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Baja Rentals - Saving on Your Electricity Bill
In general, those that rent and live in Baja save about 60% of rent costs compared to living in Southern California. In addition to the savings, you will also most likely get an ocean view, and/or live in an ocean front community!
That said, one utility that doesn't contribute much to your savings by renting in Baja is the cost of electricity, unless of course, you are coming from a place that has cold winters compared to Baja's very mild winters, in which you can save a bundle on heating. Therefore, concerning rentals and the total cost of living in Baja, electricity is the one utility that most long time Baja residents pay the most attention to.
To Save on Electricity Use Propane Gas
To start saving with electricity, make sure your the rental home in Baja has some of its key amenities running on propane gas. Of course, the lights, refrigerator, microwave, and electronics are going to run on electricity. But in some homes and condos, the hot water heater, the stove, the dryer, and the forced air heating, if any, run on electricity when it would be more economical to have those items run on propane gas.
This is where you will have to make a decision on what best fits your needs and wants. Many Baja rentals are in tall, 5 to 20 story, ocean front towers, in which most everything runs on electricity. Therefore many renters in Baja, and of course buyers here in Baja, understand that they will pay a little more in utilities to have a phenominal ocean view from a tall ocean front condo tower.At first glance you may be thinking no problem. That you are going to save money in so many other areas by renting a home in Baja that paying a bit more in utilities to have an ocean front view from your condominium is okay by you! And I fully agree. As long as you have all the information you need to make a desicision that fits your needs.In contrast, if you are going to rent a single family home in Baja, then you will most likely be using more propane gas and less electricity which will help you save money. Of course you will have to ask, but you can safely expect a single family home to run the hot water heater, dryer, stove, and forced air heating if any, on propane gas instead of electricity. However, single family homes in Baja beach communities do cost more to rent then condos in towers.
Sharing Electric Bills May Not Help you Save when Renting in Baja
Occassionally, home rentals here in Baja have one electric bill that is shared by more then one rental home if there is more then one home on the lot with only one electric meter shared by all. This is very common in duplex to fourplex scenarios. In these cases, the landlord will usually charged a fixed rate for electricity, and may also have a fixed rate for all of the other utilties.
Some Baja renters really like this set up as they are going to know what their electricity bill is going to be every month and can easily budget for it. You should know however that electricity is charged on a kilowatt per hour basis, and is also charged progressively, meaning that the more kilowatts per hour you use, the higher your chances of paying more per kilowatt per hour. Therefore, since the renters are not held accountable for their exact usage, by nature, some people will focus less on conserving, and therefore may likely be consuming more kilowatt hours, which will ultimately be reflected in the rent, or amount charged for the utility.
Baja Rentals offer Big Savings Concerning Air Conditioning
One a final and significant note concerning saving on the cost of electricity on rentals here in Baja is that if you come from a place in which you need to use air conditioning, such as Phoenix or Las Vegas, you will save big on your summer cooling bill.The pacific ocean keeps coastal Baja summer temps in the 75° to 85° (farenheit) range, and therefore air conditioning and the costs associated with it are none existent. In fact, you will have a hard time finding a home with air conditioning in the coastal corridor between Tijuana and Ensenada.
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