids all day? That's a question i have been asked a few times and personally, I find my utility costs very reasonable. My hubby wonders if we can save more, but i don't want to sacrifice comfort/convenience. If you are comfortable posting, can you tell me (approx) what you pay in utilities? This year my most expensive hydro bill was $120 and my gas was about $150. I think that's very reasonable considering we paid at least 150 per month or more on electricity and 300 on gas at my old house! When we moved into this house 3.5 yrs ago, we changed the furnace and AC (windows and doors are about 7-10 yrs old) and had an energy audit done. We scored well on it, meaning that our house is very energy efficient. I try to do most of the washing etc in the evening when electricity is cheaper but sometimes i do laundry during the day, the dishwasher too sometimes, but i try not to make a habit of it. I keep my heat at 22c during the day and 19c at night. I only keep the lights on of the room i am in and try not to leave the TV on.

I think what you are doing is fine. Of course being home during the day instead of just in the evenings is going to cost more. We have more dishes to wash/laundry/hands to wash/toilets flushing. We are on budget with hydro for $225 a month (don't have gas and have a geothermal furnace). I usually run at about $40 a month for water.

I have never heard anything before about electricity being cheaper in the evening? Isn't it the same cost no matter what time of day?

Mickyc: In Ontario we have smart meters that track when you use the energy. It is half the price to use it in the evenings and weekends than during peak daytime hours. Weekday daytime hours are divided into 2 sections (depending on the season) and part of the day is mid-peak price and the other hours are peak price (double the evening and weekend cost).

I suck at doing the laundry during off peak hours.

Your bills are also dependant on the size of your house and how many people live there .... I have a bungalow that is 2500sq ft on the main floor and about another 1700 or 1800 in the lower level daycare .... There is also 5 people living here. Our hydro is anywhere between $150 and $200 per month and we have a propane furnace and hot water heater and stove and its about $100 -$140/month .... I also Try to only run laundry and the dish washer in the evening but it is a lot if laundry and dishes and showers plus we have air conditioning in the summer and I keep the thermostat at 22 in the winter plus we have a very energy efficient house.

Hmm. We just got smart meters fairly recently. Didn't really think about it but I imagine we are being charged based on peak and non-peak times. I'll have to check into that.

The concept of smart meters came from the UK where we've had them for well over 30 years. Each has effectively has two meters. One measures the power useage from 7am until 6pm when power is at higher demand and the other measures the rest of the day. Off peak power use is charged at a fraction of the price. So water heated overnight, timers used so laundry and dishwashers come on over night and so on.

Here in NS we have one power company. Our bills have increased about 20% in the last few years and an increase of 23% has just been approved for the next couple of years.

My power bill is $260.00 a month and my heaters are only on a max of 20º. My water is between $175-$200 bi-monthly. I have 800 sq ft per the three levels although in the winter, the basement is rarely used so we do save on heating that. Just keep those thermostats set to about 14º to make sure nothing freezes although it's all insulated down there.