# Utility bills



## joannadawns (Nov 28, 2017)

Hi all, Do all utility companies charge a standard charge whether you use any electric or water? If not, does anyone know of any that don't :]


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

joannadawns said:


> Hi all, Do all utility companies charge a standard charge whether you use any electric or water? If not, does anyone know of any that don't :]


The short answer is yes, they all have standing charges regardless of whether any electricity or water is consumed, and I certainly don't know of any suppliers who don't. As you probably know, the standing charges for electricity are based on how many kw your supply is contracted for (called potencia), so the higher your potencia is (and therefore the more appliances you can use at the same time), the higher the standing charge will be.


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## joannadawns (Nov 28, 2017)

Thank you so a lower the contracted kw the better within reason... i read somewhere around 3.8 kw does that sound correct, we have no children and plan to install a solar water heater and run a gas cooker so consumption should not be that high. we plan to stay around 5/6 months of the year to start with. I also read somewhere that a night charge saves money if you run washing machines at night but in reality does this really save money?


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

Night charge saves me money in UK, I didn’t know this facility existed in Spain.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

We had a potencia contratada of 3.45kw for the 11 years we lived in our old house, and it was enough because we used gas for cooking and for almost all our heating in winter. When we moved into an all-electric apartment last year where we use the inverter air conditioning for heating, I had the potencia increased to 5.75kw (the difference in cost for the standing charge is not that huge) and have still managed to trip the electric a few times, usually by switching the kettle on whilst using the oven, hob and microwave at the same time (plus the fridge/freezer, TV, lights etc). Our standing charge now is €20.18 per month for 5.75kw with Fenosa (they give a 5% discount on both the standing charge and our electricity consumption). I think the old standing charge for 3.45kw with Endesa was around €12 per month.

I have never used the day/night tariff so don't know how much you would be likely to save. I remember reading on the forum not so long ago that Endesa now have a scheme where you can choose a designated day or number of hours per day for cheap rate electricity, that might be worth looking into.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

With Endesa's Happy tariff, apparently you can choose either two consecutive hours each day, or one day per week, and your electricity consumption will be FREE, not just cheap, during those times.

https://www.endesaclientes.com/catalogo/tarifas-tempo.html


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## joannadawns (Nov 28, 2017)

Thank you, really helpful @]


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

While we're on the subject of potencia, I've been thinking of replacing our gas hob with an induction hob, but have read that they use a lot of power, albeit for a short time. Our potencia is 4.6 which has been fine, but I don't want it to trip when I use the hob. Does anyone have any info on this?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> While we're on the subject of potencia, I've been thinking of replacing our gas hob with an induction hob, but have read that they use a lot of power, albeit for a short time. Our potencia is 4.6 which has been fine, but I don't want it to trip when I use the hob. Does anyone have any info on this?


Mine is an induction hob, and as I said earlier, I have managed to trip the electric (with a a potencia of 5.75) but only when I've absent mindedly switched the kettle on at the same time as using the conventional electric oven, 2 rings on the induction hob, the microwave, the extractor, plus having the fridge-freezer, TV and lights on. So I don't think the induction hob itself is a big problem.

Btw, if you switch to an induction hob you may find you need to buy some new pans. Our saucepans were fine but we had to get new frying pans as the old ones weren't suitable.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Alcalaina said:


> While we're on the subject of potencia, I've been thinking of replacing our gas hob with an induction hob, but have read that they use a lot of power, albeit for a short time. Our potencia is 4.6 which has been fine, but I don't want it to trip when I use the hob. Does anyone have any info on this?


I have 4.4 of potencia, and generally speaking I can only use two burners of my induction stove-top at a time without tripping the electric. I say generally speaking because if all 3 burners are on a low setting I often get away with it, depending on what else I have running in the house.

You can check in the owners manual to see how much electricity each burner uses. The total is usually 6 or 7 kw. But that would be for all 3 burners to be on at the highest setting, so you'd have to avoid that.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

kalohi said:


> I have 4.4 of potencia, and generally speaking I can only use two burners of my induction stove-top at a time without tripping the electric. I say generally speaking because if all 3 burners are on a low setting I often get away with it, depending on what else I have running in the house.
> 
> You can check in the owners manual to see how much electricity each burner uses. The total is usually 6 or 7 kw. But that would be for all 3 burners to be on at the highest setting, so you'd have to avoid that.


That's one powerful hob you have. We regularly have all four rings on plus the oven yet are only on 5.75kW


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