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Help - DEWA bill !!!

4

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 26 June 2011 - 14:55

Hi all could really do with some advice just got first month DEWA bill is over 2000 dhs for a two bed in the palm! Where am I going wrong? Could they have got it wrong?? What do other people pay per month for DEWA? Help!!

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92

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 29 June 2011 - 22:27

Does anyone live in a Garden Home on the Palm? My bills were around 300 per monnth inc housing fee which I was shocked at but last months bill was 5500 dhs!!!! I havent changed anything so dont understand why the sudden rise. Anyone else got anything I can compare to? PS. It is just my husband and I and the housemaid and we are rarely here so not like we have 5 ppl filling bath tubs every night or all the lights on in every room etc. I feel utterly disgusted by the DEWA bills and was told 2000 dhs was average for a Garden Home

17

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 21:48

I wrote to DEWA yesterday because my bill has TREBLED in one month! I've been told to consult a private technician before calling them to send one of their techncians over to have a look. Any recommendations on how to go about finding one?

139

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 20:03

For those on the Palm, either in a villa or apartment, do you own or rent? edited by Crystil on 27/06/2011 "Normal" for these villas perhaps, but not [u'>normal[/u'> surely?! I've never been in a Palm villa...are they massive? . Suze63 got it right, they are pretty big 6 bedroom houses (then a maid and drivers room) plus lots of windows, swimming pool, and a garden to water AND a multiplication factor on the DEWA bill for consumption... We are only 2 people in the house, but i DO need the a/c on at least half the day to stay comfortable. Crazy house... cant wait to move! (counting the days...)

17

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 19:55

I wrote to DEWA yesterday because my bill has TREBLED in one month! I've been told to consult a private technician before calling them to send one of their techncians over to have a look. Any recommendations on how to go about finding one?

1617

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 17:57

A couple of points...the villas on the Palm are large and completely open plan downstairs, with a large staircase and open area at the top. There is district cooling and private pools so the bills being mentioned here don't sound that outlandish; some friends of mine are paying more for their six bed. The cost of bills here is still WAY (capitals to emphasise rather than shout) less than I was paying in London. The coating on the window (not sure whether what we have is Laming or not) is brilliant; it isn't just about blocking light but it also reflect it. Our 4 bed (quite open plan villa) is between 300 to 1200 for DEWA and I'm sure a great deal of the coolness is down to that as we are not big users of aircon (don't use it at night while we're sleeping for example).

2340

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 17:21

For those on the Palm, either in a villa or apartment, do you own or rent? edited by Crystil on 27/06/2011 I own my signature villa, and i have to pay all my own bills (up to 8000dhms each summer month) company pays nothing.... Also, we have checked with DEWA both in person at their office, over the phone, etc... and all of them say that what we pay is "normal" i also have asked all my neighbors here on the Palm, and they too pay upwards of 8000 per summer month! edited by tdale on 28/06/2011 "Normal" for these villas perhaps, but not [u'>normal[/u'> surely?! I've never been in a Palm villa...are they massive? Enormous areas to cool? massive areas of glass letting the heat in? Private pools needing constant top ups?? I just can't imagine why the bills are so high. Are they on district cooling? and does that really make such a massive difference? Why is it that big villas in other developments pay up to 2K and you guys are paying 8K? Yikes tdale, I think I'd insist on more than "That's normal maaaaaaam," from DEWA.

139

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 14:10

For those on the Palm, either in a villa or apartment, do you own or rent? edited by Crystil on 27/06/2011 I own my signature villa, and i have to pay all my own bills (up to 8000dhms each summer month) company pays nothing.... Also, we have checked with DEWA both in person at their office, over the phone, etc... and all of them say that what we pay is "normal" i also have asked all my neighbors here on the Palm, and they too pay upwards of 8000 per summer month! <em>edited by tdale on 28/06/2011</em>

1238

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 13:28

There was an article recently which said that in the US, one of the biggest expenses is the cable box. Most people leave it running all the time, even when not watching tv. But it uses a surprising amount of electricity. I'm reading all this stuff because for my 5-bed in the Meadows, DEWA is now $1000 USD a month. Equivalent to my sister's rent in the US. And I'm definitely taking drlv's advice!

