Monitor Data Corporation FAQ - The five questions posted most recently:

What is the E-Bill Fee that I see when I pay my utility bill on-line with PayPal?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:07:00 GMT

PayPal charges the E-Billing Fee (or E-Payment Fee), just like all credit card companies charge a fee every time someone makes a purchase with a credit or debit card.� Retailers, restaurants and others build the credit card service fee into every item or meal price and make extra profit if a customer pays cash or pays with a check.� Monitor Data Corp. does not sell utilities and by law must pass through to the residents the same price per kWh of electricity, CCF of natural gas, gallon of fuel oil, or gallon of water, that the local utility company or fuel oil dealer charges individual residential customers, or the apartment or condominium building.� In some states, utility billing service companies like ours are not even allowed to charge residents a billing fee for our services, even though the local utility company does.� Therefore it is impossible for us to include the PayPal E-Billing Fee (or E-Payment Fee) in the utility charge.

The PayPal formula to determine the E-Billing Fee (or E-Payment Fee) is presently 2.2% of the amount of the transaction with $0.30 first added to the resident utility payment.� The larger the payment, the larger the PayPal service fee.� PayPal takes all responsibility for verifying and authorizing the E-transaction and method of payment.� We hope that PayPal will reduce their fees as the dollar amount and volume of PayPal transactions increases in the future.

Are compact fluorescent light bulbs as good as all of the hype?

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:34:00 GMT

Yes!� A 23-Watt soft white compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) will give you as much light as a 100-Watt conventional incandescent light bulb and will last about ten years with normal use.� When you save Watts you save money.� In this case the electric cost savings will be 77% or 1.2 cents for every hour of use based on an electric cost of $0.15 per kWh.� If you use the bulb an average of four hours per day it will pay for itself in electric savings in just the first four months.� During the expected life of the CFL it will pay for itself thirty times over.

Do you have any tips on how I can reduce my utility costs?

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:29:00 GMT

Your building manager should have copies of energy�or water�savings tips that are specific for your property that was prepared by Monitor Data Corporation for you.� We also suggest that you click on the link for the National Geographic "Green" House that is located on the Contact page of the main�Monitor Data Corporation web site.� It is a fun and very educational virtual tour of a typical residence, as well as a�quiz that tests your knowledge about�lowering your�water and�energy utility bills.

Will electric space heaters save me money?

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 21:20:00 GMT

Electricity for portable space heaters will normally cost one and one half to twice as much as using natural gas or fuel oil for the same amount of space heating.� Your existing apartment or condominium heating system is much more cost effective than portable electric space heaters for heating your entire residence.� If permitted by your building management and by local fire codes, portable electric space heaters can only save you money if you heat one small living area while turning your conventional heating system thermostat to a lower setting.� At a local electric utility company rate of $0.15 per kWh a�typical one small room 1,500 Watt portable electric space heater will cost you about $0.22 per hour to operate.� If used continuously, that will cost you $5.40 per day and $162.00 over a thirty day month.� Keep in mind that a so called "oil filled" portable electric space heater is still just a typical electric resistance heater like electric baseboard or an electric hair dryer.

Where can I find my Account #?

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:50:00 GMT

You can find your account number on your mailed bill. If you did not recieve a mailed bill, please see your apartment manager.� If you enter your account number on-line in the Resident Utility Billing window of the monitordata.com home page, and get an error message, "Error: Account number not found" then your residence in not yet set up for on-line bill review or on-line bill payment.� On-line bill payment�is�available�as an option through PayPal only for properties that have elected to use Monitor Data Corporation for bill payment processing.