How much does it cost to maintain a house? Monthly bills without exaggeration
What the monthly house bill consists of: heating, electricity, water, garbage, tax, and insurance. Which items we calculate from our own data, and which depend on the municipality — and how to check them for yourself.
In short. In a 70 m² house inhabited by three people, heating with hot water costs 200 PLN monthly — this amount is calculated from our own calculator. Other bills, i.e. electricity, water, garbage, tax, insurance and service, usually amount to 400–700 PLN monthly, but their amount depends on the municipality and how many people live in the house.
Below we break it down into items and for each we explain where the number comes from.
What the monthly bill consists of
| Item | Monthly | Where this number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Heating and hot water | 200 zł | our calculator, 70 m² house, heat pump |
| Electricity excluding heating | 160–260 zł | 1800–3000 kWh annually × 1.05 PLN |
| Water and sewage | 120–220 zł | consumption 2.5–3.5 m³ per person, municipal tariff |
| Garbage collection | 60–120 zł | municipal rate per person |
| Property tax | 8–12 zł | area × municipal council rate |
| Home insurance | 40–90 zł | policy 500–1100 PLN annually |
| Service and inspections | 30–60 zł | heat pump, recuperation filters |
The first row is calculated from our data. The others are market ranges and rates set by your municipality — treat them as an order of magnitude to check locally, not as our declaration.
For a 70 m² house and three people this totals roughly 600–900 PLN monthly. The two largest items are energy and water. The rest, including tax, are minor.
Heating and hot water
The largest item on the bill and the only one we can calculate precisely for a specific house. With a heat pump it is 180 PLN monthly in Model 44 and 230 PLN in Model 104. Where these amounts come from and how they change with a different heat source is described in the article about house heating cost. You can set your own parameters in calculator.
Electricity excluding heating
Lighting, equipment, cooking, laundry. A family of three usually consumes 1800 to 3000 kWh annually for this — the lower limit is a house without an induction hob and air conditioning, the upper is a house with several remote workers. At a price of 1.05 PLN per kWh, which we also use in the calculator, this is 160–260 PLN monthly.
This is the item that photovoltaic panels really affect — it reduces the electricity bill by about half, counting also the electricity for the heat pump.
Water, sewage and garbage
Water consumption is usually 2.5–3.5 m³ per person monthly. The price depends on your water supplier's tariff, which can be twice as high in one municipality as in the neighboring one — so instead of giving an amount, check the tariff on the water supplier's website and multiply by consumption. If the plot has no sewage system, instead of sewage you pay for septic tank emptying or operation of a domestic treatment plant.
Garbage is a rate per person, set by the municipality. For a three-person family it usually ranges from 60 to 120 PLN monthly.
Property tax
It is calculated from the usable floor area of the building, and the rate is set by the municipal council within statutory limits. For orientation: at a rate of about 1.20 PLN per m² annually, a house of 85 m² is about 100 PLN annually, i.e. less than 9 PLN monthly. In addition, there is a tax on the plot itself, calculated separately and usually lower. The current rate can be found in your municipality's resolution — this is the only reliable source.
Insurance, service and inspections
A policy for a house of this size is usually 500–1100 PLN annually, depending on the sum insured and coverage. In addition, there is the heat pump service and replacement of recuperation filters — together a few hundred PLN annually.
It is worth remembering one thing: in a prefabricated house there is no chimney for a solid fuel boiler, so chimney inspections, which are an annual expense and obligation in houses with a boiler room, are not required.
How much does it cost to maintain a 90 and 120 m² house
Less than intuition suggests, because most items do not depend on floor area. Water, garbage and electricity for equipment depend on the number of occupants, not on the area. Floor area only increases heating and tax — and heating grows slower than area. In Bory Premium (90 m²) heating with hot water is 220 PLN monthly, and in the largest Bory Elite (117 m²) — 240 PLN.
In other words: moving from a 70-square-meter house to a 117-square-meter one increases monthly maintenance costs by a few dozen PLN, not by hundreds.
What really reduces maintenance costs
Insulation and energy standard. Our houses meet the technical conditions of WT 2021, have PUR foam insulation and triple-glazed windows. These determine the largest item in the bill. We write more about the technology itself on the technologypage, and about what it means for the wallet — on the low maintenance costs.
Heat source. The heat pump is included from developer state. The exception is Bory Compact, where the pump does not fit and mats are used for heating — its heating bill is the highest in the offer, despite the smallest area.
Photovoltaics. It covers the entire electricity part of the bill: both for the pump and household equipment.
Number of household members. It affects water, waste, and hot water more than the size of the house.