8

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 12:32

Having had a couple of (very costly!) experiences with DEWA bills, I have developed an obsession with checking our water and electricity meters. I check them every day and write down the numbers. DH and I live in a 3 bedroom villa, and both work. So consumption is limited to evening A/Cs and standard water usage (showers, washing), plus watering the garden twice per day for 4 minutes. In summer, our DEWA bill never goes above Dhs 700 (I'm not including the housing fee). In winter it is in the Dhs 300-400 range. Dhs 2000 for a 2 bedroom apartment is abnormal and means there is definitely a water leak somewhere or you have a device plugged in which is sucking up electricity. (I have friends whose gardener turned on their swimming pool heater - without them knowing - and they nearly fainted when they got their DEWA bill. It took a week to figure out where the problem was!). If you are in a villa, it is most likely a leak in your water tank (or tanks, if you also have one for the garden), or in the pipes leading in to/out of the tanks. It is very rarely inside the house itself - and you would be able to tell anyway (bubbly/mouldy walls). I would recommend turning off everything in the house/apartment and then checking your meters. If they are still spinning, you have a problem :( It could be a faulty meter too, but in my experience, in 99% of cases, it is not. I have used Emrill in the past to fix some of the problems, but recently I have switched to Jim Will Fix It. They really know what they are talking about! They fixed my last major water problem for the cost of a call out (found the water leak in my garden tank in about 5 minutes flat!), while Emrill gave me a quote to dig up my whole garage and change various pipes, etc. on the tank which didn't have a leak in the first place! Good luck, Leedsy. I hope you find the source of the leak soon!

2362

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 11:27

my one bed in downtown has never been more than 100 dh a month - winter, summer.....

4

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 09:48

Thanks ladies for all your info - have contacted DEWA and apparantely 1850 of the bill is water!! Am trying to work out how that can be in a 2 bed with no garden oh well will keep researching!

743

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 07:33

I've tried turning everything off and keeping on the rare things on and our bill is still around 2000 for Waha

210

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 June 2011 - 01:35

As have mentioned before ... 3 bed villa at AR with pool but no green stuff needing irrigation. Only the two of us. Yes, DEWA bills have increased dramatically since we arrived in mid 2005 but including housing fee of approx 550dhs/month we've yet to have a bill (so far) of over 2000dhs, even in the summer. As there are only the two of us the two spare bedrooms and spare bathroom A/C is set at 28c, the dining room and lounge A/C set at 28c, and the family room, kitchen, and our bedroom set at 26c. As we spend pretty much all of our time in the kitchen/family room we've bought a floor mounted fan which gets turned on first thing in the am and is turned off by whichever of us is last to go to bed so it could be on from around 6am - 2pm and we also have the family room door onto the outside terrace cracked open at least 6 inches all the time to try and get some fresh air into the house.

504

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 23:09

thanks wuffles, thought I should search and was too lazy!

1996

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 23:05

How delightful of you to comment. The original post was about DEWA bills and the jump in price from month to month. In regards to Air conditioning - it's not about how much we have it ON, but how it costs us more even if we use it less due to the way it works in relation to outside temperature. Therefore blocking heat is the best way to reduce heat and save money. I think you were still rather stating the obvious...... Are you connected with Lamings window film? it is odd to send people to a website relating to a particular (brand of a) product without even mentioning the product in the post - you are recommending window film, then? presumably shutting curtains/blinds would be a cheaper option particularly for those who are renting?? Presumably yes given the posters many past posts recommending the same company....

504

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 22:58

How delightful of you to comment. The original post was about DEWA bills and the jump in price from month to month. In regards to Air conditioning - it's not about how much we have it ON, but how it costs us more even if we use it less due to the way it works in relation to outside temperature. Therefore blocking heat is the best way to reduce heat and save money. I think you were still rather stating the obvious...... Are you connected with Lamings window film? it is odd to send people to a website relating to a particular (brand of a) product without even mentioning the product in the post - you are recommending window film, then? presumably shutting curtains/blinds would be a cheaper option particularly for those who are renting??

