Core answer: A typical urban household's monthly utilities: electricity ¥100–300 (AC seasons spike 2–3×), water ¥30–80 (¥3–5/tonne incl. sewage), gas ¥40–100 (¥2.6–3.5/m³), property fee ¥1.5–4/m²/month. The big lever is electricity: HVAC is 40–60% of it. Water is nearly flat; gas depends on cooking vs heating.
What each bill contains
| Bill | Unit price (typical) | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | ¥0.49–0.62/kWh tier 1 | generation + grid + surcharges; tiers + optional peak-valley |
| Water | ¥3–5/tonne | supply + sewage fee (~40%) + resource tax |
| Gas | ¥2.6–3.5/m³ tiered | tier 1 for cooking ~350 m³/yr |
| Property fee | ¥1.5–4/m²/mo | security, cleaning, lifts, landscaping |
| Heating (north) | ¥18–30/m²/season | billed by floor area, Oct–Mar |
Worked examples
Example 1 — Summer spike audit. Baseline 200 kWh/month jumps to 700 in August: the 500 extra kWh = one 1.5匹 AC running ~8 h/day. At ¥0.55 avg that's ¥275 — before considering tier creep (see tiered-electricity guide).
Example 2 — Leak detection. Water bill doubles with unchanged habits? The toilet-flapper test: dye in the tank appearing in the bowl without flushing = a silent leak of 200+ L/day ≈ 6 tonnes/month ≈ ¥25.
Example 3 — Gas vs induction cooking. Family of 3 cooking daily: ~15 m³ gas ≈ ¥45/month. Induction equivalent: ~90 kWh ≈ ¥50 — near parity at tier-1 rates; gas wins on wok heat, induction on safety and summer kitchen temperature.
Example 4 — New-home budget. 100 m² apartment: electricity ¥150 + water ¥50 + gas ¥60 + property ¥250 + internet ¥100 ≈ ¥610/month baseline, plus heating ~¥2,500/season in the north.
Common mistakes and myths
- Standby blindness — routers, set-top boxes, instant water heaters idle at 10–30 W continuously: 15 W × 8,760 h = 131 kWh/year ≈ ¥70 for doing nothing.
- Ignoring tier status — December electricity costs up to 61% more per kWh than January (see tiered pricing guide); pre-paying attention beats pre-paying money.
- "Water is cheap so don't bother" — true per tonne, but a running toilet wastes ¥300/year; the fix is a ¥15 flapper.
- Property fee negotiation myth — individual owners can't opt out legally, but owners' committees (业委会) can renegotiate or replace the management company.
- Billing-by-area heating waste — northern heating charges on floor area, not usage; balanced valves and reflective panels behind radiators still cut the heat you lose, not the bill — so fight for household metering where pilots exist.