# Utility Bill Averages



## LongboardSurfer (Aug 3, 2014)

Can anyone give me an idea of average monthly utility costs (Gas, Elec, Water) for a two-person family in the Malaga area?

Thanks,
LBSurfer


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Depends what sort of accommodation, flat, cottage, mansion and your lifestyle.
Whether you :
use electric, use gas have solar
use gas electricity or oil to heat your house
use air con a lot or not at all
do a lot of cooking
How many fridges, freezers
Have a pool
Take lots of showers
Have a big garden with lots of plants to water or a window box.
You see, it all depends!


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## LongboardSurfer (Aug 3, 2014)

I understand there are variables to consider. Since we haven't moved there yet, I'll take a stab at focusing the request. Two bedroom, city/village apartment, with gas for cooking. Air conditioning use will be dependent on if we are in the foothills (Competa for example) and if there are breezes. If its too hot, A/C on. Not sure about heating in winter. Haven't been there to know, but want to be comfortable. Don't want to wake up with ice in the toilet.

Bottom line, just looking for examples - not absolute finite costs.

Thanks!

LBSurfer


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

LongboardSurfer said:


> I understand there are variables to consider. Since we haven't moved there yet, I'll take a stab at focusing the request. Two bedroom, city/village apartment, with gas for cooking. Air conditioning use will be dependent on if we are in the foothills (Competa for example) and if there are breezes. If its too hot, A/C on. Not sure about heating in winter. Haven't been there to know, but want to be comfortable. Don't want to wake up with ice in the toilet.
> 
> Bottom line, just looking for examples - not absolute finite costs.
> 
> ...


We are a 2 person household living in a 3 bedroom house 5km inland in Malaga province. We use butane gas for all our cooking and almost all our heating (mains gas is only just becoming available and atm only to be found in new build properties along the coast). A bombona of gas currently costs €17.50 and the most I have ever bought in a year is 10, so €175 per year (if you are living further inland at higher altitude you are sure to need more).

As far as electricity goes, we don't have air-con (never needed it) nor a pool to run. We use an electric water heater and an electric bathroom heater in the winter, run freestanding fans in the summer. Bills tend to vary between €45-50 per month, all year round. Standing charges depend on how many kw you are contracted for, and can add quite a bit to your bill. Ours are low as we only have 3.45kw potencia which is enough as we have a gas cooker. If you have an electric hob and oven you would need at least 5.5kw or the circuit breakers will trip when you have too many appliances switched on at once.

Water bills are around €17-18 per month.

Bills for electricity and water are issued every two months.


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## Sandraw719 (Jul 19, 2013)

Lynn R said:


> We are a 2 person household living in a 3 bedroom house 5km inland in Malaga province. We use butane gas for all our cooking and almost all our heating (mains gas is only just becoming available and atm only to be found in new build properties along the coast). A bombona of gas currently costs €17.50 and the most I have ever bought in a year is 10, so €175 per year (if you are living further inland at higher altitude you are sure to need more).
> 
> As far as electricity goes, we don't have air-con (never needed it) nor a pool to run. We use an electric water heater and an electric bathroom heater in the winter, run freestanding fans in the summer. Bills tend to vary between €45-50 per month, all year round. Standing charges depend on how many kw you are contracted for, and can add quite a bit to your bill. Ours are low as we only have 3.45kw potencia which is enough as we have a gas cooker. If you have an electric hob and oven you would need at least 5.5kw or the circuit breakers will trip when you have too many appliances switched on at once.
> 
> ...


It seems much lower than we paid. We lived in Orihuela city. We use electricity for everything. It costs more than 85 euros per month. The water bill is about 40 euros. We have 3 bedrooms and we use Air conditioner sometime. It seems the water bill is very different in different area.


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## LongboardSurfer (Aug 3, 2014)

Outstanding! Thanks to all for responding. I'm just trying to get a 'ballpark' figure, and I figure we'll be somewhere in the middle. Thanks again.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Sandraw719 said:


> It seems much lower than we paid. We lived in Orihuela city. We use electricity for everything. It costs more than 85 euros per month. The water bill is about 40 euros. We have 3 bedrooms and we use Air conditioner sometime. It seems the water bill is very different in different area.


Just about everything in Spain is very different in different areas!

Everyone I know who has an electric oven and hob has electricity bills of at least €80 per month - no doubt the higher potencia they need has something to do with that as their standing charges are higher (mine are only €24 for 2 months) but also the consumption will be higher, obviously. The consumption figure for our last 2 monthly bill was 414 kwh.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Sandraw719 said:


> It seems much lower than we paid. We lived in Orihuela city. We use electricity for everything. It costs more than 85 euros per month. The water bill is about 40 euros. We have 3 bedrooms and we use Air conditioner sometime. It seems the water bill is very different in different area.


In some places the water bill includes basura (rubbish collection) in others that is paid for by a different method. The difference would be significant.


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## LongboardSurfer (Aug 3, 2014)

Every response has been great, thank you. I guess it all boils down to..."it depends." It depends on where you live, gas or electric stove/oven, air conditioning, altitude, etc., etc.

At least I now have "things to look at" when we finally get there and start looking for a place to live.

Thanks everyone,
LB Surfer


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Just about everything in Spain is very different in different areas!
> 
> Everyone I know who has an electric oven and hob has electricity bills of at least €80 per month - no doubt the higher potencia they need has something to do with that as their standing charges are higher (mine are only €24 for 2 months) but also the consumption will be higher, obviously. The consumption figure for our last 2 monthly bill was 414 kwh.


