Energies and services
ELECTRICITY
WATER
GAS
SERVICES
ECOLOGY
Whether you live in your own or a rented house, in addition to housing expenses, you also have to consider other payments that regularly take up part of your budget. In a simplified way, we could talk about energies and services.
The word energy usually includes electricity and gas. These are energies with which we heat, cook, and heat water. Water usually has its supplier, so you must include it separately in your monthly expenses. Services are even more diverse – they can be payments from cleaning common areas in an apartment building to television fees.
Devote one day a year to reviewing all your previous contracts. See how the offer has changed over the last year, which energy, internet or other service providers currently have the fairest offers and what will be the most worthwhile for you.
Electricity
Three terms are mainly important when we talk about electricity: distributor (distribution company), electricity supplier and rate. We have three electricity distributors in Slovakia – Central Slovak Distribution, West Slovak Distribution and East Slovak Distribution.
The property owner does not choose the distributor. It is determined automatically based on the address, i.e. where the property is located. So if you live, for example, in western Slovakia, the distributor will be Západoslovenská distribučná. With the distribution company, you must conclude a contract on connection to the distribution system, which you can find on the website of each distribution company.
The rate, i.e. how much you pay for electricity, changes according to the current market situation. There are several rates, each intended for a different type of customer – households. As a rule, all suppliers call the types of homes by one designation, so the customer knows which price to watch. For example, households with annual consumption lower than 1580 kWh are denoted by the abbreviation DD1. Subsequently, the numerical designation is differentiated for different types of consumption. Here you will find a specific breakdown of the household according to consumption.
When it comes to rates, we will also encounter the term tariff. A tariff is a rate set for a particular service. In the case of electricity, we can talk about a single-tariff rate, when the price of electricity is uniform throughout the day, or a two-tariff rate, when the cost varies depending on the phase. The specific rate inclusion determines the phases. It can be day and night or weekdays and weekends.
We have several electricity suppliers in Slovakia, and their price offers are mostly not significantly different in price. Their services, customer service or environmental aspects may differ. You can find a complete list of electricity suppliers in Slovakia on the website of the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries.
Each of the suppliers has a different price depending on the combination of the chosen rate and the specific electricity distributor. Many suppliers have calculators on their websites that will calculate the price you will pay based on the selected parameters. We recommend that you compare the prices of several suppliers.
Below you will find approximate instructions on how to proceed when setting up a new connection or changing supplier, depending on the situation you are currently in.
When renting, it is not customary to change the supplier. The property owner decides on these matters. Of course, the supplier can be changed if someone dislikes the current situation. However, the property owner always has the final say.
In this case, you must conclude a contract with a distribution company. To begin with, you have to choose the rate you want to use and then follow the steps on the website of the specific supplier. Look for a section called “contract conclusion” or similar. However, in the beginning, do not forget to consider the conditions for cancelling your contract with the old supplier. You can usually find these conditions in the agreement, which was concluded between you and the distribution company.
First of all, you have to sign a contract with a distribution company, which will first connect you to the distribution network. Subsequently, you need to choose the rate and conclude the Agreement on the combined supply of electricity with the supplier company of your choice.
Such a situation usually occurs when selling real estate, inheritance, and the like. The current customer must submit an Application for termination of the contract with both the distribution company and the supplier company. Subsequently, the new customer concludes a new contract for the purchase of electricity for this property with the distribution company and his chosen supplier company.
You can find a list of all existing electricity and gas suppliers on the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries website. WARNING! Not every supplier follows the same procedure as described above. It is necessary to follow the information of the specific supplier.
As for payment, it depends on each supplier company what payment methods they provide. However, the technique of permanent payment order (direct debit) is most often used, then also online payments using a payment order. The invoice can also be paid by check at the post office. There are many methods for paying for electricity. You can find out more information from your supplier. Also, the payment time, i.e. the maturity date, is individual, and you can find it on your contract. With most suppliers, you can set repayment intervals so you don’t have to consider monthly invoices. In that case, it should be a more extended period, for example, half a year.
On the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries website, you can also find the contact of the ÚRSO ombudsperson, who is a citizen’s helping hand in the event of a dispute or irregularities in the field of energy.
