"Utility bill" around 250 rubles. Minsk resident talks about living in an electric house
In Minsk, on Hrushauskaya street, there is an unusual house - without central heating and hot water. Instead of familiar pipes, each apartment has its own electric boiler and water heater, writes aif.by.
An electric house is a building where heat and hot water are generated by individual boilers and water heaters located in each apartment. Either dry convector or individual water heating is used.
Katsiaryna's family of five has been living for almost three years in an apartment of 90 square meters in an electric house on Hrushauskaya street in Minsk. Previously, the family lived in a "Stalinka" (Stalin-era building).
A special technical room is allocated for bulky equipment in the apartment, which houses an electric boiler and a 200-liter water heater.
According to Katsiaryna, living in an electric house in the off-season has many advantages: "I remember rainy days when laundry dried in the apartment for a week. I just turned on the heating, and everything was dry by evening. We live like in a country house - warm, cozy. Our children even run barefoot and in shorts during frosts."
What about the "utility bill"? Two electricity meters are installed in the apartments.
The first meter records household consumption (lighting, all appliances - from a coffee machine to an oven). The second meter records expenses for heating and water heating. A preferential tariff is applied here - about 5 kopecks per 1 kWh. For comparison: the usual tariff in houses equipped with electric stoves is 0.2581 rubles, with gas stoves - 0.3037 rubles.
"Utility bills" must be paid standardly; meter readings are submitted monthly through the ERIP system.
"If you recall the January frosts, when at an outside temperature of up to -30°C, the apartment was a comfortable +28°C, we paid 100-150 rubles just for electricity for heating. Taking into account all other housing and utility services, the final utility bill for a "three-room apartment" was about 250 rubles, some neighbors even had it reach 300 rubles. If we talk about summer expenses, it's about 30 rubles for hot water, and in winter - from 100 rubles and higher," says Katsiaryna.
But living in an electric house also has its nuances. For example, a 200-liter water heater is barely enough for a family of five. According to Katsiaryna, taking a bath in turns for everyone is not possible - water has to be used sparingly. Another difficulty is the repair or breakdown of equipment.
"A boiler maintenance contract has been concluded (costs about 80 rubles per year). But finding specialists to repair or replace a water heater is a problem. Official services are reluctant to take this on. If the water heater breaks down, it will cost us a hefty sum," complains the Minsk resident.
But so far, throughout the entire time of living in the electric house, there have been no serious breakdowns. Including accidents related to power outages.
"To summarize the experience of living, one can say that there are its own rules here: somewhere you have to be more careful with water, somewhere - more attentive to technology," concluded the apartment owner.
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