When I moved to Finland, I rented a shared apartment from a student housing company with a fixed fare per month. Then I moved to a studio apartment from the same company. In both cases, my electricity bill was included in the rent. The first time I had to take an electricity contract was when I moved to Helsinki and rented an apartment from a private owner.
When renting an apartment in Finland, you have to separately take an electricity contract from an electric company. Usually, the electricity bill is not included in the house rent. Check the rental contract very carefully before signing to be sure whether it is included in the rent or not.
If you are a student and renting a shared apartment in any city in Finland, there are high chances that your electricity bill is included in the house rent. But if you are renting a studio apartment or a family apartment, the electricity bill might be included in the rent or could be excluded depending on the contract. For example, my electricity bill was included in the rent for my studio apartment whereas another friend of mine was paying separately even though we were living nearby.
Considering that you will need an electricity connection for your rented apartment, I will tell you in detail about it. I will take you through 3 things today.
- How to get an electricity connection contract?
- Which company & packages should you choose?
- What are electricity and distribution bills?
How to get an electricity connection contract?
There are several companies in different cities that offer electricity connections for residents. For Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo, there are these two companies that provide electricity:
- Fortum (www.fortum.fi/en)
- Helen (www.helen.fi/)
For other cities, there are other providers, such as: Lahti energia for Lahti region, Oulun energia for Oulu region. Fortum almost have their services for all the big cities in Finland. Regardless of the project, the process of getting the connection is the same.
You should go to their websites and check out their packages. Enter your apartment information and select a package. Then, you need to log in with a personal identification code. Create the order by selecting the starting date and inputting your address. Done. Your household will be lighted up from the starting date. Usually, it takes 1-3 working days to get the connection in your apartment. For me, the company took 2 days to set up the connection at my place.
Which company & packages should you choose?
I would say it really depends on the usage. Both companies have several packages to offer. You should put some time into comparing the packages offered by the companies. Most of the packages cost you based on your usage in addition to a fixed monthly charge.
But the first time, you might be scared and confused seeing a lot of options offered by the companies. In that case, I would recommend calling the customer care of the companies and asking for their recommendation on the cheapest possible packages. Then do the math between the recommended packages.
When I moved to my apartment in Helsinki, it was a 30-square-meter studio apartment. I was checking out the options as well. Then I asked my friends which package they were using. Based on their information, I started analyzing. Then I decided to go for the “exchange electricity” package offered by Helen.
If you are still scared of paying a lot of money as you are not yet sure about your usage, then go for the fixed price electricity package offered by Fortum.
The best thing about these connection contracts is that you can mostly cancel your contract anytime you want. After using a certain package for some days, if you feel like you have found another option to reduce your electricity bill, then just cancel the contract and get a new contract either from the same company or a different one. I would recommend that if you want to get a new contract, start it from the beginning of the next month. Otherwise, you will have to pay a fixed monthly charge for both packages/companies.
What are the electricity and distribution bills?
There are two types of bills that you can expect in Finland. One is the electricity charge based on your usage and the other is the distribution charge for the electricity that is coming to your house. In all cities (except for Helsinki), you have to pay them separately. So you will receive two separate invoices where one will show the electricity charge and another will show the distribution charge. Only for people living in Helsinki, you will get them in the same invoice.
I understand this might feel a bit awkward in the beginning for some people. You might be feeling like, “Huh, I have to take a separate contract for the electricity and also pay the bill separately?” Do not worry, you will get used to it once you get your first month done.
If you still have any other questions, just send me an email through the contact form. Thank you for reading.