Hydro?????

[patvetzal]

Line052 and if that stream has some flow and drop you stick in a micro generator.

When I started in the hydro bussiness it was a government service that worked on a break even principal with all people able to "live better electrically". Starting next year we will be subsidizing the natural gas customers so they can have energy audits which result in grants so they increase insulation, replace furnaces etc....
Our bill for two country houses on the same meter, 4-5 people total has been running $500/winter month for the past two years. Our electric water heaters are preheated by the furnaces and locked off during peak billing hours.

[terrym]

The buy in costs many times make converting not $$ feasible. I have a buddy who is running a diesel pickup because of better mileage. He doesn't really tow or work it hard at all. He flips the vehicle every 3 years and never actually saves a dime on fuel/gas costs when you factor in the extra cost of the diesel option. Right now fuel is relatively cheap but can you guarantee that will always be the case? if it rises your break point in savings will be uncontrollable or predictable. Yhen again once this government sells off Hydro we will have no say or control on that either.

[Fox]

The key is to multi-source systems.

If you heat with gas primarily but then have a wood system in your house and electric space heaters you can heat with whatever is cheaper. You can do the same with your cooking, run your propane BBQ when you want to eat before 7pm and use toaster ovens when cooking for a small group, cook more than you need and utilize cool foods for lunches. You can always dry with a clothes line, even in the winter time (winter is actually better as the humidity is so low).

There are tons of methods, we have 30 bags of wood pellets in the basement at the moment but with propane at 60 cents a liter it makes more sense to burn that and safe the wood pellet for if and when there is a propane shortage.

Lots of options to use cheaper fuels but life can be more complicated doing so.

[Wahoo]

Well cancel my trips.... I just opened my hydro bill $514.!!!! 2 years ago it was $186 More than double, nothing has changed. Anyone else have this shock????

And to think of the mild winter we've had!

Using the online tools that hydro has, I can see that we are one of the lowest consumers in our neighbourhood. Some are using twice the amount that we are. Couple that with the time of use and it can get expensive.

Does your utility have similar tools where you can graph and compare utility use?

[patvetzal]

Our utility company will not let us see our neighbour's bill because of "privacy issues". We just have to take their word that the average household pays under $100 and we are using more than we have to.
I did some work for Hamilton PUC back in the eighties on the Art Gallery heating system. They could switch back and forth between energy sources on a daily basis, depending on which was cheaper. At the time hydro was often cheapest.

[poltrojan]

sitting in the dark. using the fireplace. one bulb at a time. :/ I see communist times ahead; and I mean the poor ones.

[B Wilson]

My annual hydro costs $ 3800 . Natural gas is not available, so to heat the place it's either propane, oil or electricity. 2 years ago I replaced an electric forced air furnace with a new Mitsubishi Zuba heat pump and new air handler with 10 KW heat strips that engage 5 KW at a time if the heat pump can't keep up. Last winter the back up heat was only used for 2 days.

my neighbors heat with propane, his propane and hydro bills added up to $ 4100 last year

i have only heard of headaches from people heating with oil. ( insurance issues, tank replacements, swinging prices)

i agree that if you are able to consume low amounts of hydro monthly generating your own electricity is not ecomical.
but in my situation, It's getting very close to be cheaper to disconnect from the grid.

its slightly infuriating to read in the news that liberals are going to spend over 100 million to help natural gas consumers reduce their heating bills. I would rather see infrastructure spending / grant money to enbridge and union gas to expand their distribution systems to more rural areas.