What is a typical utility bill in your suited house?

[ROI]

I recently bought my first suited house in Edmonton and found that I underestimated the utility bill. I included the utility in the rent with average budget $400 per month, but the average bill was about $600.



The details from last month:

Electricity : $160

Water and wastewater treatment: $231

Drainage: $78

Waste service: $45

Gas: 60

Total: $576



I have no doubt in the winter it will run up to $800. Each suite has 4 people. I am not sure if that's a typical usage.



How much you budget for the utility(heat, electricity, water including drainage and water treatment) for a suited up/down house?

What is the strategy I can use to increase the rent to cover the utility bill?



Thanks.

 

[Dan Golby]

I posed a similar question when I bought my rental and got some good responses. Here is a link to my post:

http://myreinspace.com/public_forums/f/62/t/23943.aspx



Most people recommended splitting the utilities between the tenants (personally I think 60% upstairs 40% down would be best).....having said that I was too dumb to take all the good advice and rent out the units with utilities included

My wife who takes care of paperwork didn't want to have to chase down the tenants every month for utility payments so we just increased the rent to cover the expenses. The other big thing we do is limit the number of people living in the house. The upstairs has a woman and her 5 year old son, and the downstairs has 2 working men that both only live there for 3 weeks per month.



So far our utility bills average about $450 (I think worst month was $600). Going forward we will likely try and write our new leases so that tenants pay (wife isn't pregnant now so it doesn't seem like such a hassle) or keep the number of people to as few as possible. Luckily our rents are $500 higher than we planned on when we bought the house and we will be raising them on the next vacancy as well so it hasn't hurt our budget any, but I HATE when people are wasteful with utilities.



Hope this helps.

 

[kfort]

If you do inclusive utilities you can always cap it at $xxx.xx however that still leaves you with the problem of collecting the remainder from the tenants. When you buy a place, providers should be able to tell you the average for the previous year. You can also charge say $1,000 for rent and if there are more than 3 persons living there bump it to $1,100 to cover added utilities etc. (like hotels do for increased occupancy)



Edit:

go put low flow shower heads, taps etc in if you haven't. And go check flapper valves and all taps for leaks. Drop some red dye in the tank of the toilet, if bowl turns red 5 min later replace the flapper. And turn the hot water tank down a touch, no need to have it blazing hot just don't have it luke warm. Use cfl bulbs too. all of them. don't put halogen fixtures in because they are "nice looking" without adding a $4 dimmer switch too at least. Or, just don't put in fixtures that take 13 -50W halogens to start with! (made that mistake)

 

[DaveL]

I have 3 suited houses in Edmonton. I just quickly reviewed my utilities for your for the last year. I simply totaled and divided by 3 for simplicity. I averaged $340 per month and this includes Winter. My houses are newer in that my oldest house was built in 1999 so my properties may be more efficient. I have Gas and electric baseboards in the basement.



Who are you using for your Utilities? This makes such a difference!

 

[Sherilynn]

Our gas bills range from $58 to $170 and our electricity bills range from $170 to $350. Total utilities average out to $352/month for each property. These are all older homes with upgraded attic insulation and new furnaces and HWTs. Upgrading your attic insulation doesn't cost much if all they need to do is blow in some cellulose (about $1200 perhaps) and it can make a HUGE difference to expenses and to the residents' comfort. Try calling Insulation Police.



Another difference is that we would never allow 8 people in our properties. I was told that there is an Edmonton bylaw which limits the number of unrelated people in a single family dwelling or suited property to 5. I think that is a good number for a house. Any more and it is a strain on the systems.



Also, I have utilities on a separate addendum to the lease rather than including utilities with the rent. I tell people before they even sign the lease that we will start out with $xxx each month and will adjust it, if required. I never discuss or commit to a % split because that should also be subject to change. (For instance, you may have 4 up and 4 down this month, but next month you may only have a single person in the lower suite.)



I agree with the water saving measures. Best Plumbing has a fantastic low-flow shower head that feels like a regular one. And some low-flow toilets are great too. Just check the rating on those because there is a drastic difference in the amount of solid waste that can be flushed by different brands.

 

[ROI]

Thanks for all above comments. They are very helpful.



[quote user=Sherilynn]Our gas bills range from $58 to $170 and our electricity bills range from $170 to $350. Total utilities average out to $352/month for each property. These are all older homes with upgraded attic insulation and new furnaces and

HWTs.



Sherilynn, I noticed that you just mentioned gas and electricity bill, so you just exclude water/drainage/waste and tenants pay it? I agree that eight people in the house might had a big impact on the bill.



Regarding the attic insulation, it is wood chip. Do we have to remove the wood chip first to replace it with cellulose insulation? I am not sure if it is good idea to just blow in cellulose on top of the wood chips, which is likely cost effective.

 

[Sherilynn]

Water, sewer, and drainage is part of the Epcor bill. I guess I should have said "Epcor" rather than "electricity."



Wood chip insulation is probably going to be pretty crappy. It probably had an R20 to start with, and it hasn't been used for many years, so the current R value is probably 10. You may be able to blow cellulose on top, depending on the pitch of your roof. Insulation Police should give you a fair evaluation of your situation.



In our personal residence, we have a very low pitch and there was no room to blow insulation on top, so we had to have the wood chips vacuumed and then replaced with cellulose. Vacuuming costs a lot more than just blowing in, so our total bill was about $4500. TOTALLY worth the price! Our ensuite had been 13 degrees in the winter and 38 in the summer, and after the new insulation we sit at a reasonably consistent temperature.



However, for your bills to date, I would say that water is a big issue. Look at the showerheads and toilets, and perhaps the washer and dryer.



Any upgrades cost money, but consider the savings in the long term.

 

[Sherilynn]

Further to the insulation, it really can increase tenant comfort, especially in suited homes.



In one of our suited properties, the lower suite was cooking hot because the furnace ran all the time. The upper suite was freezing because all of the heat escaped through the ceiling. Once the insulation was upgraded, everyone was happier.



Sometimes the money invested in upgrades is about tenant satisfaction (which saves/earns more money in the long run) and not merely about today's bottom line.