MUD Tax and Utility Bills in Sugar Land (Houston: house, neighborhoods)

[Faster10154]

You guys have always been helpful. So another question for the CD family:

Those living in areas or neighborhoods with a MUD district tax, are the water bills lower?

Specifically, those living in Riverstone in Sugar Land, what is your water bill, electricity and/or gas bills like each MONTH? Also, please specify the size of your house so I get a better picture.

Personally, if I had a 3000 sq. ft house in Riverstone (w/ Sugar Land address), what would my utility bills average each month? Can someone provide a total and a break down (ie. Water bill, Elec. bill, Gas bill)? Thanks!!

[piyf]

Should be a bit lower but a MUD tax can still go to hell first class on United.

[Faster10154]

Anyone else?

[HoustonRonnie]

Asked a friend from there:

Electric bill: $310 in the summer; $180 winter
Water: $139 summer $90 winter (has 6 zone sprinkler system)
Gas: $80 year round.

3200 sq/ft

[ethanw]

I am in Riverstone Mud 128 I believe, in the Sugar Land side.

Electric bill: $280 summer; $100 winter, all my windows are tinted and I have smart energy automated thermostats. The pool equipment is also smart energy stuff (variable speed motors, etc, etc) so it consumes little energy.
Water: $150 summer $80 winter (12 zone sprinkler system and pool)
Gas: $25 summer, $90 winter

5600 sq/ft 2 story house with 2 x 5 tons HVAC units.

For electric and gas it also very much depends on the builder and the energy saving features coming with the house. Age of the house is also important. Water is an absolute mess due to the sewage charges and nothing will save you money there.

[jtothemak]

Why does everyone always ask this stuff? You could have the exact same house across the street from each other and bills with be completely different. There are so many factors that go into this such as do you have a lot of windows face west, how many people live in the home, do you have a pool, is someone home during the day, do you keep lots of lights on, do you keep your temps low or high, do you take a long shower, do you have a sprinkler system, do you water your yard a lot, when it comes to electric it depends what company and what plan you are using, how well was the home constructed, was it build with extra insulation upgrades and ect. ect. Hopefully you get the point.

If the house is too big for you and utilities are high maybe you should have bought a smaller home. A 3000+ sqft house, guess what has big utility bills to go with it. OP if you bills are truly outrageous you can have a professional come in and energy audit your home and when buying the home that is what home inspectors are to help with.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by jtothemak

Why does everyone always ask this stuff?

I assume because they are trying to nail down a monthly budget.

Ronnie

[jtothemak]

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

I assume because they are trying to nail down a monthly budget.

Ronnie

IDK, when I bought my house last year I assumed the worse for utility bills when putting together my budge and when the actual bills came in were half it was a good thing for my finances and had extra money to put in savings.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by jtothemak

IDK, when I bought my house last year I assumed the worse for utility bills when putting together my budge and when the actual bills came in were half it was a good thing for my finances and had extra money to put in savings.

That's what I did two years ago when we built. Under promise and over deliver to yourself.

[gilagri]

i agree that everyone's bill will be different based on size of home, use of electricity, electric provider etc... so my bill will look different than others. but it does provide some point of reference

4100 sq ft 2 story house built in 2012, i work from home so someone is home all day during week, 6 zone sprinkler system, facing west... so back of house where we have wall of windows is shaded

electricity: this summer our bill never went over $139; $103-$139 this spring/summer... i think our last bill (for august) was $134 ... i honestly don't know how our bill is this low... but i'll take it.

water: $99 - $107/mo... sprinklers are automatic... don't know how often they run.

gas: this summer never went over $33... who knows for the winter

our guesstimates for electricity was double this, so i was pleasantly surprised with our electic bill. water and gas was pretty close to our guesstimates when doing budget when we were house hunting.