# Home utility costs



## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

Just curious what everyone spends for electricity and gas for their homes. I just added up for the year and total for both came out to $3550/yr about $295/mth for our place in BC. The bulk of it is electricity as we only have a fireplace and BBQ on natural gas, so gas $300/yr and hydro $3250/yr. Seems to be a bit less than we were spending in AB, which was also a smaller home but this place is 10yrs old and a lot more energy efficient I'm sure. Then again we don't deal with -40C in the winter either.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

I turned my gas off 2 years ago.
I have a townhome and the neighbours keep my house relatively warm. My house can sometimes hit 20 degrees in January, but I'm fine with that.

So, electricity only... I spend about $3250 or so a year. Seems to be right on the mark with what you spend. What kills me the most is the Air Conditioning in the summer.

The neighbours always have their windows open and I always have the AC on, so the summer months are more expensive for me. I usually pay $350/month in the peak of summer and $250/month in the cooler seasons


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

KaeJS said:


> I turned my gas off 2 years ago.
> I have a townhome and the neighbours keep my house relatively warm. My house can sometimes hit 20 degrees in January, but I'm fine with that.
> 
> So, electricity only... I spend about $3250 or so a year. Seems to be right on the mark with what you spend. What kills me the most is the Air Conditioning in the summer.
> ...


What province?


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

This data is going to vary vastly based on geographical location, size and type of dwelling, A/C or not, pool heating or not, etc. For 2021, our electrical cost is about $2300 and gas about $2000.


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

We’re all electric. $3180 year. Ontario. 2 adults, 2 teens.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Money172375 said:


> What province?


Ontario


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

No pool. 1-1/2 storey about 3300 sq ft. We have a heat pump with a backup electric unit so it also keeps the home cool all summer. We also have about 3 electric baseboard heaters in the attached 900 sq ft garage that we run as soon as weather cools off in winter.


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

KaeJS said:


> I turned my gas off 2 years ago.
> I have a townhome and the neighbours keep my house relatively warm. My house can sometimes hit 20 degrees in January, but I'm fine with that.
> 
> So, electricity only... I spend about $3250 or so a year. Seems to be right on the mark with what you spend. What kills me the most is the Air Conditioning in the summer.
> ...


Seems high…considering you’re not heating with electricity. what’s driving the electricity use?


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Money172375 said:


> Seems high…considering you’re not heating with electricity. what’s driving the electricity use?


I have a stay at home tenant.
Computer/TV/lights always on.


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

KaeJS said:


> I have a stay at home tenant.
> Computer/TV/lights always on.


Hmm. Seems high to me. 2 adults home here all day. And we heat With electricity. hot water too.


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## off.by.10 (Mar 16, 2014)

$1356 for 14683 kWh. Electricity only, with baseboard heat. 2 storey house, about 1500 sq ft total with a very good amount of sunshine. A/C in the summer and nothing else extra.

From what I read above, we have it lucky in Quebec with electricity prices.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

In Ontario, 3 bedroom townhouse.....1400 square feet. Hydro is $110 a month. Gas heat paid by landlord.


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## spiritwalker2222 (Nov 7, 2017)

$1,200/year for electricity with PHEV
$1,100/year for natural gas, used for heating house and water.

This is in Ottawa Ontario


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## Retiredguy (Jul 24, 2013)

BC Lower Mainland - 3 level 3000 sq ft SF Dwelling, 2 retirees. About 1000 Electricity and 1200 Gas (Heating, H/Water, and f/place). 
Electricity could be lower as we also run a second old 1980's Fridge and ran a stand alone AC unit nightly in our bedroom June-Sept.


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## diharv (Apr 19, 2011)

In the spring, I added up costs of the 12 months up to March 2021. Two story house with basement 4400sq ft total. Gas furnace/heat pump hybrid system, acts as AC in the summer with minimal effectiveness, but eats alot of hydro. Total hydro $1391 and total gas $1380, I was pleasantly surprised with those totals. By the end of next March though I would not be surprised to see the 12 month total for gas be almost doubled with the runup in prices this year. Location is central BC.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

Would guess about $2000/yr for natural gas and about $4000/yr for electricity (but that also includes water and waste removal).

We locked in our gas price at 3.99/GJ recently. Free opt out whenever we want.

2500 SF 2 story main house, plus 650 SF 1 BR suite above detached garage (also heated). No A/C
3 adults and 3 kids.
Edmonton.

