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I have a detached 2-car garage that I share with my neighbor. We just found out that she has been paying for all of the electricity for the past 16 years. It's not billed separately - she receives one bill for her house, so don't know what the cost would have been. It's minimal, though, as I only have an electric opener and a few lights.
I gave her a nice bottle of wine. That probably is close to covering it.
But I need a solution. The electric panels are on her side of the property. She expects me to re-wire the circuit. I don't think I should have to bear that whole expense. It was like that when we moved here.
Should I ask her for half, or should I give her money each month?
I think she should disconnect the circuit that goes to your lights and door opener from her power source. Then you can decide if you want a circuit or not.
I have a detached 2-car garage that I share with my neighbor. We just found out that she has been paying for all of the electricity for the past 16 years. It's not billed separately - she receives one bill for her house, so don't know what the cost would have been. It's minimal, though, as I only have an electric opener and a few lights.
I gave her a nice bottle of wine. That probably is close to covering it.
But I need a solution. The electric panels are on her side of the property. She expects me to re-wire the circuit. I don't think I should have to bear that whole expense. It was like that when we moved here.
Should I ask her for half, or should I give her money each month?
The cost of running a garage door opener occasionally plus the cost of turning on a light or two for a few minutes occasionally probably wouldn't add up to the cost of a bottle of cheap wine in a year's time.
Now if you are running several lights for several hours per day, or are running high amperage electric saws or other high amp devices, that's a different story.
Personally, I don't think it's worth anywhere near the cost of splitting the wiring and setting another meter. In fact, I think that would be a ridiculous and unnecessary expense.
I think it costs less than 5 cents per day to run a 60 watt bulb 24/7. So if you turn on a light for just a few minutes occasionally, your electric cost would be less than a nickel per month. And with the new LED lights, the cost is even less than that. Just buy her a bottle of wine at Christmas and she will be getting the better end of the deal.
We live in a side-by-side duplex.
When we installed low voltage outdoor lighting, we had the transformer put in our garage.
So, we pay for 5 of our neighbors’ lights.
5 x 6 watts x 6 hours/day x 365 days/year x 13¢/kWhr = $9 per year.
Whatever.
The cost of running a garage door opener occasionally plus the cost of turning on a light or two for a few minutes occasionally probably wouldn't add up to the cost of a bottle of cheap wine in a year's time.
Now if you are running several lights for several hours per day, or are running high amperage electric saws or other high amp devices, that's a different story.
Personally, I don't think it's worth anywhere near the cost of splitting the wiring and setting another meter. In fact, I think that would be a ridiculous and unnecessary expense.
I think it costs less than 5 cents per day to run a 60 watt bulb 24/7. So if you turn on a light for just a few minutes occasionally, your electric cost would be less than a nickel per month. And with the new LED lights, the cost is even less than that. Just buy her a bottle of wine at Christmas and she will be getting the better end of the deal.
The appeal is apparently wearing off on the neighbor's part. "But I need a solution. The electric panels are on her side of the property. She expects me to re-wire the circuit."
Because of that, it may cost more than one annual bottle of wine for her to feel like it's worth paying for his garage door opener and light.
It may not need a whole panel and it doesn't need a meter. If it's just a garage opener and a light - he may be able to bury a line from his house out to an outlet to power his side of the garage. Maybe a small sub-panel if he wants more than that.
Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 05-13-2021 at 10:28 PM..
The appeal is apparently wearing off on the neighbor's part. "But I need a solution. The electric panels are on her side of the property. She expects me to re-wire the circuit."
Because of that, it may cost more than one annual bottle of wine for her to feel like it's worth paying for his garage door opener and light.
It may not need a whole panel and it doesn't need a meter. If it's just a garage opener and a light - he may be able to bury a line from his house out to an outlet to power his side of the garage. Maybe a small sub-panel if he wants more than that.
I don't know all the details of this situation. Don't know if this is a duplex or what. Don't know who bought first. Maybe the neighbor needs an explanation of the actual costs. Perhaps she thinks it's costing her $25 to $30 per MONTH or some such thing.
I just think that a reasonable explanation should satisfy her concerns. Besides, there may be other issues at stake here that we don't know about. I would try the explanation and appeal to logic route first. Assume the best in people until/unless they prove undeserving of it.
It's not the "usage" that is the expense. It is the cost of the service...basic amount in each month's bill before you use any electricity... that is the significant expense.
So, you can either put in a new circuit (again, we don't know the details or the physical layout) at significant expense....maybe a grand or so...complete SWAG...or you can pay the lady with the meter a monthly amount...say $10 or $20 and let it be.
If she wants you off her service, which is what you suggest in your post, then bite the bullet and run a new line. That solves the issue forever.
So... The garage burns down with the OP's extension cord in the neighbor's outlet.
Whose insurance pays?
I would want it separated myself, whether I was OP or neighbor.
Common sense and good neighbor relations.
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