I'm trying to get an idea about home much an average utility bill would be for a new construction, 2 story, 2700 sq ft house in Springfield would be.
Can anyone give me a ball park range? Thanks a lot!
Well i only have Central AC on the 2nd floor, with a large window unit for the first floor. it ranges in the summer from 250-320. With Central AC throughout i'm sure its at least 350+.
For an existing SRG home, 2900 sq.ft. large lot, about 300-350/month.
good golly that's a lot of money. mine's about half that now.
The sample I gave has a large yard but they do have a separate irrigation system. They may not be efficient in their usage of utilities and may have no CFL's (which can seriously reduce costs). It was the only address I could think of that was new and similar in size.
Also they may be keeping the central AC on 71 all the time! Now I personally have no problem whatsoever with somebody doing that if they are willing to pay the bill.. but it is a lot cheaper to keep it on 77.
I can't do 77 personally, I find that too hot inside. I used to keep it at 72, but now I'm doing 74. It's still gets a little hot for me sometimes but we're adjusting nicely and saving on utilities.
Quote from: Tripoli1711 on June 03, 2009, 04:48:39 PM
Also they may be keeping the central AC on 71 all the time! Now I personally have no problem whatsoever with somebody doing that if they are willing to pay the bill.. but it is a lot cheaper to keep it on 77.
I don't care what it costs, this is freakin' FLORIDA. How can you have it like 80 degrees inside the house and still be anywhere close to comfortable??? 72/73 is the top end of the range in summer for me. My T-stat is normally set around 69. I like it cold.
my utilities in the summer usually cost around 300 a month. I am experimenting with some fans in the room I occupy most. Hopefully that will lower the amount of ac I use during the summer, but we will see how that goes. I'm sure mid july I will be throwing those bad boys away and turning the thermostat down to 69
i keep mine on 78-84, it's plenty cool with fans usually.
Quote from: fsu813 on June 03, 2009, 11:42:18 PM
i keep mine on 78-84, it's plenty cool with fans usually.
84??? Wow. I'd die. I'd surely leave extra money to my heirs, that I didn't give to JEA, but I'd die of heat stroke. LOL
I have acclimated to moving my thermostat up to 74-75. For me it is more about humidity indoors than the temperature. I get tired of being damp and moist all the time. :)
There is a federal guideline somewhere that says for this area, 68 in the winter and 78 in the summer is the best energy efficiency. For the most part it works. In the Summer, if you work in an office all day with the A/C cranked up, you would normally want it cooler, but if you work outside most of the time, then even 80 to 84 is cool when you've been in 95 plus all day.
QuoteThere is a federal guideline somewhere
Thankfully... for now at least... it is just a guideline.
FSU813 if you keep your AC at 78-84 your bill will be low in a new house. My bill was always below $200 in a SRG house that I rented and that was with five people living there.
84 during the day when i'm away. 76-78 when i'm inside. works like a charm.
You guys are crazy with your 78 degrees...pffffffffffffffft
I guess I must be warm-blooded or something. Anything over 72 just gets progressively more uncomfortable.
I went out of town a few days and turned my hot water heater off - My bill was about $40 lower than normal. I don't contribute all of that to the hot water heater as I started to keep more appliances unplugged, etc.
But for the month of June, I will test this some more by turning the hot water off when I head to work. I turn it back on just before bedtime as there is still plenty of hot water to use for the evening. We shall see.
anything over 72?
you must not venture outside 10 months out of the year.
QuoteI went out of town a few days and turned my hot water heater off - My bill was about $40 lower than normal. I don't contribute all of that to the hot water heater as I started to keep more appliances unplugged, etc.
But for the month of June, I will test this some more by turning the hot water off when I head to work. I turn it back on just before bedtime as there is still plenty of hot water to use for the evening. We shall see.
Sigma I have been doing this for over six months now and the savings are significant. Last shower in the morning flips the hot water circuit breaker and the first one home resets the breaker. Plenty of hot water. Just dont forget to reset the breaker... you will have a cold morning shower... :D
Quote from: fsu813 on June 05, 2009, 03:05:32 PM
anything over 72?
you must not venture outside 10 months out of the year.
Nah, I go outside a lot. That's different, because there's wind, noise, air moving around you, etc. It's easier to get comfortable than inside a closed space, where there's no breeze or open air.
To get comfortable enough inside, especially if I'm moving around or drying to dry off from taking a shower, or cooking, etc., there's no way it can be 78 degrees. I honestly don't know how you'd get comfy that way. To each their own.
I keep the AC at off position and turn it one for short period by manually set the target temperature to be one degree (or even half a degree) lower than current. Your body will adjust pretty quick. I do not remember the last time my bill get above 300 in the summer. My house is about 2000sqft.
We have 2350 sq ft and a typical summer (June-September) bill is $275-$300, depending on how much we have to run the irrigation. We do have a separate meter.
Electric alone last month ran a little over $200 with two AC units. We have a 3-year-old SRG home, keep our outside lights on at night, and keep the AC around 78. Turning off the ceiling fans in rooms we don't use, running only one outside light front and back reduced the bill last year about $60 during the summer.
In the non-summer months it goes down to around $200 at the low point.
Hope that helps!