Looks like we're the current champs on the leaderboard.


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## prisoner24601 (May 27, 2018)

3500 SF detached, hot-tub, heated garage in NS. All electric. $666 last year (April-April)


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

nobleea said:


> Would guess about $2000/yr for natural gas and about $4000/yr for electricity (but that also includes water and waste removal).
> 
> We locked in our gas price at 3.99/GJ recently. Free opt out whenever we want.
> 
> ...


Don't cheer yet. If I added water and garbage, it would be another $1470 added on to our numbers.


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## Mechanic (Oct 29, 2013)

AltaRed said:


> Don't cheer yet. If I added water and garbage, it would be another $1470 added on to our numbers.


I didn't add water or waste disposal either. Then there's septic pumpout every few years. I guessed my electricity and gas were higher too, that's what prompted me to actually go through my bank statement and add them up.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Water and electricity are billed together where I live (southeastern Ontario). 

We pay about $2500/year for electricity. We heat with electricity. No central AC but we do run a window AC in our bedroom on really hot days. In the past we just suffered but last year we caved and got the AC. 

It's an apartment, so we're protected on the sides by other buildings and we get to leech some heat from the retail store on the ground floor. Front/back/roof are exposed.


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

Ontario, 2400 sf, all electric, no gas. Electricity bill for 12 months ending Nov '21 - $661


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

Retired Peasant said:


> Ontario, 2400 sf, all electric, no gas. Electricity bill for 12 months ending Nov '21 - $661


How? My Feb bill alone is $500 In Ontario. Any rebates?


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

Geothermal heating - it has electric backup, but that never comes on. The geo also supplements the hot water tank, and provides AC in summer. Without the rebates we'd be at about $880 for the year.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

KaeJS said:


> I turned my gas off 2 years ago.
> I have a townhome and the neighbours keep my house relatively warm. My house can sometimes hit 20 degrees in January, but I'm fine with that.


I did that as a student in my apartment.

My gas is negligible, but electricity is $200+/month, because we have to many people on too many electronics ALL THE TIME.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

MrMatt said:


> ....electricity is $200+/month, because we have to many people on too many electronics ALL THE TIME.


High electricity costs don't result from electronics use. The big offenders are electric heating, electric water heaters, electric air conditioners, electric stoves, any electric motors in gas furnaces or washers or dryers or fridges.

Electronic devices aren't even worth considering. They may rot your brain, but they dissipate very little power.

ltr


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

like_to_retire said:


> High electricity costs don't result from electronics use.


5+ kWh/day -> 150+kWh/month isn't insignificant.

We are VERY heavy electronics users, working from home, we leave the TV on for background noise, and that's 1kWh/day by itself (77W *12h= 1kWh)




> The big offenders are electric heating, electric water heaters, electric air conditioners, electric stoves, any electric motors in gas furnaces or washers or dryers or fridges.


I only have AC, but it isn't running.
the power draw from the fans/motors in those devices is minimal.

I think normal LED lighting is a bit overrated as a cost, unless you have a crazy number of lights on.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

MrMatt said:


> 5+ kWh/day -> 150+kWh/month isn't insignificant.


Well, 150kwh per month at $0.12kwh = $18

ltr


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

like_to_retire said:


> Well, 150kwh per month at $0.12kwh = $18
> 
> ltr


150kWh/month is a low estimate but it's still 10% of my monthly usage, and arguably a "choice"


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

KaeJS said:


> My house can sometimes hit 20 degrees in January, but I'm fine with that.


And here I am setting the heat to 20 😂


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Alberta. Gas, electric, water, the works. On average $300. month. Gas stove, furnace, fireplaces, hot water. Infrequent use of central air in the summer. In the winter if we snowbird we set the thermostat low, turn down the gas water heater to standby.

It is what it is. Our electricity and gas rates are locked in for the next few years. 

Not about to sit in the cold with the lights out or eat cold food.

OTOH we do not leave all the lights on or heat the garage.


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## AlwaysLearning (Dec 8, 2017)

Our utilities are quite high.

In Ontario. Average gas for the year is about $100 ($1200 for the year mainly in winter) 

Water and electricity combined average for the year is $315/month

$415/month for utilities.... That is with a PHEV, irrigation system and a newly installed hot tub (so expect that will increase by ~$40/month)

~5500 sqft home (3000 above grade).


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