What's your electric bill look like in the summer and winter, everybody? I'm trying to get a better feel for what's "normal". (If you live off-the-grid in the woods, disclose that upfront, thanks.)
$60/month all winter when I'm running the electric heat in my massage studio, and also most of the summer when I'm running the dehumidifier down there. If I run neither for most of a month, it's closer to $40. No air conditioning, and the main furnace is gas.
So many variables there. Size of dwelling, # of people, local climate, thermostat settings, Heater/A/C efficiency, insulation/weather-tightness, etc.
For me, it has varied a lot over the years, depending on how many people were living here and how much the A/C was being used during the daytime. You're asking about electric+gas, right? Or only the electric part?
My highest monthly bills are around $240, always in January or February which are the coldest months. The cheapest bills are $85 to $90, usually in the Spring or Fall. Last month (thru mid-July) was $132. Those all include a $15 charge for having a streetlight right outside my gate which points towards my yard; else they'd be $15 less.
Q's highest bill was $329 this last January. His lowest bills are ~$100. They are higher than mine as he keeps his A/C set colder than I do, plus he is at home more than I am. We live in SC.
This is what all my charges look like, broken down on my latest bill (the # of kWh and Therms used each month varies; the charge per kWh & per Therm varies a bit month to month, but the other charges remain the same).
Basic Facilities Charge 10.00 642 kWh X $ 0.136520 87.65 Renewable Energy Resources 1.00 Overhead Pvt St Lights 15.41 Subdivision Lighting 2.18 Total Electric Charges $116.24
Basic Facilities Charge 10.90 Base - 4 Therms X $ 1.181250 4.73 Total Gas Charges $15.63
We're on the far northern edge of the DFW sprawl metroplex, and it's just the two of us and the dog in a house that's a smidge over 2000 square feet. Here's our most recent electric bills:
December 2017: $56.00 January 2018: $25.00 February 2018: $61.00
June 2018: $79.00 July 2018: $142.00 August 2018: $175.00
We have central a/c, and our electric company is a regional co-op. Also we had a pretty mild winter, but this summer has been nasty.
Oops, meant to add we keep our thermostat in the summer set to 79. (I get cold easily these days because my internal thermostat seems to be permanently out of whack.)
My old 2BR in Cambridge was around $15 most months, unless the A/C was running, which case as high as $73, though 40-50 was more common.
Power draws were the fridge, a laptop, CFL bulbs, and a 300 W halogen torchiere I used in low power mode most of the time, which also seemed to extend its lifetime by quite a lot (in addition to not using it all that much.)
The current apartment, with 3 people, is a lot more -- $87 in the lowest month, $250 in the highest, and that's before I got an A/C. I'm not sure why. I suspect more expensive bulbs, run more often; maybe someone has a desktop computer. Also I had to use a space heater for a good part of the winter. Oh, and I guess they have a couple A/Cs installed, one of them a really old one built into the wall.
I pay about €30/month and use a bit over 80kWh/month, which is according to my utility about half of the average one person household here. My bill is yearly so I don't know how it changes seasonally, but I have no a/c and no electric heaters.
We're a family of four in a four bedroom house with poorly-designed HVAC ductwork. In July and August our electric runs around $200 (which is why we're in the middle of getting geothermal installed, and re-doing the ducts).
In non-AC seasons it's under $100 -- not sure of exact amount, because we get billed for gas and electric together and I don't have an older bill on hand.
$80ish during hot months (June-Sept, in Oklahoma) $40ish during the rest with a slight uptick if I break down and use space heaters instead of the wood stove.
Disclosing: Small house with no dryer, tv, dishwasher, a halfsize fridge etc. but with how rural we are the kw price of electric is very high.
I honestly don't think I'd have electric at all if it wasn't so absolutely necessary for running an air conditioner three months out of the year.
