714 replies to this topic

[nerka]

$800 off a $20,000 bill is not likely to motivate many folks.

There are additional subsidies so you can probably get more that $1500 off. Given that the offer is for ductless heat pumps (to replace baseboards) the price tag would be way less than $20 K installed. So it might well motivate some folks.

[tjv]

If you don't have natural gas, then electric heat pump is already your cheapest "fuel" for heating in southern BC. There is no good argument to subsidize something that is already the cheapest option. Subsidize the install by all means as that is an expensive obstacle for some people.

not sure that is the case with how cheap natural gas is.  The point being made is my heating options are oil or electricity, I don't have access to natural gas on my street and for that I am being penalized.  That is unless the government wants people to install heavy polluting wood stoves and oil furnaces?

 

Maybe I should take the stance that my heavy use of electricity along with everyone else with heat pumps at Tier 2 rates is subsidizing all the people who only keep in Tier 1 rates

[sebberry]

There are additional subsidies so you can probably get more that $1500 off. Given that the offer is for ductless heat pumps (to replace baseboards) the price tag would be way less than $20 K installed. So it might well motivate some folks.

 

If I wanted to install a 2 head ductless system in my place I'd be looking a $10k.  We're way overcharged up here.  A comparable system would be roughly half that in the US.

[LeoVictoria]

If I wanted to install a 2 head ductless system in my place I'd be looking a $10k. We're way overcharged up here. A comparable system would be roughly half that in the US.

Yeah it’s insane. Going to try to do the install myself on a single head unit this summer. The hardware is actually not expensive. Looking at about $1500 all in.

[Mike K.]

My friend installed a ductless heat pump at his home and it cut his bill, for sure.

[sebberry]

I haven't had the baseboard heater on in the living room once this winter.  A space heater worked fine for me.  It's the summer cooling that's a nightmare.  I'd need a dual-head 8k and 14k btu unit to cool my condo down in the summer. 

[Bob Fugger]

Stately Fugger Manor - a rambling Craftsman home - underwent extensive renovations in 2016-18 (it may one day end...), including lowering and finishing the basement, and replacing the baseboard heat with an electric heat pump and natural gas furnace backup.  The exterior walls of the main and upper floors were insulated about eight years ago, but even still, the average winter bill had crept up to the $500 range.  The home was always kept colder than normal.

 

The first winter bill, post renovation?  Keep in mind, we are essentially now heating nearly double the space and I ran everything around 20-21 degrees all day (no dropping off while we were out, which we came to understand is actually detrimental to a system like this: $101.36.

 

Except in the coldest days of winter, the main floor stays at about 19.5 degrees without much intervention of the heating system.  Finishing the basement made a HUGE difference, on top of the heating system.  Now, my gas bill has crept up, but that's mostly from switching from electric to gas cooking appliances - but nowhere near the rate at which Hydro has shot up.  It's amazing what kind of energy savings several hundred thousand dollars will effect! 

[tjv]

^your average winter bill is that $500 for 2 months or 1 month all in for electric?

[Bob Fugger]

For two months, so $250 p/m.

[tjv]

I think that's pretty good

[Sparky]

BC Hydro has always had some wacky billing tactics. This may be different for other customers, but we have been receiving bills after the first of the month with "due dates" that are due before the first of the next month.

Our household typically pays all of our bills on the first of the month, so in effect we have always paid our hydro bill after the due date. There has never been a late charge ......until now.

Our most current bill (which is marked with a due date of today) includes a late payment charge because we were late (as usual) paying the last bill by a week.

Anyone else get a late charge on their current bill?

[LeoVictoria]

BC Hydro has always had some wacky billing tactics. This may be different for other customers, but we have been receiving bills after the first of the month with "due dates" that are due before the first of the next month.

Our household typically pays all of our bills on the first of the month, so in effect we have always paid our hydro bill after the due date. There has never been a late charge ......until now.

Our most current bill (which is marked with a due date of today) includes a late payment charge because we were late (as usual) paying the last bill by a week.

Anyone else get a late charge on their current bill?

No. Why don’t you just do automatic payments?

Edited by LeoVictoria, 23 July 2018 - 07:09 PM.

[Sparky]

^ Old school practices I guess. It's not about the paying, it's about the short and untimely period that they provide in order to process the payment.

 

I make automatic payments for Netflix because it's always the same... but I like to review my hydro bill and see what my usage is and how it compares to last year etc. 

 

I am going to ask them if they changed their policies and report back.

[sdwright.vic]

I divide all my bills in half and pay half each payday. They are all even "paid" before the billing cycle.

Things are never late then, and my amount going out each pay is exactly the same.

[lanforod]

^ Seems like way too much work for little benefit. Also, how is your amount going out each pay exactly the same when the bill varies (I know it doesn't HAVE to for BC Hydro, but it does for a lot of other things).

[sdwright.vic]

^ I have level billing with BC Hydro. Same amount every month for a year.

As for time, it's all set up as auto bill payments through my bank. All the money moves as soon as the cheque goes in (to bills, investments and savings) and my chequing account is left with my budgeted "me" money.

Credit cards are paid as used with the "me" money once a week so I get my points.

Edited by sdwright.vic, 24 July 2018 - 10:42 AM.

[lanforod]

Why pay more often than you have to?

[sdwright.vic]

Its keeps my budget the same from pay to pay. I don't have a large number of bills coming out of just one cheque. Its spread out evenly across all plays, which means my budget is a flat line with no dips or spikes.

[tjv]

I was late by a few days earlier this year and didn't get an interest charge.

 

I always pay BC Hydro with my Canadian Tire Mastercard so I get money back, around $25 to $30 a year.

[Mike K.]

It looks like we might have our very own Ontario energy debacle. A scathing report was released yesterday outlining political interference and bad energy deals forced upon Hydro that will cost ratepayers $200 per year, or $4,000 over the span of a 20-year indepdent power production contract that guarantees set rates for run-of-river and alternative energy supplies.

But it wasn’t just the Liberals who are to blame for the bad deals, the NDP were also involved in what the report describes as the worst performer of the IPP schemes.

The report presents a discouraging analysis of wind and solar power, arguing they are not all that economic in B.C.

At the same time he is critical of the decision to mothball Burrard Thermal, the natural gas-fired generating station that was a controversial source of emissions in the Tri-Cities area.

- https://vancouversun...ng-interference