My roommate and I just received our first utility bill for our 2b/2b apartment and it seems ridiculously high for hot water usage, given that we only take short showers and our dishwasher and washing machine are only connected to cold water.
I've tried reaching out to our property management and they pointed me to the utility company, Energy Resources. They also said that we could not have access to the meters so we can't track our daily metered usage ourselves.
I've also phoned the utility company to confirm that the meter reading dates are correct, and over email to ask for photographs of the meter readings, though I kind of doubt that there was a mistake with the readings.
There are no apparent leaks that we could find within our unit so I'm worried that there's a problem elsewhere that's out of our control.
Are there any other possible sources of hot water usage within the apartment that I haven't thought of?
Also, is it normal for the cold water usage charge to include the total amount of cold water and hot water usage, in addition to there being a separate hot water usage charge?
Thanks!
Posted by pubetweezer
15 Comments
Yeah that’s definitely not making sense. as someone who’s in a 1 bedroom, you use what I would in like 6 months according to that bill…. I’d ask them to look into the meter and ensure it’s reading correctly. When I had a similar issue in my unit, Origin had to come in and turn on the hot tap and watch the meter spin irratically.
Water Utilities in Brisbane don’t charge for hot water, so is this an internal bill from your Body Corporate?
If there are actual meters installed to capture hot water usage, I suspect they’re considered private infrastructure, and you should be able to confirm the serial numbers so you can read them yourself.
If the numbers are legit, then there might be an issue with your hot water unit, or something else in your apartment that’s drawing hot water.
Your problem is that you’re on bulk hot water which is ridiculously expensive.
Also, if you use hot water at the kitchen and bathroom sinks, all of that time you’re waiting for the hot water to come though the pipes to your tap you are paying for hot water by the litre even though it’s cold. So, get in the habit of using cold water at your taps unless you’re going to fill the sink with hot water to wash up.
5-9 ltr/min in a shower, 475ltr a day, 52 shower mins/day at the top end.
Either its wrong, your flatmate takes very very long showers.
Or something is plumbed into the hot water that you were not expecting?
Dishwasher? Washing Machine? Maybe just leaving taps running a lot?
Are you in south city square? I had a similar bill spike last month and a few others in the FB group (Woolloongabba apartment living community) reported the same
You are well within your rights to demand your landlord to show proof of charges. Demand to be given a copy of the original water bill. If they fail to do so, breach them.
Something is fishy …
Your ‘cold’ water usage meter readings were 7.2k but you were charged for 26k? I mean, I can see that they added the hot and cold but look at the readings themselves .. why would hot have a higher reading than cold (other than expansion)? Charged twice?
Also, I’m looking at my latest council rates bill: My wife and I used 15 kilo litres in total … over 3 months. We also water gardens, lawns etc.
On the flipside, time your showers and report back. How often are baths?
Definitely not normal.
My last quarterly usage was just above 6k L for 5.
Either there’s a leak, faulty meter or incorrect readings.
Erc are one of the better providers even though the numbers seem very wrong. I would try again with your building manager (not property manager) to get access to the meters.
I agree with others here that this usage is way *way* above normal for 2 people. I suspect a faulty meter, or a meter that has been installed incorrectly. If the retailer and your property manager cannot (or will not) help, this would be a good case to take to the energy and water ombudsman: [https://www.ewoq.com.au/home](https://www.ewoq.com.au/home)
Probably a faulty meter. I had this happen a year or so ago, went through a bucket test with origin, found it was faulty, they put the bills on hold, then they had someone come out and replace the meter. They checked the usage at the next bill and then credited back the account based on assumed usage.
Origin support was really helpful and made it all very easy.
Hot water connected to toilet
It seems high but not outrageous. It could be a couple of things
1. Leak somewhere
2. Misread meter.
3. You’re taking 5 hour long hot showers 😉
But honestly if there’s two of you having a couple of long showers a day (10min +) then add dishwasher/kitchen sink etc – it’s totally possible you are genuinely using that much water.
First thing I’d suggest is to check your meter – if you’re not sure email your building manager/body corporate and ask where is/for a pic. If the meter reading matches the bill then maybe it’s leaking ( this is very high usage).
I know for some older buildings people come and physically read the meters so there’s always room for human error. Email the utility biller too just to be sure. They’ll usually look into it and work with the building/body corporate.
How long have you been in the unit? When I moved into one, we actually got hit with leftovers on the meter between readings.
I can’t remember if we contested or not, I think we tried, not sure.
It is illegal to refuse access to energy and water meters.
Take it up with your REA, breach them if you have to because they should be aware of the law and supporting your request to the BC.