The province of Ontario apparently has among the highest electricity rates in North America (or so our MPPs keep repeating in the Legislature). My first experience with hydro bills in Toronto was with our previous apartment (the previous 3 apartments we didn't pay for electricity) -- the one with the batshit crazy landlady. We rarely had a monthly hydro bill below $200, and that was during the few weeks of the year that required no heating or air con. We had a few that were near or slightly over $400. I think something may have been off with the meter for that unit, because the people in the other unit never seemed to have bills that high. For our current apartment, it's much lower. Heat is included in the rent so the only increase occurs in the summer, due to air conditioning. The non-summer average is about $70, and it's about $100 with the air con units and fans going in the summer. That's with Jon being home almost all the time, with his massive computer set-up (including 4 monitors) which he leaves on 24/7, a dishwasher (which we run 1-2 times a week), and me watching lots of TV in the evening and on weekends. The previous apartment had a washer and dryer (no dishwasher), but I never used the dryer because it was a major energy-sucker.
My last month bill was about $160. I live in Queens in a one bedroom, and I work, which means that I use about 60 hours less of air conditioner a week than someone who would be home.
$23/month round the year. We bought into a community solar garden which offsets 100% of our usage (and we sell back the excess through net metering, $62 last year) so we just pay the base charge plus tax. (Actual usage cost is about $80 in the summer and $95 in the winter.)
1600 sf house built in 1928, but we installed high-quality windows and insulated it. Gas heat, window a/c in the bedroom for summers, lots of computer equipment as we both work at home.
This is complicated -- we recently installed a completely new cooling system and don't yet have enough data points to know what we should be expecting. Going by before that, typical for our 1953 3BR house in southern Arizona was
I agree with previous commenters that it heavily depends on where you're living, how big your space is, and how many people occupy it. For one more data-point: ~1000 square foot apartment in Georgia, two people, highs near $90, lows near $40. Power is via Georgia Power. Both our heating and our cooling are electric-based.
That is a great question, I hadn't really looked. I was about 2000 SEK a month in the winter, and 1300 SEK a month in the summer, but this spring we switched electric companies, and now this summer we are paying more like 600 SEK a month. It will be interesting to see how that changes in the winter. Note that, in theory, we aren't spending so much electricity on the heating as we have "bergvärme" (or "down hole heat exchange" in English), but it does require some power to operate.
This is for a small house with a full basement, and a computer server in said basement.
Note that once converted to US $ my numbers are considerably higher than most of the people commenting have been mentioning.
We live in southern Tennessee, where it's been hotter than Vulcan's anvil this summer. Winter cost is around $70 a month because our house (three bedrooms) is largely heated with natural gas. Summer creeps up as the temperature increases and the central air conditioning is used more. It generally tops out at $240 in the month with the hottest weather.
We did join the electric company's stakeholder plan to build a solar electric "farm" and should eventually start seeing lower electric bills.
Our winter bills have always been frighteningly high, as bad as $400. We used to live in a 3000-square-foot house, and now we live in a 1200-square-foot loft with ten-foot ceilings.
Summer bills are around $60; we keep the thermostat at 80 degrees in the summer. Over the entire year, last year's bills averaged $160 a month. There are two us living here, and electricity and heat are combined. We live in Maryland: hot summers, cold winters, and pleasant springs and falls.
My municipal power monopoly charges me, on the "make it all a uniform payment all year" plan, for a small garbage can, water, sewer, "surface water", and electricity, about $270 USD / month. That's in a multiple-computers and technologies house with heat and some of the appliances powered by natural gas, handled by the regional electric and gas monopoly, which adds approximately $10 USD / month in the summer months and about $100 USD / month in the winter, with a thermostat for heating set to 65-67 when the house is occupied and 62 when it is not.
Around $35 in winter and $75 in summer for 388 sq ft first floor apartment in the shade. When I was being super-extra careful and did not have an at-home Internet connection (and went to work for ten hours a day, minimum), I managed my fridge well (large stocks of just-in-case water with space for airflow and a good seal) and the weather was temperate, it would average $11, lowest being $3.33 (not sure how that happened). Of course, now I pay for two houses, one of which is an A/C addict (they were proud to have turned the thermostat UP to 72, even when no-one is home), and that's around $150.
