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So I moved into this rental property quite some years ago and have had the highest electricity bills ever. There is no consistency in the amount one quarter it will be $6000 the next $1000. It is a small 3 bedroom house, 1 bathroom, 2 kids 2 adults and we are struggling day to day to pay the bills. we are essentially trapped as we can’t save for another bond with this debt over our heads. needless to say the real estate do not care and are unwilling to help. we have replaced all of our electricals fridge, tv etc we do not have a clothes dryer. I have recently had a smart meter installed and the highest usage is between 2am and 5am and again at 11.00am and 12.00pm? obviously we are all in bed at 2am and no one is home in the day? i can not figure out what is going on and it is driving me both crazy and broke! Could someone be stealing it? Could there be live wires somewhere? any advice would be appreciated
i have checked the readings on bills they are correct to what it says on our meter and not estimates.
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cj185 – Does the rental apartment have an electric hot water system that is cutting in over those times, or is leaking? A hot water system would be an Owner’s responsibility to repair.
If it is an electric HWS then perhaps you could advise your Agent that the HWS is faulty. The Agent would then need to arrange a plumber to look at it – at the owner’s expense.
As per Lady P, the HWS is the most likely culprit given the usage spikes.
Another electricity suck to check – standby power on any A/C unit:
https://aussiehomeenergy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/how-to-reduce-your-air-conditioners.html
Another thing to check on is that the bill matches the actual readings on the meter. Locally where I am there has been quite a fuss lately with people getting anomalous bills for gas. It turns out that the utility has been sending some bills with ‘estimates’ rather than actual meter readings.
Some local councils offer energy audits on occasions either free or or at low cost. A person will review energy accounts and look at appliances, insulation, patterns of energy use and suggest things to reduce consumption.
Could it be that your kids are old enough to be at home when you are not and staying in the shower for ages? Heating water is a large consumer of energy, especially if you have a teenager who likes to shower!! Kids can do things like run the heater with the window open too!
A faulty pressure relief valve on the water heater letting a lot of water out intermittently would be a conceivable expensive fault.
If your maximum use of hot water is around 7- 8 am in the morning and 10 to 11 pm at night – getting up in the morning and going to bed at night – a delayed switch-on would account for the odd timing. In other words, it’s taking your system four hours to catch up with water usage (or whatever …).
So yes, as suggested above, it’s definitely worth getting the hot water system checked. A water leak, a faulty valve or a faulty thermostat might account for the odd and variable bills.
My money would be on a faulty thermostat – but I’m just guessing. To get your agent “interested” tell them if they don’t send a plumber round to check, you are going to seek a rent reduction through Fair Trading to compensate for the excessive payments cause by a faulty hot water system.
Also, if your hot water tank is leaking, this could be a precursor to a tank failure – and a very messy and destructive flood.
Ask the agent to sent a plumber experienced with hot water systems.
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