High Bill?
Surprised By a Higher Than Normal Energy Bill?
Here are a number of reasons your bill could be higher than you expect and some things you can do about it.
Weather. A long spell of cold weather increases most energy bills. The same goes for hot weather – if you have air conditioning or use several fans. Consider our Monthly Equal Payment Plan to even out high seasonal bills.
Vacation/extended absence. You've been away, but your bill didn't go down. Use the vacation checklist before you leave.
Increased use in your household. If you have a new baby, live-in relatives, tenants or house guests in your household, you can expect higher energy use.
Change in lifestyle. Have you added a home office or been keeping the house warmer? Perhaps you've bought a spa or a hot tub for leisurely soaks, or you now have teenagers taking more showers. All of these lifestyle changes contribute to higher energy use.
Home renovations or additions. You'll use more energy to heat and run your home during renovations and by adding floor and window space. If you made energy improvements, but your bill still went up, chances are that the consumption savings were more than offset by increased gas costs. Check the actual unit consumption, and if it has gone down, then you have saved over what you would have spent otherwise.
Longer-than-usual billing period. It may be that your energy consumption isn't actually higher than usual, but that your bill covers a longer period of time. Compare this bill with previous bills. The meter reading information on the left-hand side of your bill shows the number of days in the billing period and compares this year's daily average consumption and temperature against last year's. Want to see a detailed sample bill?
Extra appliance use. You may have added new appliances like a computer or breadmaker, or have been using them more. Check out our Appliance and Lighting Calculator to see the operating costs of various appliances.
Other Possible Factors
Extra electric heating or portable space heaters, particularly in winter. A 1500-watt heater costs 9 cents an hour, or over $2 a day if it's running all the time.
Does your home need "weatherizing"? Ceiling, floors and walls may need more insulation. What about weatherstripping or caulking around doors, windows, pipes and cracks? Our Power Smart Tips offer lots of information on ways to "weatherize" your home.
Inaccurate thermostat. Make sure your home-heating thermostat is properly calibrated. The higher the setting, the more energy used. If you aren't paying attention to turning down the thermostat at night or when no one is home, you're using more energy than you need to. Check out our Power Smart tips on thermostats.
Extended winter lighting requirements. Did you put up holiday lights? As the days are shorter, lights are on for longer periods of time in the winter. If you use outdoor security lights that stay on all night, consider putting them on motion sensors to come on only when needed. Compact fluorescent bulbs use 75% less electricity, so why not use them wherever you can?
Fireplace dampers left open when not in use. Don't forget to close your damper between fires.
Did You Know?
On average, about 50% of home energy use is for space heating, 30% for water heating, 15% for lighting, and appliances the remaining 5%.
An old energy-inefficient fridge could cost you up to $100 a year to run. Our Fridge Buy-Back program will pick up your old, unneeded operating fridge and pay you $30 for it.
Is your neighbour's bill lower? No two homes are alike, and no two households have exactly the same energy-using patterns. Your house's energy use depends on things like the type of heating system and how the house is constructed. Even for two identically-built houses, the occupants will have different lifestyles, appliances and energy-using (or saving) habits. Analyze your home to see where you may have opportunities to reduce your home's energy consumption and lower your bills. Power Smart at Home has a wealth of information on how to improve your home's energy efficiency.