I checked and we average just under $150 a month. That's for a 2-story house with 3 people living in it. We don't have air conditioning, but we run fans like mad, have three computers and two tvs and at least three of those five are going at all times. We also have a heat lamp for the lizard when it's not 40+ degrees in here. And we run 3-6 loads of laundry a week.
Heating, stove and hot water are all gas so that doesn't include heating.
Mine is $80 or so winter, $120-150 summer. Chicago, air-conditioned, heat is gas. Two humans, lotta eletronics, split level house with poor circulation.
So interesting to see what folks pay for what climates and what size houses.
Just to add my two cents: 900 sf apartment on the top floor of a very well-insulated 1930s apartment building in Washington DC. $20 to $30 in winter (we don't even need to turn on the heat) and about $40 to $50 in the summer (with constant AC, due to that well-insulated building). We've got a heat pump.
Sorry to hear from your recent post that you're overpaying. I hope it's something that can be worked out without too much trouble. M.
Mine are probably not normal (the Singer HVAC system this place has for heat and air was built in 1980...I googled, it's so old - and is kept together with little more than screws (some missing) and spit). The fridge is also on the outs (there's a leak coming from behind the light bulb that we've attempted to fix on our own twice, flooding the fridge out every day, and a landlord who ignores my complaints about it). Fridge is probably circa 1990s at best.
Also, Other Person runs the a/c more than I like, keeps it colder than I like, and runs the heat more than I would in winter, since I'm all for practically freezing to death before switching it on. We're also paying into a city co-op, not a regular utility, so trash, sewer, fire and water are included in these estimates (so probably not normal, like I said, assuming ConEd or similar covers your area).
Edit: reading through other's comments after adding mine, I should also do some background: we're in an apartment of around 800 square feet with no insulation in the ceiling upstairs, which makes the upstairs way too hot with sun beating down on it all day/into evening, and we have our own (very old) washer/dryer and an antique dishwasher that somehow still works that we run anywhere from 0-3 times a month, because we cook a lot and and the sheer endless amount of dishes/pots/pans can get overwhelming. /edit
That said, the lowest bills we'll have are in late fall and early spring when I can convince OP to shut off forced heat or air - around $140-$175. Winter range: $275-$300. Summer: $200-275, but with the brutal heat this year, much closer to $275 more recently.
Duke Energy was waaaaaay cheaper. I hated them ("Yes, the power's out again - another squirrel on the line, most probably") but they were dirt cheap compared to paying for everything (as the property had its own well and trash/fire/other was paid for through property taxes).
Edited (clarity, typos, more info) 2018-08-08 05:36 (UTC)
I'm not off the grid in the woods, but I do have a bachelor apartment, which I recognize takes a lot less electricity than a house.
I average about $28 CDN in the summer and $21 CDN in the winter. If I was allowed to have an air conditioner, I would happily be spending a little more in the summer.
A house of 4 people, 1050 sq ft, in a city of 65,000 in the middle of the prairies. The last 7 months, our electricity portion of utilities ranged from $90-$118 CAD (about $70-90 USD). Our computers run 24/7 though. We use A/C only 5-7 days of the year when the outside temp climbs above 35 C. Heat is gas. The city owns and operates the utilities.
We have computers (yes, multiple) and several appliances that are in an "always on" state.
We also have....erm.... "co-op" type power situation where we live now. Small community partnership setup.
So currently, it's roughly USD $100 or less in the summer, and HAS been as much as USD $500 in the winter. I'm curious to see how this winter will be, since we got our dire frightening almost-burn-the-house-down electric fixed, and the HVAC system repaired.
Last place, on a "budget plan" (average all 12 months, and bill accordingly) was about $400 a month, with VASTLY more inefficient HVAC (because the house was older and had more airgaps.) Last place was also a "proper" utility, known for having obnoxious rates and couldn't really do anything about it.
IF you're using incandescent bulbs and NOT a lot of computers and appliances always-on (because we're geeks, and that's kind of an outlier situation in our age group), then swap to LED's and you'll see a pretty nice sized drop.
