I just got my Enel bill for two months, actual readings (not estimated, and neither was the bill before it). It is 239 Euro. We are a family of three in a two-bedroom house, electric oven, dishwasher which heats its own water, washing machine (usually uses cold water)and an LCD TV (thought they used little electricity). Is this a normal two-month bill? What can we do to save money? (Is electricity cheaper overnight for example?) I can't wait until we actually go up to 6kW and turn on the AC/dehumidifier! YIKES!!!

my feb/mar bill was 235 euro, we have a cold fill washer, a dryer, an electric oven, fridge, chest freezer, a 2kw heat press, we run a t shirt printing company, we live in a 270msq farmhouse on three floors with three kids and i wash 7/8 times a week and bake and cook every single day, we have a 4.5kw supply.......something doesn't seem right with yours, HTH

Our bill runs around 130 euro every 2 months for a 2 bedroom house with 4kw service. The only electric appliances we have are fridge and washing machine. The hot water heater is instantaneous gas. One thing that helps is switching to compact fluorescent lights. Are you on resident tariff?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
Are you on resident tariff?

I was going to ask the same thing. The first year of our bills were normal, then after the first year we got HIT with dues for NON RESIDENTS! We had no idea about the difference between the pricing, but quickly took care of the problem after that bill. Amazingly, we were refunded our money back!

Your bill sounds right to me. Electricity is very expensive in Italy and it just went up another 4% on April 1. With the number of price increases lately applied to electric, even if, you try to save, it doesn't make much difference, unless you get rid of almost everything.

The bill sounds about right to me, too. We have about the same number of electric appliances as Diane and our bill is roughly the same. And, has been demonstrated here in the past, the difference between resident and non-resident charges won't make you rich.

The landlord hasn't actually bought round the Feb-Mar ENEL bill yet - but imagine my joy at reading this reminder that it's due any moment and what it's going to cost. Even better - the gas bill's due soon too !

Can anyone tell me how to tell if the bills I am getting for gas, electricity and water are actually read or estimated. I don't know the Italian word for either or where on the bills the info is. Thanks

On the gas bill the estimate is Lettura calcolata. The actual reading is Lettura nostro incaricato.

My electric bill isn't estimated anymore- the newer meters automatically send the reading in to ENEL.

thanks bill2 do you know about the water bill? Jil

Hmmm, my last two electric bill were high at 93 euros for November/December and 89.25 for January/February, but I figure the difference is because of the electric space heater in the bathroom and an addition of an electric dryer which I use when I can't hang clothes out. Other appliances are washer, 2 refrigerators, an oven with electric rotisserie (used about once per month), TV, dehumidifier, and computer. Therefore, yours seems very high to me. The resident tariff can make a big difference though depending on your service.

quote:

Originally posted by JoanSi:
thanks bill2 do you know about the water bill? Jil

Mine is actually checked every year. Don't know about other comuni.

I had a bill arrive at 400 euros once in the summer for electricity alone... and almost everything in the house was gas. The LL brought me the bill (I would advise you to always ask for a copy of the bill), so the amount was right. I insisted that she call the utility company... 4 weeks later they admitted their mistake and it was actually 23 euros!!! Big difference, so it never hurts to double check if you think there is an error.

For those who were curious...yes, I am on resident rates. Perhaps it's that the TV is often on "standby" instead of completely off and I have two computers plugged in? What else? A pump that fills up my water tank in the basement overnight (for when the water is rationed)...and a small electric BOSE clock/radio/CD player (on a transformer). We also have a toaster that toasts about 6 slices a day, a toaster oven that might heat up some pizza, an espresso maker (that new "modo mio one that my husband often leaves on!) OK, we do have a few more things than the average Italian family, but I had much more in the USA (central air, electric dryer, bigger electric oven) and I paid $100 a month, balanced billing. Guess it's just much more expensive here, though perhaps I should question it and have them come and check the meter.

Thanks all for your opinions.

