Villa rental - extra charge for electricity use?

[DonnaD]

Originally Posted by ianc

I certainly don't charge separately for electricity (or water, or wifi, or parking, etc) Having the meters read and reported to me and then doing the billing and keeping records for tax purposes (etc) is FAR too much faffing about.

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Ian, I have never heard of anyone doing it in the Orlando area. I think it is more common on the West Coast due to the longer snowbird rentals. I think for pool heat it actually makes alot of sense.

I do remember a friend having this at a timeshare in the Lake District years ago as well.

[Ridersmom]

I have rented homes all over the country and never been charged for electricity. I can understand why one would feel the need to have guests pay if they push the AC down as low as possible and heat the pool to bath temperature.

OP, I would ask the owner what an average bill is and then becuase I am cheap, try to see how much lower it could be.

[arkv1lla]

I think it's fairly common on the Gulf Coast. You could ask the owner if they have an idea of a general guide as to whatit might cost, they should have an idea going by past guests

Sandra

[Ros & Jim]

The one time we rented a villa on the Gulf Coast we had an “allowance” for electricity and if we had used more than this we would have been charged accordingly. Management company came and read the metre once we had arrived and did the same when we left. It is a common practice on the Gulf.

[Susan Coleman]

This is exactly how they do it on the south gulf coast
snow birds come down and pay for say a month or 2 rental and then the electric bill is separate
This is because they see the property like a home and probably are there a lot more than, say tourists, in Kissimmee who are out and at the parks a lot
We rent here sometimes, and have the other arrangement which is pay the usual £250security deposit, and then the meter is read after we leave, and any excess over a nominal amount is deducted from that deposit
Last year we did this and no monies were deducted..we were a little careful, turning down the AC when we went out for the day..nothing more than that
Both these rental /electricity charge models are the norm down here

I would ask what the normal use could be expected to be...and go from here
Many villas down here have solar heat so that charge for pool heat would not come into it

any Dibbers consdering SW Forida could do no worse than to look at the Dibb Owners on here who rent out, Cape Coral and Rotunda
Nicky Hollywood, who rents to me, is a fabulous person to deal with , and her villa is great with everything you need!
Beautiful inside and amazing outside with a large, large well furnished lanai and solar heated pool, refurbished to a high standard

[Persnicketty]

Got to say, common practice or not, I would NOT be renting. The fact the condition was concealed until booked smacks of unfair practice.

[florida girl]

We had this with the villa we rented at Cape Coral in November. We got a $30 allowance a week and on top of that ended up paying another $80 which we didn't think was too bad. We spent a lot of time at the villa had the pool heat on and spa every evening.

[floridasgirl]

We had it in Cape Coral as well.

[Cantcook]

I actually prefer it. It means they usually give you full control over spa / hool heat whereas in Orlando they tend to lock the temperatures.

[brown78p]

We had this system when in Cape Coral, we went $1.45 over the allowance in a week so were not charged anything. It was pointed out that they would not expect a problem unless we forgot to switch off the heating for the pool or spa. Therefore it was not a problem at all, indeed we are going back to the same villa this year.