Gotta love getting a bill like this!

mechanic · 10-14-15, 08:51 PM

We only get read once a year and then they estimate my monthly billing for the rest. First year ended around $325 a month then I started getting looking into my usage and trying to get it lower. The next year (part of it with changes made) I got a cheque for $900 and they changed my payment to $278. Just got this years and I got a credit for $750. So it looks like my yearly average was about $215 per month (this despite adding a 6 man hot tub 4 months ago). So all in all I've more than recouped my investment in less than two years and there are plenty of poor efficiency areas to deal with yet

natethebrown · 10-14-15, 11:22 PM

Personally, I find that kind of payment method annoying and possibly underhandedly devious. On one hand, I understand the reasoning to have less folks miss payments. The devious part is they might get a large surplus of money built up from the folks that never miss a payment, then they get to invest the money instead of the customer. In a sense, you are giving your utility company a free loan.

Back to the topic at hand. Awesome! It is always nice to see the power bills go down. My wife and I budget around $200 per month for utilities and any left over or over spent is carried over to the next month (we use Mint.com). As of right now, we have around $120 surplus year.

mechanic · 10-15-15, 11:08 AM

Ya it's kind of annoying but we live on a farm so that's how they do it. Anyone in cities/towns get regular readings. I could probably phone them in if I wanted I suppose... They did a trial with smart meters but a bunch caught fire and they pulled them all out again.

10-14-15, 08:51 PM	#1
mechanic Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 117 Thanks: 10 Thanked 16 Times in 12 Posts	Gotta love getting a bill like this! We only get read once a year and then they estimate my monthly billing for the rest. First year ended around $325 a month then I started getting looking into my usage and trying to get it lower. The next year (part of it with changes made) I got a cheque for $900 and they changed my payment to $278. Just got this years and I got a credit for $750. So it looks like my yearly average was about $215 per month (this despite adding a 6 man hot tub 4 months ago). So all in all I've more than recouped my investment in less than two years and there are plenty of poor efficiency areas to deal with yet Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Daox; 10-15-15 at 03:54 PM..

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10-14-15, 11:22 PM	#2
natethebrown Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North Alabama Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 40 Times in 20 Posts	Personally, I find that kind of payment method annoying and possibly underhandedly devious. On one hand, I understand the reasoning to have less folks miss payments. The devious part is they might get a large surplus of money built up from the folks that never miss a payment, then they get to invest the money instead of the customer. In a sense, you are giving your utility company a free loan. Back to the topic at hand. Awesome! It is always nice to see the power bills go down. My wife and I budget around $200 per month for utilities and any left over or over spent is carried over to the next month (we use Mint.com). As of right now, we have around $120 surplus year.

10-15-15, 11:08 AM	#3
mechanic Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 117 Thanks: 10 Thanked 16 Times in 12 Posts	Ya it's kind of annoying but we live on a farm so that's how they do it. Anyone in cities/towns get regular readings. I could probably phone them in if I wanted I suppose... They did a trial with smart meters but a bunch caught fire and they pulled them all out again.