Utility Info please (Cookeville: real estate, house, new construction)

[mia_magination]

I know there have been posts in the past regarding the cost of utilities in the Cookeville area but I am fairly limited to my computer use right now so I will just have to ask.

Here in Florida we pay nearly $300/month in the winter/spring and close to $500 in summer for electric alone, and roughly $80/month on water, sewer, trash etc. My house is very small (only 1000sqft currently) and I am curious, we are looking to build a home that is around 2600sqft. up there and would love to hear what some are paying in utilities.

My husband is in the process of being declared disabled and we would like to be settled somewhere that we could enjoy. Money thankfully is taken care of but we don't want to live with rediculously high bills anymore. We just want to start enjoying life now that it is so drastically changing for us.

Any help is great, thanks!

[AmberFlynn]

Yes, the previous thread had some more definite numbers, I believe. I'm happy to repost mine (though hubby through away the bill, so I'm kinda going by memory). Our last bill was the highest it's been -- $330 for electric, gas, and water. If you live in the city limits, or an annexed portion, all of those utilities will be on one bill from the city. I'm thinking my gas was about $130 of that -- I have dual fuel heat where it's electric down to like 36deg or something, then it switches to gas heat. It's been really cold lately. I also have a gas cooktop. Our home is a year old and about 3,000sqft with a full unfinished basement that gets minimal airflow. With new construction, you tend to see lower utilities (if it's well built) because of the strides made in insulation. HTH!!

[Sparkman]

Our first year here, 3600 sq ft house w/o a basement, but master bedroom is over the garage. This bills is our highest one, about $375 for all utilities. We had gas bills of over $500 in the winter in Il, so this isn't all that bad.

[mia_magination]

That is great! Thanks so much, I am trying to make sure it would be cost effective to build and I need to know what I am getting myself into.

I don't use heat here in Florida but maybe 1-2 hours a day and maybe 6 hours a night but only for about a month and our bills are much higher than what the usual quote is for Tennessee.

I can't wait to start building I have my eye on a property I believe is just outside city limits but it is so beautiful

[AmberFlynn]

I blogged about our building process - not sure I can share the link?? It's completely from a homeowner point of view (I wasn't even in real estate then). Anyway, we loved the building process, though it's exhausting and challenging, we found it well worth it. Let me know if you need any tips

PS - property just outside the city limits probably isn't all that far from town...

[AmberFlynn]

Ok, got my utility bill today.

Four people, good size house, I cook pretty much everyday, and my kids take the longest showers imaginable. Plus don't forget we're freezing to death here and have had snow, snow, and more snow... so considering, I think it's pretty good...

Total: $308.34

Electric: $141.14 - 1823 kwh used
Gas: $139.09 - 127 ccf used
Water: $24.09 - 80 gal used

$1.52 for water storage rate and $2.50 in taxes.

[mia_magination]

Amber, so funny about the showers! That sounds fantastic! I would LOVE it if you could dm me the info on your builder if allowed.

Thanks!

[Wordy]

I want Amber's bill.

Mine was $636. I'm too depressed to check for the breakdown but it's usually about $100 of water and sewer and then the rest is gas and electric.

My house is about 4000 sf or a little less and we have 6 people living here. Someone is ALWAYS here.

I need to go turn the heat down even lower now...we keep it at 63 during the day when the children are not home and 59 at night..67 or 68 (max) when everyone is home in the late afternoon/evening.