# electric bills



## Stuart villa martin (Jun 1, 2011)

We have recently come of builders electric
And on to eitherola ,is it normal practice to bill after they collect there money from your bank account (we receive our bill by email)also our bill has increased by treble compared to builders electric


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

I take it you mean Iberdrola ? A ) you shouldn't have been paying anything for builders electric as it's illegal to re-sell it & B ) the cost of electricity has doubled , at least , in the last few years. The same if not more than the UK now & set to keep increasing.
P.S. Yes , the bill always arrives after the money has been taken from your acct. Same with Telefonica, that's if they send the bill !


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## mrnkar (Feb 25, 2011)

Regarding the price. Not sure if your company does the same but we were with Endesa & when we moved apartments our bills for electric where much higher although I used basically the same so on checking the tariffs, charges etc, discovered they were different. Found out it is something to do with the voltage supply. The laws changed a few years ago & basically our building was not upgraded hence we had to pay more. Also they basically allow you a certain amount of usage & if you go over that, charges are a lot higher as they imply you are using too much. I was very careful with my electricity but still managed to go over my limit often. May help bring your bills down if any of this applies to you. Karen


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Our Electricity bill works out at €1.70 daily. 

Everything is electric but we do not have any heating or air conditioning, they are not needed here.

Taking into account we no longer use gas, we find the energy costs are far cheaper than they were in England


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

All Spanish electricity contracts have a "_potencia contratada_", or contracted power, i.e. the maximum number of kilowatts you can use before the power cuts out. The higher your _potencia, _the the more you will pay for electricity, both the standing charge and per unit. 

Your contracted _potencia_ is shown on your bill. If you have a very low one, say 3 kW, your electricity will be very cheap but you might not be able to boil the kettle or do the ironing with the oven on! For holiday apartments however this might be all you need.

If it is high, say 10 kW or over, you might be paying for more than you need. Check your appliances and work out how many kW you are likely to be using at any one time - e.g. a 2kW electric radiator or aircon unit, 2kW for an electric oven or iron, 1kW for a washing machine and 1kW if all the lights are on. Total 6 kW - so you might want to get a new contract at a lower level and do the washing while you aren't using the oven.

We have a 3 bedroom detached house heated by electricity, and we manage OK with a 4.6 kw contract.

The price increases recently have all applied a higher percentage rise for the higher _potencia_ contracts - so if money is tight this is definitely worth checking out.


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## LuLu89 (Jun 17, 2011)

That is cheap - I am paying 130euros/month for a 2 bedroom apartment!! No aircon.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

LuLu89 said:


> That is cheap - I am paying 130euros/month for a 2 bedroom apartment!! No aircon.


That's too much, I'd say. We pay around 170 a month for a large detached house with pool and pump, no gas although no need for aircon and after reading Alcalaina's post I'm beginning to think we should be on 4.6KW potency.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hepa said:


> Our Electricity bill works out at €1.70 daily.
> 
> Everything is electric but we do not have any heating or air conditioning, they are not needed here.
> 
> Taking into account we no longer use gas, we find the energy costs are far cheaper than they were in England


And VIA (VAT) is only 5% in las Canarias, no? It is 18% on the mainland now.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Yes IGC is at 5% but that doesn't make all that much difference, if your 17% was applied we would pay €1.89 daily, instead of €1.70.

However calculating the 5% on all expenses then it is one hell of a difference.

But that is the way it is, it is one of the advantages of living here,
Hepa


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Ive just worked out ours for the 12 months from 1 May 2010 to 30 Apr 2011 (the last time we had a bill). It works out as €2..91 a day, or €88.54 a month.

Like I said, we have a 3 bedroom detached house (no pool), occupied by two adults, heated mainly by electricity in winter, a mobile aircon unit only used in high summer, and a 4.6 kw contract. Washing machine gets used a couple of times a week, iron a couple of times a year, kettle ten times a day, electric oven five or six hours a week. 

I think I'll put this stuff in the Cost of Living sticky!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hepa said:


> Yes IGC is at 5% but that doesn't make all that much difference, if your 17% was applied we would pay €1.89 daily, instead of €1.70.
> 
> However calculating the 5% on all expenses then it is one hell of a difference.
> 
> ...


One of many! But you have to get on a plane or ferry to buy a new pair of shoes ....


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Ours is an eight room Bungalow and there are two of us.


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