Ducted Gas Heating Bill

[whatwasithinking]

I'm just wanting to know who has ducted gas heating here in Canberra?

We did have inslab flooring heating but after getting quarterly bills of $1500-1800 each time we decided that there has to be a cheaper way (when we moved here we were told that inslab was the cheapest ppfft yeah right) we decided to fork out $5000+ to get ducted gas heating (and had to get gas connected for the privialege).

Anyway we get out bill yesterday and for the Jun-Sept quarter it was $1039. We were told by the installer that it would be only around $600. Are we gullible or what?

I rang ACTUAGL and they said that that was a normal size amount bill. I asked a friend and her's is $800 and she is home every day (we worked fulltime so noone is home during the day and we have it temparature controlled and timered).

So what is your average? What can I do ie how do I take this further as I'm not really convinced this is right.

Thanks everyone.

[Mrs Potts]

Honestly, I wouldn't think there is anything you can do. Our winter bill is between $800-900, and always has been. I have several friends whose winter bills are around $1000.

Insulation can make a big difference to how efficient your system is. We are lucky that we have decent insulation, even though it's old, so our heating is reasonably efficient.

Also the temperature you have it set on can make a big difference. Turning it down by even 1 degree can save a lot of $. Ours is never any higher than 20.

I've never heard of anyone with a winter bill as low as $600. Regardless, IMO, the installer has no liability here.

[dm22]

whatwasithinking- ive never had a bill that big. Ever! I think my DH would make me freeze and add more layers of clothing if it was. We aim for a winter bill of around $600. If im ever curious i call the company and give them a reading off our meter and they give me an estimate at where we are at. We never have it on for more than 3 hours in a morning and 3 hours in the afternoon no matter what type of heating we have (unless we have forgotten to turn it off which does happen on the odd occasion).

[sunnymummy]

That does seem high but I know how cold Canberra is!!!
I think insulation is your best bet. Double glazed windows, heavy curtains, door snakes, closing doors to unused rooms, an extra jumper and extra blankets will all make a BIG difference.
If you are having trouble paying such a big bill, you should contact your supplier and get them to take it weekly or fortnightly (depending when you get paid) so you don't have to come up with a huge amount of cash at once.
Good luck

[candiee]

we just got our bill too, we have in floor ducted gas too and our was $1040, biggest bill we have ever had, this is our first winter in this house too, but we did use it all the time as kids were always sick etc.
its unbelievable i would of thought being gas it would of been cheaper :confused:

glad the warmer weather is here (well almost) and don't need it as much now.

[sandy cheeks]

Yes ducted is way more $$$ I got my bill for the quarter 1/4 more than normal and I keep it at 19 max

[mummybunny]

We've just paid our gas bill and our electricity as well and all up for both we paid $900 and that with out heating on ALL the time!

we have a split system in the main room and ducted gas threw out the rest of the house, we leave the split system on all the time and put the gas on if we are using the whole house or want to really warm up..

we do have less to heat being that all rooms are off the main room but to be honest before we had the split system we were getting $1200 gas bills over winter, this year it was $500 and the electricity was $400 so we still paid more then we would like to on gas but we cut it by more then half just by using the split system more then the gas and we also didnt raise our electricity by much either...

[Lahri]

We have ducted central heating and just received a rather large electricity bill $780 ish we are assuming that it covers our heating being as we haven't had a gas bill since moving in. How regularly do they come? We have lived here since May.

please don't tell me we are about to receive another huge bill!!!!

[candiee]

Jenna, you get gas and electricity quarterly, so every 3months.

[mummy2lilly]

we have ducted heating but im not in canberra and our winter bill is only 300.00 and we have it going 24.7...

[Zada]

im in vic but our bill was $260 and its on 21 deg 24/7