Something around $40 with no AC. You people with the sub $20 bills must live somewhere with reasonable electric fees…I pay $22 or so for the ability to have electricity.
When I lived in Miami, I was paying close to $80 a month in the hot months (8 out of 12 months during the year) and about $40/month during the rest of the year. I had a 700 sq ft, one-bedroom and lived alone.
I’m curious about what I’ll be paying now.
3 bedroom 1.5 bath 1700 sf leaky old Queen Anne. It varies from 50-120 dollars a month, depending on weather. That’s running window units downstairs and just fans up.
Wow, we must be getting screwed royally in Las Vegas (as lvgeogeek mentioned)…I have 1695 square feet, fairly new house, thick insulation…electric bill during June/July/August is $250-300 at least per month. An ex-coworker has a somewhat larger house and her bill is close to $400-500 per month! Granted, this is in Las Vegas where the heat in the summer is a tad warm, but we have our A/C set at 81 degrees! I don’t consider that excessive.
BTW, my cousin told me to keep the fan on my central air on full time - he claims that my (two story) house will keep the cool air circulating and lower my bill. I figure what have I got to lose?
I live alone, but have a big TV and two computers, amongst the normal stuff. And in winter I have an electric heater running several hours a day.
I pay on average around AU$60 a month. Higher in winter, but lower in summer.
DMark the bigger houses and most two story houses that have been built in the last 15 or so years have two AC units. That can add quite a bit to the power bills. I know people here who have $500/month power bills in the summer, but mainly because they run the AC(s) at 72 F all day and everyday from the first day it goes over 80 F in the spring and keep it on until sometime in September.
That and the fact that Nevada Power/ Sierra Pacific are dirty rotten bastards. Las Vegas used to have better electric rates before Sierra Pacific bought Nevada Power. Now there are shareholders to appease ad more bloated upper management that need their fat paychecks. I just saw a thing on the news last week that one of the upper management CEO at Nevada Power gets 750000.00/year in salary plus has a 5.5 million dollar compensation package.
Butte MT, mild May 2006 combined electric & gas was $180. 1100 sq ft house, 2 story, 2 adults, good insulation, new gas furnace set at 65F, 1 computer, associated peripherals, TV, fridge, etc. etc.
Las Vegas, hot as hell May 2007 electric bill is $178. Gas is $24. 1795 sq ft house, 2 story, good insulation, 2 adults, hot tub, 2 a/c units set at 72F, 3 computers, associated peripherals, TV, fridge, etc. etc.
So far, so good. This fall, I will re-evaluate my attitude by comparing the August in Vegas bill to the January in Montana bill.
Does anyone know what would happen if we turned on the hot tub only when we plan to use it?
My electric bill is always a whopper! I live in a Gold Medal All-Electric House, built in the late sixties/early seventies. It’s a 4 bedroom split-level house with - get this! - radiant heating in the ceiling. Tiny wires running just inside the ceiling in all the rooms trying to push out enough heat to make it down to the people zone.
I keep the thermostats to 62 deg. F year-round, use compact florescent bulbs wherever possible, conserve on hot water uses, close off unused rooms, etc. Summer: $300/mo. Winter: $7-800/mo. We don’t have any AC.
I’m told forced-air won’t work because of the split-level design without major work required.
Whew.
I’d take a look at baseboard heat. It can be added to houses without tearing out the walls or adding duct work. My house has no ducts, either. We have hot water radiators.
I thought I was the only sucker on earth with radiant electrical heat in the ceiling of 2 rooms - den and dining rooms. Sorry to see you in the club, wonderlust.
To make it worse, the assholes here in CT voted for deregulation of electric. (I didn’t) The prices, thought the idiots, would go dwn. Hah! Mine more than doubled.
I live in a 2200 sq ft 3 bedroom standalone house by myself. My electric bill runs between $30-$40/month. That’s with all electric appliances except the furnace (natural gas). I’m very stingy with my electricity use and I don’t have an air conditioner. Plus, I think the electricity rates are a bit lower than average here, though I’ve been averaging 10kWhr/day lately.