Electricity bill amongst flatmates

LJ0123

Hi

Im hoping someone can give some advice on this.

My partner and I have been living in a shared apartment for the past year. Recently one of the other couples moved out and a new couple moved in. The new electricity bill is due to arrive soon and we are expecting it to be at the very least double our usual bill. We have electric heaters in the apartment and they are on all of the time whether someone is home or not. We have always used the washing machine during the night because of the tariff we have. The new couple have it on consecutive days running from afternoon to night at maximum temperature. We have tried to talk to them about this and explained that we are all sharing the bill but they just ignore this and are actually very arrogant that they will do whatever they want. It has always been “the procedure” that we split the bill equally. But from our point of view, we think it is unfair that we should have to pay more when our usage hasn’t changed and every bill from the past year has been roughly the same amount. And I don’t think there is a cat in hells chance that they would pay any extra off their own back. Is there anything we can do about this?

Calahonda52

who owns the apt?
whose name is the bill in?

Splitting the bill equally is traditional - if you want control of your bill get your own place.

Having heaters on non stop sounds very inefficient.

LJ0123

Calahonda52 wrote: »

who owns the apt?
whose name is the bill in?

We have a landlord who lives out of the property. The bill is in the other couples name (a third couple) but initially no one was willing to put their name to it because they don’t want to be stuck with a large unpaid bill!

LJ0123

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Splitting the bill equally is traditional - if you want control of your bill get your own place.

Having heaters on non stop sounds very inefficient.

This is exactly my point. We have never really used them but now they are on full all the time.

And I understand about this being traditional, that’s why I wanted some advice. We are already looking at other places. But we have been here for a year, it is safe and accessible for both of us for work. We live in Dublin so it is expensive to rent a whole apartment on our own. Sometimes you can’t avoid sharing. Surely there should be some responsibility to not run up a huge bill when it is shared amongst other tenants.

fAzI

LJ0123 wrote: »

Hi

Im hoping someone can give some advice on this.

My partner and I have been living in a shared apartment for the past year. Recently one of the other couples moved out and a new couple moved in. The new electricity bill is due to arrive soon and we are expecting it to be at the very least double our usual bill. We have electric heaters in the apartment and they are on all of the time whether someone is home or not. We have always used the washing machine during the night because of the tariff we have. The new couple have it on consecutive days running from afternoon to night at maximum temperature. We have tried to talk to them about this and explained that we are all sharing the bill but they just ignore this and are actually very arrogant that they will do whatever they want. It has always been “the procedure” that we split the bill equally. But from our point of view, we think it is unfair that we should have to pay more when our usage hasn’t changed and every bill from the past year has been roughly the same amount. And I don’t think there is a cat in hells chance that they would pay any extra off their own back. Is there anything we can do about this?

Move out and live alone

fran38

I'd take it up to with the landlord. He might be able to talk to the new couple in terms of cutting back their usage of the washing machine. Failing that, you might need to 'take it on the chin' in terms of going 50/50 with the bill but make it crystal clear to the couple that things need to change before the next bill falls on your hallway floor.

Richmond Ultra

Get a pre paid meter, you'll soon see them cut back on the heaters. I know a few landlords did that to settle disputes.

xOxSinéadxOx

I think bills are usually estimated. There won't be an increase in the bills unless you provide a meter reading to your service provider.

Get somewhere on your own? :rolleyes: What utter **** talk in this day and age and just trying to look the smart lad.

“Tradition” doesn’t really come into this OP, you’ll have to take it out of their hands altogether. The meter worked be an idea but be prepared for a standoff and days with no power for that one.

dubrov

Why not show previous bills and suggest the difference is due to their increased use of heating? Offer to pay the same amount as previous bills.

If the new tenants aren't happy, tell them to reduce their heating use

What do the third couple say?

Irish_peppa

I have lodgers and have had similar before but I just have allways divided equally . Yes I have had people that would buy a small heater and leave it on while leaving the bedroom window open. I have seen people put a pair of bed sheets in the dryer for 2 hours during that heat wave a few years back. I wouldnt like the aggro factor in calling people out. Your gonna get people prone to being very wasteful maybe from their upbringing. I tried for 6 months a bills included set up with my lodgers rent and my electricity bills nearly doubled. The electric heaters were just left on. Washer/ dryer running every other day. Immersion button every time i looked was left on. lol never again. Its swings and round abouts.

fran38

fran38 wrote: »

I'd take it up to with the landlord. He might be able to talk to the new couple in terms of cutting back their usage of the washing machine.

If a landlord walks into an apartment and tells a tenant what he can and can't do with a washing machine he's already getting billed for, said landlord will be looking for a new tenant every week of the year.

OP, sorry to sound rude about it but there's no point in wasting your time with small talk - you either pony up or suck it up! If you can't afford your own place then sorry to hear it, but sorry isn't going to put butter on your toast as they say.

Leaving electric heaters on when not at home is downright irresponsible, but what do you want to do? The road you're going down ends with people measuring toilet paper, standing next to the kettle with a stopwatch when you make a cup of tea, demanding to know "is that my salt" when you make chips, and so on.

Been there, not worth it, so either get a smaller cheaper place if you can or else put up with other people doing crap you don't like.

LJ0123

Thanks for the input everyone, it’s useful to see opinions other than me and my partner!

The third couple think the same as us, can see excessive and wasteful usage. But they haven’t been in the apartment long themselves so won’t know any different when the new bill comes.

I completely get that people have to live. I wouldn’t go around monitoring what people are using. But common sense and a bit of consideration should come into it. And it’s the fact there is zero negotiation on it because the guy, despite only being here for a month or so, becomes argumentative bordering on aggressive over anything being said. So we are basically not even mentioning it now.

Well, let’s see when the bill comes in I guess!