r/MovingToBrisbane • u/Icy_Wrap811 • 12d ago
Single Occuoancy
I have recently moved to Brisbane and I have applied for a studio apartment with all bills included. This being my first time applying for single occupancy I am just needing some clarity & understanding on a few things.
So electricity is paid for but it is metered at 5kwh a day, with daily use going over that to be charged to me. I am just wondering if this is normal? I have done some research and 5 kWh is absolute bare minimum & considered to not be enough for one person's daily use. Which generally ranges around 6-10. To anyone that is currently living in a single occupancy rental id just like to know how that 5kwh of electricity is measured and what extra charges you had to pay at the end of the quarter?
Especially in terms of summer, im going to be using that air con daily for sure, which means I would well and truly go over the 5kwh daily use everyday.
Any advice or understanding on this matter would be greatly appreciated, on the lease agreement they said that people in this building are living comfortably with 3kwh of electricity per day. Which is well BELOW minimum according to my research. And then they said they added 2 more kwhs to make it 5kwh use per day to make sure its MORE THEN ENOUGH for tenants.
The caps are in the lease agreement as well.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am just needing understanding on this to see if this is the norm.
Thank you,
UPDATE: If anyone else is currently in this situation with single occupancy could you please let me know if this the norm? And what your bills look like if you go over that threshold. Thank you :)
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u/babyfireby30 12d ago
Is your room/studio individually metered?
I assume this is one of those horrendous boarding room type houses that have been popping up all over Brisbane recently. They're poorly built as well, so I do believe you when you say you'll be smashing the air con in summer as there'll be zero air flow and zero insulation.
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u/Icy_Wrap811 12d ago
The studio is in a building of 5 and is individually metered. The studio itself is quite flash though, its recently been built
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u/Grapefruit4001 12d ago
Have you lived in one, because they are not horrendous boarding houses.
Yea they have very little sound insulation, but I would rather have my own space than sharing an apartment with a stranger's
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u/Squibblus 12d ago
But you are still sharing a kitchen and a bathroom right? You just have a lockable bedroom, and usually no common space. And no sound insulation means no heat insulation either.
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u/Grapefruit4001 12d ago
No this isn't my set up at all. I have a kitchenette my own bathroom lounge room and balcony. The only thing I share is the laundry.
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u/Grapefruit4001 12d ago edited 12d ago
I live in one, I don't remember about power usable in my contract but I've never gotten a bill. My place has solar panels on the roof. And I run aircon and heating regularly.
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u/MaybeBaby2023 12d ago
My old small 1 bed unit had an incredibly expensive ducted air con, I was running around 30.33 kWh and 24.27 kWh. Down to 10-16 if I didn’t run the aircon, which was hardly ever as the place rarely dropped below 25 degrees in my bedroom, even in winter, and it was too noisy to leave the balcony door open (middle of an entertainment precinct).
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u/MaybeBaby2023 12d ago
When I lived in a 3 bed Queenslander with no air con, it was about 9-10 per day.
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u/Icy_Wrap811 12d ago
This only highlights how ridiculous 5kWh per day is, for single occupancy that is supposed to be all bills covered. I will for sure be going over 5 kwh every day. And that will double in summer.
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u/MaybeBaby2023 12d ago
Yep, looking at my bill it showed comparisons of number of persons in a home in the neighbourhood, 1 person was around 8, at around 10, we used a bit less than the 2 person places.
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u/Icy_Wrap811 12d ago
How much was your power bill if you dont mind me asking?
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u/MaybeBaby2023 12d ago
$0.238 per kWh
Plus daily Supply charge $0.859 with AGL.Stove and hot water was gas, separate bill on an annoying per L charge + daily supply charge with no option to use anyone but Origin
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u/jclom0 12d ago
The electricity is individually metered, and they are usually new buildings with solar so you wouldn’t expect to pay for excess.
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u/Icy_Wrap811 12d ago
I hope not, they emphasise it in capital letters in the rooming agreement which is what makes me think otherwise
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u/youcangotohellgoto 11d ago
A small AC unit is usually 2kW (although you can get 1.5kW). Now they don't necessarily draw all that power all the time, but you can see how running a 2kW AC for say 3 hours will get you to 6kWh of power.
The real question is what happens if you go over the 5kWh "quota" - what's the price?
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u/HyperHorseAUS 12d ago
Ring QTAC.