Electricity, water, gas charge in Warsaw, Poland.

Hi guys,
im non polish and i came to warsaw a week ago.
i rented small one bed room flat in wilcza

and owner asked me to pay bills(electricity,water,gas) to her
she told me the price is

electricity - 0.72zl per kwh
cold water - 11.47zl per m^3
hot water - 17zl per m^3
gas - 4.9zl

is it reasonable price?
-----------------------------------------------
and one more question.
i checked electricity consumption in one hour
when i turned off all light in the house, it costs 86kwh(per month)
when i turned on all light in the house, it costs 130~200kwh(per month)
so it means i have to pay at least 60zl~140zl per month for electricity
i thought it increases too fast
what do you think about it?

You need to know that renting accommodation in Poland is like "Russian roulette". Everything is done in a crooked way and as a result, if you happen to have a good and honest landlord everything is ok but in case of the contrary (most often, especially when tenants are foreigners (other than rich expats)) it can be very very bad.

How have you found the place? By yourself, through an ad in sites such as Gumtree.pl or others? If so, pure lottery and I would NOT recommend it to any foreigner (of course especially when NON-EU), not speaking Polish and not knowing anything in Poland. Common sense that it's going to be in most instances a mere rip off. I have noticed through reading PF that all those NON-Europeans ("nice" phrase to avoid saying "Third Worlders" are all profoundly naive and they are not even able to think for 1/2 second that they may not be given a fair deal...

Why are you in Poland? I suppose you work or you are in school so you have some Poles around you. So, talk to them and if they all say it's a rip off, ask them to help you find some other accommodation for you. When not knowing how it works in a new country, it is essential to know at least a few locals who could advise and help.

PS: very few people in PF are in Poland and know about life in Poland (some of them have never set a foot in Poland) so what kind of help do you expect from a random forum?

PS: I don't have time to check in details but for instance I pay 4 ZL/m3 for cold water AND garbage (I own my place so I can say that your landlord rips you off - very often the case in Pl). I live in very nice neighborhood in Ochota so there is no way it can be ... 3 times higher in Centrum (I used to live 5 minutes' walk from Wilcza and I don't remember having HUGE bills). Just one piece of advice: ask some reliable Pole(s) to help you find another accommodation. good luck!

PPS: I don't have time to check for electricity but basically I pay some 50 ZL/per month and hot water although more expensive than cold water is not significant in my budget. Yes, your landlord rips you off (....)

Is there Elec heat and Hot water in poland

No. Everything that's not an ice sculpture is heated by fires. They help keep the polar bears away.

Could the OP have meant electric central heating?? And heating of water by electricity as opposed to gas? You see his username is House To be Built and maybe he's looking at a plot of land in an area where it would be very expensive to run a gas line to the property.

If he's looking to build a house on a plot of land, he has money to hire a professional to find out these things. Why drop an enigmatic question on a random forum and expect people to figure out his intentions?

It's like the South Asian guys who write asking about jobs in Poland.... if you think that some random forum is going to give you answers to questions like that, you shouldn't be let out of your country.

Well he might not be looking seriously. You know how sometimes people are just idly wondering about these things and the easiest, cheapest and quickest thing to do is ask a question on a forum even though it's usually a complete waste of time!

In that case- it is possible to use electricity as a source of energy for central heating and hot water preparation in Poland, but it's considered expensive and not possible in new buildings as such heating would need too much "natural energy". In a new building you would have to invest in some "eco" energy- like heat pump or solar energy, and use electricity as additional source if you don't have access to gas and don't want coal/wood/biomass.

Also some people use electricity for heating in older buildings- either using electric heaters, or adding some electric component to existing masonry heater. In that case you usually have electric heater for hot water preparation that is independent of heating.

No. Elec heat is quite expensive. Everything is driven by our precious coal in municipal heat plants or by gas from uncle Vladimir and his warm heart and smile.

I would say yes. For couple reasons. Payment for kWh or m³ usually is PART of the bill-up to half of the bill could be extra charges. If that all you have to pay be clear about it with your landlord. Usually there are some other charges like: sewer (reading from both hot and cold water meters), heating (calorimeter flat or building) and building maintenance (cleaning and rubbish refuse). I assume the heating comes from city central heating system.

How much does Gas cost?

there are so many threads in the Real Estate section about owners who are ripping off and scamming their tenants, I wonder what would be the biggest red flags to look for, at the very beginning?

Thank you

Gas - around 10zł/m3 + 3-10 zł./month (from PGNIG website, price is different depending on what it is used for and other things, also there are are other distributors now).

From the last discussion here - check how much all the bills will be, and how the bills to be payed. Ask about payments to "wspólnota" or "spółdzielnia".

for cooking or for heating or both?

@Cerasella

The biggest red flag is YOU, the renter, being too lazy, shy or stupid to find a reliable OLDER experienced native Pole to check out the apartment and negotiate with the landlord on your behalf. All the tales of woe you read here are from naive foreigners who don't speak Polish and do not have the slightest clue how to interpret and ad or contract. Some of them didn't actually get ripped off. They just thought they did because of their own ignorance.

We are all ignorant about some things, even in our own countries. The solution is to find someone knowledgeable to help you make decisions in areas in which you are ignorant. For example, I know jack $hit about cars. I would never buy a car without the help of someone who did know a lot more, even in my own hometown.

Why foreigners think that they are going to be able to find and rent an apartment without a hitch without the help of a knowledgeable and experienced OLDER local is beyond me. There will always be someone at your place of work or your school who can help. Of course, they should be properly compensated for their efforts.

I agree with everything you wrote except the last. Many foreigners would interpret that in monetary terms which would/could offend many Poles. Of course the offer of monetary compensation should be made at the beginning which the Polish person will probably decline. The person helped should then buy some kind of small gift as a token of appreciation.... and be ready to help in return when the Polish person needs something.

Hello everyone i have studio flat near Centrum rent is reasonable but the electric, gas , water bill is coming too much i need some suggestions or advice from everyone that what can i do . Here all bills are coming every six months or 2 months and the owner is taken bills every monthly as per meter reading the owner is taking bills every month we are paying some time its 600 zloty or sometimes bills are 400 .From 2 years staying in same flat every month it is increasing sometimes it is decreasing now what to do its big trouble.

Only for studio flat which rent is 1900 + bill . It is reasonable to pay this much zloty ?

I need some solution or may be is there any office for paying bills(electric,gas ,& water ) so i can go there and inquiry from there .

Hope everyone can understand my situation.
Thank you