Utility Expenses...

[Bades]

I see people more often then not with large utility bills all the time on this forum and with my friends.

I live in a decent size apartment (1350 sq ft town home)and I think my utility bills are really good. Gas bill (stove and heat) never goes over $60 (even in winter, keep house at 70 when were home, $60 while at work). Electric bill in winter is around $50 and the summer it varies from $90-110 (AC, only for a few months out of the year).

I guess once I get a home the days of $60 gas bills will be over huh?

[MonkeyMama]

Not necessarily. It just depends where you live and what kind of home you buy.

My experience has actually been opposite. Our first home was a smaller old construction condo and we had much larger utility bills (though we weren't really home much at all, and we had many shared walls)?

We bought a new/energy efficient home in 2001, and our utility bills are pennies in comparison. Our gas bill averages $20 per month and electric bill averages $80/month. {These are literally our bills - we do balanced billing - and our usage is pretty consistent over the years}. House is twice as big, no shared walls, and we are mostly home 24/7. I live in a mild winter climate, but an extreme summer client (lots of AC). Locals regularly assume we literally get $400+ utility bills in winter or summer, simply because we have a larger house, and based on local utility prices. IF they spent $200 to heat their home in winter, we must spend $400? HA!!

When we bought this home it was kind of in one ear and out the other with the yadda yadda of energy efficiency, but I will tell you that they delivered. We were surprised. We also got in at a sweet time when it was kind of "low-cost energy efficiency." We don't have anything expensive or high maintenance like solar. I really think all homes should be built like this. Our hot water heater has to be our biggest gas savings (that and insulation and gas heater). But, we do not even have a tankless water heater. So it makes me a bit skeptical of the marketing of far more expensive green options. We did not pay any premium to buy an energy efficiency house. Our home was actually quite inexpensive. We will not buy another home without asking a lot of questions about energy savings and utility bills. We would like to eventually downsize to a condo again, but do not expect it to just automatically be cheaper. Certainly not after our experience. I think $20/month for gas is pretty hard to improve upon.

[JoeP]

Utility usage is compounded with kids, particularly with laundry and showers. Our water usage is fairly high because we do about 2 loads of dishes every 3 days, and about 10 loads of wash a week. This is with high efficiency and new appliances. Our monthly summer gas+electric bill is normally $180 and winter sometimes approaches $400. We also have a high efficiency furnace, scroll compressor in the A/C, and a highly rated water heater we keep around 115F.

[MonkeyMama]

Well, we have 4 people living in our house. Just to clarify the size of our household re: utility bills.

[thesimplemoneyblog]

There is definitely a trade-off between buying a newer house that may be more energy efficient (and thus could be a higher price point) versus an older home with less efficient windows, insulation, etc.

A lof of the time you just have to do a comparison of the cost of the energy efficient electronics, windows, etc. compared to any long-term savings you could get from lower electric bills. Utilities are often underestimated by people when they move into a new home.

[lhkorn99]

I have a 1250 sq. ft apartment in nyc and my electric is a bit higher than yours, but i think your charges sound about right - my electric is about $100 in winter and about $200 in summer with the a/c units running.

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

We've made a concerted effort to get used to a slightly cooler house in the winter, and a slighter warmer house in the summer, and it made a big difference in our utility bills. We are a dual retiree household living in 2400 sq ft house in a mild climate in S. California (two hot months in the summer, two cool months in the winter, negligible otherwise)

In 2012 my records show we spent $1,000 on electric/$83 a month, down from about $1,500 the year before. Our gas was $250/$21 a month, down from about $350.

This year's goal is to get the water portion of our water & trash bill reduced significantly by changing the way we water. It's currently $900 a year for water & trash combined/$75 a month, and I'm thinking we can get it down to about $750 by doing less sprinkler and more hand watering.

[Jimhassel]

Utility expenses can be minimized too.
Follow steps like:
Insulate light switches, water heater
apply weather stripping
buy energy star appliances
cook strategically to get best results.

[riverwed070707]

Also should be considered that electricity and natural gas don't cost the same everywhere. Using wikipedia as my source because it was a quick place to gather numbers, even within the US electric prices can vary from 8 cents/kWh to 17 cents/kWh. That's a huge difference and when coupled with climate, can make a big difference between what you pay and someone on the forum from another region pays, especially in an unregulated market. Electricity pricing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bjl584]

I see people more often then not with large utility bills all the time on this forum and with my friends.

I live in a decent size apartment (1350 sq ft town home)and I think my utility bills are really good. Gas bill (stove and heat) never goes over $60 (even in winter, keep house at 70 when were home, $60 while at work). Electric bill in winter is around $50 and the summer it varies from $90-110 (AC, only for a few months out of the year).

I guess once I get a home the days of $60 gas bills will be over huh?

As others have pointed out it depends where you live, how big your house is, how efficient the furnace is, and how well insulated the house is.

Physics and thermodynamics play a part too. The amount of energy required to heat a given area goes up rather exponentially. Your furnace has to work a lot harder to go from 68 to 72 than it does to go from 65 to 68 for instance.

[goodman2]

Keeping bills under control

One way to keep bills down is to turnoff lights, tv, pc,ac when leaving the house. Budgeting would also help a lot to keep your finances on track. Doing this manually could be laborious. I use software called Boachsoft Finance - 2012 version and it makes things a lot easier because I am able to create a budget easily with it. I set spending limit notifications and any time I exceed 80% of the budgeted amount I am immediately notified. I think you should try this approach. Aside this I use energy saving equipment like light bulbs these keep the bills down. Next time you go shopping ask for energy saving lights, ac etc. It may cost you more initially but it would consume less electricity so you save a lot more in the long run.