[willow wind]

I think the electric bill depends upon what we're talking about when we say " electric bill". Many, many homes in the South are on electric heat pumps for a total, all electric house.

I have several friends and relatives in SC whose large, newer ( 2700 square foot plus ) homes have summer electric + cooling bills of $ 200 a month and winter bills ( electric + heating ) of $ 250-300 a month. They all need neither heat nor central air for six months of the year and then their regular electric bills are $ 65 or so a month. It is quite a utility saving over the North East.

[bobtn]

Originally Posted by willow wind

I think the electric bill depends upon what we're talking about when we say " electric bill". Many, many homes in the South are on electric heat pumps for a total, all electric house.

I have several friends and relatives in SC whose large, newer ( 2700 square foot plus ) homes have summer electric + cooling bills of $ 200 a month and winter bills ( electric + heating ) of $ 250-300 a month. They all need neither heat nor central air for six months of the year and then their regular electric bills are $ 65 or so a month. It is quite a utility saving over the North East.

It is largely a factor of TVA rates keeping Southeastern utility rates per kw low. If I recall correctly, Ct ranks 3rd most expensive per kw hour nationally. I have family in Milford in a very small home who pay $400-500 per month regularly in the winter for less than 1,000 sq feet of living space. Jane_smith was correct, in that utilities and property taxes are the big differnce makers. Our towns are required to reset mill rates DOWN after revaluations to neutralize the property taxes, so as not to obtain a "hidden increase". This means full hearings are required for any town trying to gain revenue from revaluation. In other words, if revaluation drove the values up 20%, and the old mill rate was 25, it automatically becomes 20 (25 * (100% -20% increase in Grand List value)).

[Christine7910]

willow wind, I beg to differ. I lived in SC had a brand new house that was about 1600sf and my electric bill was always around $100 or over all year round. My God if I did not have the air on in the 110+ summers and it was in the 80's to 90's in Jan, Feb and March as well. I hardly used the heat.

I also lived in a 2700sf (newer) house in Asheville, NC which had electric and gas for heating and Still paid $200+ a month all year round. In the winter my electric went down, but gas went up and in summer electric went up and gas went down.

I lived in an apartment and still paid over $100 a month for electric.

No place is perfect. It all depends on what you are willing to with with and with out. For me I rather pay a little more in bills/taxes and be around my family and friends and have a lot of this available to me then live here in Asheville with no family/friends and have to drive hours to do a lot of things.

[willow wind]

Geography, Christine, Geography. SC as you must know has several different regions with very different weather. Some of my family & friends are in the Greenville area and are more likely to get winter ice storms and never seen 80's, 90's in winter, more like 40-60. . Others are in Aiken where it's been in the 20's at night this week and 50's during the day.

Yes, in the Low Country you'll suffer from the summer heat and winters are very mild. In Columbia, it's **ll on earth in the summer with over 100 degree heat for months on end. But the whole state is not like that.

[Humanista]

Originally Posted by Christine7910

willow wind, I beg to differ. I lived in SC had a brand new house that was about 1600sf and my electric bill was always around $100 or over all year round. My God if I did not have the air on in the 110+ summers and it was in the 80's to 90's in Jan, Feb and March as well. I hardly used the heat.

I also lived in a 2700sf (newer) house in Asheville, NC which had electric and gas for heating and Still paid $200+ a month all year round. In the winter my electric went down, but gas went up and in summer electric went up and gas went down.

I lived in an apartment and still paid over $100 a month for electric.

No place is perfect. It all depends on what you are willing to with with and with out. For me I rather pay a little more in bills/taxes and be around my family and friends and have a lot of this available to me then live here in Asheville with no family/friends and have to drive hours to do a lot of things.

I live in the metro Atlanta and have a similar experience. My gas bill might be about $35 in the summer, but my electric bill can get to $150. In the winter, it's the reverse. I might have a few months - October and maybe March/April where I can expect to pay around $80 combine, but I don't remember ever getting lower than that over the last 12 years. My townhome is only about 2200 sf.

[jmarkey]

Here's our experience, if it helps any.

We moved from CT to GA back in 1990. We had two young children and we were getting squeezed financially. Cost of living in GA gave us lots of breathing room. Much lower expenses all around and we were able to get a big enough house for a great price. BUT.....I missed the northeast. So back we went in 2000.

I loved being back in CT and having friends and family around. But after a couple of years, we're finding things are getting tight financially again. (Home heating oil in the winter was one huge expense.) We had no children at home any more, so we moved to Tennessee. We found it totally different from GA and we fell in love with the Knoxville area. Four distinct seasons (summer can get hot for awhile, but nothing like the Augusta, GA area), WONDERFUL people, cost of living a little bit higher than GA but very comfortable and it's so beautiful there near the Smoky Mountains.

There are going to be changes no matter where you move to. Some are hard to adapt to (I'm just never going be a Southerner - I spent all my life as a Yankee and I love that culture.) But you may find an area where the changes are worth the move and the lighter load on your wallet.

[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by jp03

Hey, since people who move to North Carolina are considered "half-backs" if you move to Deleware I guess you would be considered a "quarter back". Don't go further south because of a few snowstorms..the summer heat will get ya. Never judge a place during the harshest season.

"Quarterback" - I like the sound of that. I agree, the places with the nicer winters are just too hot in the summer. Delaware is a nice compromise, climate-wise. A few years back, a study was done in Delaware re: who moves there for retirement and just about all of the people came from NJ, PA and MD, with a smaller percentage coming from NY and points north. Just about no one moved north to Delaware to retire. And when Delawareans move after retirement, it was to the Carolinas and desert southwest. I believe there is a good place for most of us; it is just a matter of finding it. And, of course, some people will never be happy anywhere.

[urbanmyth]

I've lived in the South for 25 years...all of my adult life. I grew up in CT.

The short answer is: stay north of DC in my opinion.

Of course, this depends on your personal perspective...family ties, political and religious outlooks. What you save in terms of taxes you will lose in quality of education, access to public recreation, clean drinking water and air, literate neighbors, quality healthcare, etc.. There are pockets of sanity in the sunny South...but living in the Charlottes, the Raleigh-Durhams, Atlantas etc., is a like living in a bubble. Some cities are genuinely interesting, like Asheville, Wilmington, Chapel Hill, Davidson, Charleston, Athens and Savannah but overall, expect more "beige"....chain restaurants and stores, mega-churches, and people who don't get out much, than you find back home.

[urbanmyth]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Agreed on the Research Triangle suggestion. Wake County has a very high quality of life with high educational attainment, solid job growth, higher incomes, etc with a lower cost of living. The downside is it has a LOT of growth.

....bd growth too...sprawl. God help you if you don't own a car....which is an expensive commodity these days. if you want to have to drive every where (and we aren'tbtalking about a few miles), move to the South. Some cities, the Charlotte region, are trying to build less automobile dependent cities, but overall, perpare to drive...a lot. Speaking of Charlotte, of all the cities we've lived in in the South, Charlotte had the most benign weather....not too hot, too cold, or too stormy.

[urbanmyth]

Originally Posted by Esperanita

I left the northeast 12 years ago to move to GA and would love to move back to the northeast. Although cost of living in GA might be less, you definitely get what you pay for. My main issue with this area is the culture (or lack there of) and the lack of progressiveness.

if I had lived further South than Charlotte, I'd give up living. I picked up a pizza industry magazine recently...the state with the most independently owned and operated pizzerias is CT. If you want to get your pizza from Dominos, move to Georgia. If you want real food, stay in the North.