In my case I really needed the place.
I bought a 1 ton milling machine (and by 1 ton I don’t mean like AC units that produces a ton of ice per day/hour/whatever. I mean this machine LITERALLY weights one ton, as in 1000kg. So since I currently live upstairs and I naively thought a crane company can simply use a crane and somehow lift it through an open balcony. Turns out the machine is much too big for that and so the landlord is building this shed in the back of the building I live in, with a bathroom and bedroom, and would allow me to transfer my lease there. So I can still have my shop with the mill and stuff, and I will have access to 3 phase electricity (which is really important because my mill runs on 3 phase). The problem is it is an illegal addition and Taipower will NOT establish an account there, not to mention there’s a lot of administrative crap about this. Remember if you live in a rooftop apartment Taipower will under no circumstances give you an account for it, so it will be shared with another floor.
So I save a couple of thousand NT per month on rent, but my shop is now 1/2 the size of my current ones. There’s good and bad, good as in it would cost less to cool, bad as in I will have to me much more creative about tool and workbench placements to maximize the use of my space and can’t be wasting space like before. As far as comfort goes it will probably be more comfortable because since it’s in the back there will be a lot less traffic noise (I really do not understand why every single trucker who passes by at 3am must honk the horn at every intersection). Being in the back hopefully means cooling it will cost less money as well, as I did notice that the shed is noticeably cooler than the second floor.
So this is why I have to go with a shared electrical account, and to be honest with you I don’t really want to move because those 1 ton equipment (which I plan on getting probably 2 more other major machines that weights almost as much) limits my choices to pretty much first floor locations with access to 3 phase electricity.
If someone’s being wasteful however I think I can make an argument with the landlord saying the person being wasteful should be made to pay the higher portion of the electric bill. By the way anytime your electricity account is shared the LL will install a meter for all electricity that goes into your unit. This is to avoid disputes over who used what, unless the LL is going to just have everyone pay equal part of the bill as determined by rented area (meaning the larger your unit the more of the bills you pay). If YOUR meter is moving after you unplugged everything, then you tell your landlord someone’s stealing your power and you refuse to pay.