Hello Diane,
there would be two different causes:
1) an Enel reading error, so you have to ask them a double check and if the error is confirmed you'll be refunded.
2) an abnormal high current consumption due to a faulty appliance.
In this case if you have a new Enel digital meter you can check the instant power consumption by pressing the white button on the top (the only one) several times, you will then see "Pot.Istant = XXX,X KW" (a number that could be for instance 001,0 KW) now you have to turn off all your appliances (step by step and possibly unplugging the power cord from the wall socket)you will see the number above decreasing until you reach a consumption very close to 000,0 KW, in this way it's easy to find out the "guilty" appliance...usually a high consumption appliance generates lot of warm like an electrical oven or high power bulbs. when you see the number above very close to 000,0 KW it means you are not consuming anything.

Hope this helps
Marco

Our bill previous to the one we just got was a bumper. Nearly 300 euro. We had an old water heater which we finally changed and we saw a decrease already on the following bill. It was so old and full of calcare it was eating electricity and doing nothing much.

What kind of water heater have you got Diane? If it is electric you could put a timer on it rather than having it turned on all the time.

The winter bills are the hardest going. Heating on, more lights on, spend more time indoors.

Check if you have a tariff which is cheaper during the night.

I don't think the tv on standby will cost much, but various things on standby add up, so make sure everything is turned completely off when you're not using stuff. Get energy efficient light bulbs too. Every bit helps.

quote:

I paid $100 a month, balanced billing.

Is this a particular payment scheme?

My suacera in the States pays like that. No matter how much electricity she uses, the flat rate balanced payment is always the same.

By the way, the mistake in my electricity bill (400 instead of the correct 23 euroes) was a reading error. So, it does happen- you mentioned a stand-by T.V., and I just saw a program that discussed all the wasted energy with T.V.s on standby (especially the most modern ones), plugged-in but "off" appliances, etc...- so it sounds like you have some great insight into the energy-sucking culprits! Good luck, let us know what changes save you the most on your next bills so we can all heed your advise

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
My suacera in the States pays like that. No matter how much electricity she uses, the flat rate balanced payment is always the same.

It sounds like a good system. If there were that option in Italy I'd do it (at $100 ). Is it a popular option in the US?

I don't know. My wife and I always paid by the kwh, but we are cheapskates, and enjoyed seeing how low we could keep the energy bill.

I have no idea if the balanced billing option is popular in the USA or even available everywhere, but you're not getting anything free. Basically, they see your pattern of usage (usually people use a lot more in the summer with pool pumps and air conditioning and around Christmas if they put out tons of lights). So they take your usage over a year, divide by 12 and have you pay that much every month the following year. Every once in a while they make adjustments if it appears you are using more or less than the previous year. It's really just to help people plan their monthly bills so there aren't high spikes during certain months. Here in Italy my bills are always high . I'm on a mission to bring it down even 5 Euro for next time!

(Though with the April 1 increase it will most likely be even higher. Maybe I should aim to just keep it the same and call that a big success!)

And thanks Marco for the info on how to check for a faulty appliance (though all are new). Will let you know if I find anything fishy.

Hello Diane,

in my previous message maybe I should have added that it could also be a new appliace bought recently and maybe you didn't notice that has an high power consumption,something like the electrical espresso maker that you leave plugged all day thinking that it's not consuming anything.
Check also the trasformer.

Marco

It seems a bit high to me - unless you have an electric water heater.
I pay around 90-140 euro every two months...but maybe because I have the minimum Kw so I can only have one thing turned one at a time.... either the dishwasher, washing machine, or oven... plus t.v. , computer, xbox (on a transformer), lights on too much of the time (damn kids)... I have an electric water heater upstairs (10 L) which I only use if some one is about to die because it is darn expensive.
The pellet stove also uses electricity.Believe it or not but my iron is also a big energy sucker!

When we lived in the U.S. we had what our local company called "equalized montly payments", using the same proceudre Diane described. It was useful for budgeting, and also when we sold our house we could let people know what our average e