Gas
When it comes to natural gas, it is not enough to look at the distribution company since the only distribution company for gas in Slovakia is the Slovak Gas Industry (SPP). You have to look at the gas connection, the tariff and the supplier.
There are only two options for an apartment building – either the object has a gas connection or not. If so, ask the SPP to connect the housing unit (your apartment). If it doesn’t have it, you have to find another alternative or come to an agreement with the residents of the apartment building and ask to be connected to the SPP distribution network. The procedure is similar for a newly built house, but here you need to ensure that the home is located with a connection to the gas network. A purchased house either has a connection or not. The procedure from previous cases is repeated if he does not have it.
You must choose a natural gas supplier if you connect to the SPP distribution network. Each supplier offers several tariffs. Usually, they offer eight. You select the tariff based on the annual consumption, and they differ according to what you use the gas for (i.e. cooking, heating, heating or combinations thereof). On the following link, you will find the exact parameters of the tariffs and a specific description of their differences.
We have several gas suppliers in Slovakia. You can find a complete list of gas suppliers on the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries website.
There are also different ways of paying for gas – via card, internet banking or check at the post office. However, you should always pay attention to the due date! There is also a direct debit option, which works similarly to a standing order. You regularly send an amount from your account, but the amount is not determined by you but by the distribution company. You don’t have to worry about underpayment, overpayment, or late payment.
Water
The public water supply and sewerage network is very well built in Slovakia, so almost every village is connected to it. Municipalities with public water supply and sewerage are subsequently distinguished according to whether they have the water supply in their administration, in the administration of the water company or the ownership of both entities. It would be best to find out who owns the water supply to which your household is connected at the municipal or city office.
As a new customer of services, you will probably submit an Application for the conclusion of a contract for the supply of water from the public water supply and the removal of wastewater through public sewerage (Žiadosť o uzavretie zmluvy o dodávke vody z verejného vodovodu a odvádzaní odpadových vôd verejnou kanalizáciou). When buying an apartment, the water fee is usually connected with the management fee to the owner of the apartment building. In contrast, the contract with the water company for the given apartment unit is already concluded directly by the management company.
The management company recalculates the expected consumption per apartment based on the number of its inhabitants and determines the deposit amount. Usually, after eleven monthly advance payments, in the billing month, which is determined individually by the management company and which you have stated in your contract with the management company, you will receive an invoice for the actual amount of water taken, which results in an underpayment or an overpayment.
Payments for water intake and drainage (water and sewage) can be made in several ways. The most popular is the direct debit method, which works similarly to a standing order. You regularly send an amount from your account, but the amount is not determined by you but by the distribution company. You don’t have to worry about underpayment, overpayment, or late payment. The due date is individual. It depends on the contract you conclude with the water management company. This data can be found in the agreement.
Services
Service payments vary based on the property type or your relationship to it. The services can include a repair fund, municipal waste, a janitor’s fee, internet, and the like. So it is about all the benefits your place of residence provides, which are mediated by someone other than you.
If you are not the property owner, discussing these fees with the person who provides you with housing is a good idea. Some tenants include these amounts in the rent, while others do not. Below we offer you a list of the most common service fees that you may encounter.
At your property
- Local taxes and fees – property tax and dog tax, municipal waste fee
- Concession fees – for public television and radio
- Parking space fee
- Entertainment fees – TV, Netflix, etc.
- Internet fee
When renting a property
- Local taxes and fees – property tax and dog tax, municipal waste fee
- Repair fund
- Caretaker fee
- Cleaning of common areas
- Parking space fee
- Concession fees – for public television and radio
- Entertainment fees – TV, Netflix, etc.
- Internet fee
Did we forget something? At the bottom of the page, you will find a form in which you can let us know what you are missing from this list and what other information about any of the topics we should add to our site.
ECOLOGICAL HOUSING
Nowadays, the issue of saving natural resources is crucial. Therefore, it is also possible to find suppliers who work with renewable energy ideas. However, if you want to introduce saving with these commodities into your everyday life, we have found an article for you in which you will find 31 helpful tips on saving energy.
And for more tips on how to live more ecologically, click on the subpage dedicated to home care.
You can learn more about this topic directly from a person from practice – real estate broker František Fortuna from FORA reality, whom we asked all important questions in our podcast.
Don’t forget to follow us on your favourite podcast platform:
