How much in electricity would it cost to build a granny flat?

When we started building the granny flat there was already a tenant in the main house. The builder could not get the electrician in to install a separate meter before building commenced so we negotiated $200 to cover electricity and water to be reimbursed to the tenant for the usage. We thought this amount would be a fair amount but now they have received their electricity bill for over $900 and have blamed the builder for using the majority of it. The construction period was from September to now(it's still going). There are only 2 tenants so when you think about it, the bill shouldn't be so high.

We are building a basic brick veneer 80sqm granny flat on a slab. Does construction actually use that much electricity? The tradesman are hardly ever there and most of the work was done within the first 2 months and no work was done for a month from Mid December.
 
Compare bills from 12 months at least (average out the seasonal variance) and see the difference. Not in $$ terms of course but kW terms used.
 
Your perceived saving due to not separately metering the granny flat has come back to bite you. Power tools use a fair bit of power eg a brickies mixer has a 2.5 hp motor which is more than many a/c units.

Come to some agreement with the tenants based on the kw used not just the higher bill as the price of electricity has probably increased from the previous year.
 
get a new meter installed and re-imburse teh tenant the rate you will be paying (based on the first bill (pro rata the time they were building)
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I will get a meter installed and see what we can work out regarding the bill. It's a small cost in the scheme of things but I hate being taken for a ride so had to check with you guys.
 
I just got in contact with my builder. He said there's no way they would've used that much electricity as concreting was done in 1 day for the slab and the tradies use there own battery powered tools. Brickwork was done in 2 days.

Anyways you live and learn. The tenants were pretty good so no need to get them upset over this.
 
i had the exact same problem. tenant at the front lived on his own and was at work most of the time. i was with builder half of the time (to help out and save money) and most of his tools were cordless. We couldnt work it out so i just wore the cost, even though my tenant offered to pay half
 
I had a similar problem, except it was with Energy Australia.
Meters were installed but they couldn't access it for a read.

So they based the usage on when someone lived there.
The meter showed "66" of usage. But they didn't accept that.

With the tenant, I would get them to provide the bill from the same period last year. Then pay the difference. Sucks, but its probably the fairest way. They probably decided to use the dryer a bit more given they couldn't hang their clothes out with you constructing in what was once their back yard.

The positive side is that at least you had rental income coming in during this period :)
 
Thanks Nek and Paul. Yeh I've agreed to difference from their previous bill as they weren't living there the same time last year.
 
You should try to compare it against similar seasons.
No point comparing their winter bill against their summer bill.

Winter is usually higher in my opinion due to heaters, etc.
 
You should try to compare it against similar seasons.
No point comparing their winter bill against their summer bill.

Winter is usually higher in my opinion due to heaters, etc.

Yeh I know but I can't be bothered going back and forth about it. It could escalate to the tribunal and they will rule in favour of the tenant. Better to just settle the matter and then maybe increase the rent later to recoup costs :)
 
If this is going to be on going ie the work rather than the arguement, would a portable generator be the solution and you pay the petrol etc?
 
No it won't be ongoing. The granny flat will be finished soon but a separate meter is the best option here as we would need to install it anyway when we rent it out.
 
Have you checked the meter read was accurate? I have had Energy Australia read our meter incorrectly on two separate occasions, one time resulted in a bill that was approx $200 dearer than it should have been.
 
Have you checked the meter read was accurate? I have had Energy Australia read our meter incorrectly on two separate occasions, one time resulted in a bill that was approx $200 dearer than it should have been.

Thanks for the tip! I will get it checked.
 
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