Dear Louise, I have lived in the Springs community for nearly 2 months. I was holding my breath for the DEWA bill last month and it came in at 2,600 DHS for just one month! Is this normal? My villa is of the 3M Type: 3 Bedrooms and a reception. My second question is, can an electric oven highly contribute to my bill? Should I change to a normal gas oven? Thanks a lot!
The main culprits for a high DEWA bill are water and the air-conditioning consumption combined with very hot summer months when you may have had the a/c on constantly. This does seem quite high but obviously I don’t know how long your a/c has been running or at what temperature.
Changing to a gas oven will not make a big difference. It is a good idea to keep a close watch on the DEWA bills, if they keep rising you may have a water leak or the a/c’s may not be functioning properly.
Also have a look at the municipality fee you are being charged to check this is correct. Here is a recent article written on the subject of DEWA bills that you may find interesting and helpful.
Unfortunately this is probably around the norm. We live in Meadows 1 in a 4 bed villa and our bill is around 3,500 – 4,000k a month – it has gone up considerably in the last year or so, we used to pay a lot less. As a family we are careful with our water and electricity consumption. Our automated sprinkler system hasn’t worked for a couple of years and we ask the gardener to watch the amount of water he uses plus we are careful in turning off the a/c when it is not needed and having it on economy. Plus we have a gas cooker. Keep a check on your meter readings as we have found they don’t always tally with what is printed on the bill. Unfortunately I think DEWA have generally put their prices up. Cheers!
do you need a business license to sell homemade or handcrafted product like cloths, purses, pottary and plants etc. in UAE. ?
You cannot sell a product from your home (unless you have a trade licence and your home is a registered retail location like those along Al Wasl Road), you have to sell it at events which have a proper licence like ARTE.