Electricity

Why Do Some Units Have a Maximum Electricity Allowance?

All the units include some electricity in their nightly and weekly prices. For some units, all electric is included, and for others, an allowance is given. In cases where its only an allowance, it is clearly labeled in the prices.

The reason why some owners have opted to include only a portion of electric is because in the past, some guests have shown to be excessively flagrant in their use and mis-use of electric, and are way above what would be considered reasonable levels. By doing it this way, it lets the owners avoid raising rates by $100 - $200 for everyone and then only the folks who use the excess electricity end up paying for it. when you are checked in, you will be shown a meter and how to gauge your usage.

Utila has on of the highest electric costs in the world (really!) at approximately 50 cents per kilowatt hour (KWH). Most guests have been very good at conserving energy within reason like turning air conditioners & lights off when not in the house.

In cases where only a portion of electricity is included, the amount listed should cover normal conservative usage; that is not running the A/C non-stop and just being aware of lights and fans. For smaller units, this is about 15 KWH/day or about $50 USD/week, and for larger units, this is about 30 KWH/day, or about $100 USD/week. As a guideline, in our personal 2 bedroom home, when we have guests and have 4 people in the house, with moderate A/C usage, we average about 24 KWH/day.

Again, the prices for the units do include reasonable, conservative usage of electric that a guest can expect. You will be able to monitor your usage with the meter (it give usage in the past 24 hours too) so you'll know how much electric you are using. At check out, if you are over the allowance, we just deduct it from your security deposit to give to the owners.