Since darkoshi wants more details: average 350-400kWh/month @$0.07-ish/kWh, for about $40. No AC. We're in Denver in a 2000 square foot house with really excellent windows downstairs and only okay ones upstairs. All our lights are either led or fluorescent, and as the f's die I'm replacing them with led. Because it's nearly a desert, we use the clothes dryer about once a month, so our main load is the oven.
4BR house (plus some partially finished space above & below that we rarely use) in the US midwest, gas heat (radiators, so there's an electric pump I guess), AC on the second floor, whole-house dehumidifier, gas water heater. Winter thermostat settings are 62-70, summer 74-78. Furnace, AC, fridge, and most kitchen appliances are relatively recent -- about 12 years for the furnace and AC, newer for the rest. We have a few computers that are always on, but I don't think they're energy hogs (Mac Mini, iMac, Tivo).
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For me, it has varied a lot over the years, depending on how many people were living here and how much the A/C was being used during the daytime. You're asking about electric+gas, right? Or only the electric part?
My highest monthly bills are around $240, always in January or February which are the coldest months. The cheapest bills are $85 to $90, usually in the Spring or Fall. Last month (thru mid-July) was $132.
Those all include a $15 charge for having a streetlight right outside my gate which points towards my yard; else they'd be $15 less.
Q's highest bill was $329 this last January. His lowest bills are ~$100. They are higher than mine as he keeps his A/C set colder than I do, plus he is at home more than I am. We live in SC.
This is what all my charges look like, broken down on my latest bill (the # of kWh and Therms used each month varies; the charge per kWh & per Therm varies a bit month to month, but the other charges remain the same).
Basic Facilities Charge 10.00
642 kWh X $ 0.136520 87.65
Renewable Energy Resources 1.00
Overhead Pvt St Lights 15.41
Subdivision Lighting 2.18
Total Electric Charges $116.24
Basic Facilities Charge 10.90
Base - 4 Therms X $ 1.181250 4.73
Total Gas Charges $15.63
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sprawlmetroplex, and it's just the two of us and the dog in a house that's a smidge over 2000 square feet. Here's our most recent electric bills:December 2017: $56.00
January 2018: $25.00
February 2018: $61.00
June 2018: $79.00
July 2018: $142.00
August 2018: $175.00
We have central a/c, and our electric company is a regional co-op. Also we had a pretty mild winter, but this summer has been nasty.
Oops, meant to add we keep our thermostat in the summer set to 79. (I get cold easily these days because my internal thermostat seems to be permanently out of whack.)
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Power draws were the fridge, a laptop, CFL bulbs, and a 300 W halogen torchiere I used in low power mode most of the time, which also seemed to extend its lifetime by quite a lot (in addition to not using it all that much.)
The current apartment, with 3 people, is a lot more -- $87 in the lowest month, $250 in the highest, and that's before I got an A/C. I'm not sure why. I suspect more expensive bulbs, run more often; maybe someone has a desktop computer. Also I had to use a space heater for a good part of the winter. Oh, and I guess they have a couple A/Cs installed, one of them a really old one built into the wall.
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In non-AC seasons it's under $100 -- not sure of exact amount, because we get billed for gas and electric together and I don't have an older bill on hand.
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$40ish during the rest with a slight uptick if I break down and use space heaters instead of the wood stove.
Disclosing: Small house with no dryer, tv, dishwasher, a halfsize fridge etc. but with how rural we are the kw price of electric is very high.
I honestly don't think I'd have electric at all if it wasn't so absolutely necessary for running an air conditioner three months out of the year.
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1600 sf house built in 1928, but we installed high-quality windows and insulated it. Gas heat, window a/c in the bedroom for summers, lots of computer equipment as we both work at home.
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summer: $250/mo
winter: $25/mo
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This is for a small house with a full basement, and a computer server in said basement.
Note that once converted to US $ my numbers are considerably higher than most of the people commenting have been mentioning.
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We did join the electric company's stakeholder plan to build a solar electric "farm" and should eventually start seeing lower electric bills.
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Summer bills are around $60; we keep the thermostat at 80 degrees in the summer. Over the entire year, last year's bills averaged $160 a month. There are two us living here, and electricity and heat are combined. We live in Maryland: hot summers, cold winters, and pleasant springs and falls.