We are all electric, our bill last month was 57€, however we are in the Canary Isles where most things seem to be cheaper.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

I am not economical with power at all. Lights are left on, tv is left on when nobody is watching it, jacket potatoes are cooked in the oven instead of the microwave, I have 7 aquariums where the filters are on 24 hrs and the lighting is on 12 hrs a day otherwise the plants will not thrive and finally my animal loving daughter leaves 6 outside lights on if we are going out in the evening so that our 4 dogs and 2 cats can see, yeah really!!! My bill is about 130euros for 2 months.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Which electricity company are you with?
We'll change ours!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Trubrit said:


> I am not economical with power at all. Lights are left on, tv is left on when nobody is watching it, jacket potatoes are cooked in the oven instead of the microwave, I have 7 aquariums where the filters are on 24 hrs and the lighting is on 12 hrs a day otherwise the plants will not thrive and finally my animal loving daughter leaves 6 outside lights on if we are going out in the evening so that our 4 dogs and 2 cats can see, yeah really!!! My bill is about 130euros for 2 months.


But lights use very little power. It's heating and aircon that gobble it up. We have two oil-filled electric radiators and one ceramic panel for heating, and during the winter months the bills average nearly €200 a month. The average over the year is about €100 a month (two adults in 3-bed detached house, no pool or aircon).

I gave up ironing in 2008 - that is SUCH a waste of energy!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I always think that threads like this are pretty useless as every one's usage is different.

We have a large house and are a family of 5. We don't use aircon much (perhaps once a month for a couple of hours), we do cook with the oven and electric hob every day. We have two fridge/freezers, have a pool pump on 2 hours/day. We try not to leave the lights on much. We heat our water with electricity.

Our bills are about 350€ every two months whether it's summer or winter ( mas o minus).


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## LongboardSurfer (Aug 3, 2014)

Again, thanks to everyone. I figured there would be variances, and I was right. I'm just trying to figure out the "average" by discarding the highs and lows. I just don't want to be in the poor house because I didn't know I had to unscrew the lightbulb in the fridge.

Thanks, and I think I have enough examples to have a good idea.

LBSurfer


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## angkag (Oct 29, 2013)

Just moved here and the real estate agent managed the last tenants utility bills, and the last tenants average bills were 250 euro a month (for everything).

Thats a 4 bedroom house in Andalucia - no idea what their usage habits were though.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

angkag said:


> Just moved here and the real estate agent managed the last tenants utility bills, and the last tenants average bills were 250 euro a month (for everything).
> 
> Thats a 4 bedroom house in Andalucia - no idea what their usage habits were though.


... seems very high to me.


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## rewdan (Feb 23, 2010)

i installed a hot water solar system at my house at the beginning of july, it stores 300 litres of hot water in a cylinder that can supply both my house and my guest house with plentiful hot water. Admittedly you don't need a hot shower or hot bath right now but with my family and a guest family, the washing machines and dishwashers are on all day. The cylinder can also be heated by a gas boiler that I haven't had to switch on once in two months so all that hot water has been free bar the initial costs, around £1000 which may seem high but should provide me with hot water for free for a long time. I am also currently working on a modification to utilize the excess heat in winter to centrally heat the house for free too, if that works I will be very happy!


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

angkag said:


> Just moved here and the real estate agent managed the last tenants utility bills, and the last tenants average bills were 250 euro a month (for everything).
> 
> Thats a 4 bedroom house in Andalucia - no idea what their usage habits were though.


This is about what we spend, in a small 3 bedroom house in Andalucia with two adults and two university aged children. 

We have gas hot water and stovetop, a dishwasher, an electric oven that's rarely used, 1 A/C unit which we run every day during the hot months, no heating, no clothes dryer, no pool, and some electronics (2 small tv's, 4 laptops).


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

kalohi said:


> This is about what we spend, in a small 3 bedroom house in Andalucia with two adults and two university aged children.
> 
> We have gas hot water and stovetop, a dishwasher, an electric oven that's rarely used, 1 A/C unit which we run every day during the hot months, no heating, no clothes dryer, no pool, and some electronics (2 small tv's, 4 laptops).


If you truly are spending 250€ PER MONTH then I would suggest that something is wrong or maybe your a/c unit needs an overhaul.

We are a family of 5 (3 teens who shower every 5 minutes, or so it seems), electric everything (water, hob, oven, fridges, freezers, dish washer, washing machine), a/c in all rooms but not used much. The property is large (7 or 8 bedrooms) with friends or family here all the time (ha, ha). Our bills (in total) are always less than 200€ / month.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I think our water bill is considerably higher than what most people talk about here. We just got the bill the other day and we paid 164€ for 3 months (mid May - mid Aug). That was for 63 m3 of water, or about 21 m3 a month. We do water outdoor plants in the summer but otherwise our usage is pretty basic, IMO. Is 21 m3 of water a month a lot for a family of 4? I really don't know. But I have been told that our water company (Aljarafesa) is very expensive. 

Our last electric bill came to 134€, and we usually go through 2 bottles of gas a month so that's about 35€. All of that comes to 225€ so I this month we were under 250€. 

Our A/C is 3 years old and is inverter so it's not the big culprit for our high electric bill. I suspect my daughter's hair dryer running 15 minutes every day has a lot more to do with it.


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