51

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 21:31

We rent our property.Have lived in it for two years and have seen the bl**dy DEWA bill gradually go up!! We moved here due to my hubby's work and we did not think to ask about putting the bills into his contract as stupid us did not consider for one minute we would be paying out the equivilent to what we would be paying a mortgage back home!! The kids(all 4 of them) love living here on the Palm as do I and DH. But we can not justify throwing money down the drain each month. ;)

5400

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 21:23

DEWA bills being paid by the co would be great and how wonderful it would be to have school fees paid by the co also :) No such luck :) You will see us gone before the end of our anticipated 3 years here, at the rate things are going, and dorter's education will be even more of a mess as a result. (Do y'see, I'm supposedly bilingual and have totally got French and English constructions confused here?)

379

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 21:20

For those on the Palm, either in a villa or apartment, do you own or rent? <em>edited by Crystil on 27/06/2011</em>

2958

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 21:18

Do those of you who pay these amounts - 6/7/8000 etc pay this yourself ? ( ie as opposed to your company paying).. Yes we pay all our own bills. I think many people do now - it's not like it used to be where so many companies picked up all the utility bills.

Anonymous (not verified)

0

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 21:10

Am another one who lives in a villa on the Palm and our DEWA bill is about 8000 each month too!!! Told hubby that as much as i love our home,i think it will be time to look elsewhere to live when our tenancy ends.(We pay,not DH's compnay) :( that's more than my monthly rent!!

5400

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 20:51

Am another one who lives in a villa on the Palm and our DEWA bill is about 8000 each month too!!! Told hubby that as much as i love our home,i think it will be time to look elsewhere to live when our tenancy ends.(We pay,not DH's compnay) :( That's outrageous, Purple31 :( I haven't checked this month's DEWA bill but I'm dreading it. Last month was double the previous one, anyway and I'm expecting worse this time - I wouldn't be surprised if it was 4000, which is terrible, considering we started on 800 including housing fee..

51

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 20:42

Am another one who lives in a villa on the Palm and our DEWA bill is about 8000 each month too!!! Told hubby that as much as i love our home,i think it will be time to look elsewhere to live when our tenancy ends.(We pay,not DH's compnay) :(

spongemonkey980

4329

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 20:11

Do those of you who pay these amounts - 6/7/8000 etc pay this yourself ? ( ie as opposed to your company paying)..

2

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 20:01

Its summer time. I live in 2 bed room villa in Mirdif & Dewa bill for last month was 2600 Dh ! we checked and there was no mistake. they said its the cooling system

Pomegranate35436

867

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 19:52

Let's keep this real; these prices of 5, 6, 7, 8,000 dhs per month (US$2,200) for necessities in life, water and electricity, for an average home and family are absolutely INSANE and a scandal!!!! (Not a dig at the poor people that have to pay it, just at the rip-off prices in this country)

dorisdaydream44311

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 19:42

Hi. It is due to the summer and the fact that more heat is inside your villa which means if you have your AC on 21/22 it is working much harder to keep it at that temperature than during the winter. [url=www.energysaving.ae'>www.energysaving.ae[/url'> is a website that can help reduce the heat and therefore bills. No S**t Sherlock. I didnt know that summer was here and that we need the a/c on in our villas more than we would in the winter. Talk about stating the obvious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely everyone living in Dubai knows this already and they dont need to be reminded of how hot it is!!!!

Sugarbeach23383

1566

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 19:41

Yup- im also on the Palm and pay about 8000dhms a month in the summer! Wow......My Empower AND Dewa combined at the most (i.e. the month when the quarterly charge is billed for Empower), so far comes to about 2300 for a 4 BR apartment. <em>edited by Sugarbeach on 27/06/2011</em>

139

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 19:38

Yup- im also on the Palm and pay about 8000dhms a month in the summer!

2

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 27 June 2011 - 19:33

I agree, I think most of it is to do with the district cooling. I have a villa in Jumeira 1 and my bill was AED 2300 this month. Upon closer inspection I noticed a fuel surcharge on both my water and electricity that added AED 500 to the bill. Check to see if you have this, and also housing fees?

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