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Heating, stove and hot water are all gas so that doesn't include heating.
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Just to add my two cents: 900 sf apartment on the top floor of a very well-insulated 1930s apartment building in Washington DC. $20 to $30 in winter (we don't even need to turn on the heat) and about $40 to $50 in the summer (with constant AC, due to that well-insulated building). We've got a heat pump.
Sorry to hear from your recent post that you're overpaying. I hope it's something that can be worked out without too much trouble. M.
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Mine are probably not normal (the Singer HVAC system this place has for heat and air was built in 1980...I googled, it's so old - and is kept together with little more than screws (some missing) and spit). The fridge is also on the outs (there's a leak coming from behind the light bulb that we've attempted to fix on our own twice, flooding the fridge out every day, and a landlord who ignores my complaints about it). Fridge is probably circa 1990s at best.
Also, Other Person runs the a/c more than I like, keeps it colder than I like, and runs the heat more than I would in winter, since I'm all for practically freezing to death before switching it on. We're also paying into a city co-op, not a regular utility, so trash, sewer, fire and water are included in these estimates (so probably not normal, like I said, assuming ConEd or similar covers your area).
Edit: reading through other's comments after adding mine, I should also do some background: we're in an apartment of around 800 square feet with no insulation in the ceiling upstairs, which makes the upstairs way too hot with sun beating down on it all day/into evening, and we have our own (very old) washer/dryer and an antique dishwasher that somehow still works that we run anywhere from 0-3 times a month, because we cook a lot and and the sheer endless amount of dishes/pots/pans can get overwhelming. /edit
That said, the lowest bills we'll have are in late fall and early spring when I can convince OP to shut off forced heat or air - around $140-$175. Winter range: $275-$300. Summer: $200-275, but with the brutal heat this year, much closer to $275 more recently.
Duke Energy was waaaaaay cheaper. I hated them ("Yes, the power's out again - another squirrel on the line, most probably") but they were dirt cheap compared to paying for everything (as the property had its own well and trash/fire/other was paid for through property taxes).
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I average about $28 CDN in the summer and $21 CDN in the winter. If I was allowed to have an air conditioner, I would happily be spending a little more in the summer.
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A house of 4 people, 1050 sq ft, in a city of 65,000 in the middle of the prairies. The last 7 months, our electricity portion of utilities ranged from $90-$118 CAD (about $70-90 USD). Our computers run 24/7 though. We use A/C only 5-7 days of the year when the outside temp climbs above 35 C. Heat is gas. The city owns and operates the utilities.
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We also have....erm.... "co-op" type power situation where we live now. Small community partnership setup.
So currently, it's roughly USD $100 or less in the summer, and HAS been as much as USD $500 in the winter. I'm curious to see how this winter will be, since we got our dire frightening almost-burn-the-house-down electric fixed, and the HVAC system repaired.
Last place, on a "budget plan" (average all 12 months, and bill accordingly) was about $400 a month, with VASTLY more inefficient HVAC (because the house was older and had more airgaps.) Last place was also a "proper" utility, known for having obnoxious rates and couldn't really do anything about it.
IF you're using incandescent bulbs and NOT a lot of computers and appliances always-on (because we're geeks, and that's kind of an outlier situation in our age group), then swap to LED's and you'll see a pretty nice sized drop.
(Edit: Both places are houses)
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All our lights are either led or fluorescent, and as the f's die I'm replacing them with led. Because it's nearly a desert, we use the clothes dryer about once a month, so our main load is the oven.
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July: $140.
4BR house (plus some partially finished space above & below that we rarely use) in the US midwest, gas heat (radiators, so there's an electric pump I guess), AC on the second floor, whole-house dehumidifier, gas water heater. Winter thermostat settings are 62-70, summer 74-78. Furnace, AC, fridge, and most kitchen appliances are relatively recent -- about 12 years for the furnace and AC, newer for the rest. We have a few computers that are always on, but I don't think they're energy hogs (Mac Mini, iMac, Tivo).