What is your utility bill? (Birmingham, Huntsville: townhome, live in, costs)

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by milledj

Our first Habitat "Green" house with an occupant -- actually an active family of 5 -- got their bill -- $50 for the month of July. Not bad! (Athens City)

$50/mo ??? !!! Does that include everything?

Is that subsidized?

[Charles]

My total Huntsville Utilities (gas, electric, water, trash/garbage, sewer) was around $260. I don't think I'll ever be able to remember the difference between trash and garbage.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

$50/mo ??? !!! Does that include everything?

Is that subsidized?

Whoa, hold it there... I saw that Habitat house: it's ONE level SMALL house. Yes, it's true is new and energy efficient, but its efficiency also lies in SIZE. What is it? 1500 sft, 1700? I would be shocked if it was larger than that.- I'm talking about the "model" house that was referenced on this website couple months ago by the poster from Florence.
And the other thing, as the poster said, they have a different utility provider than HsvU (rates?)
Plus, take into consideration people's thermostat preference, say 73 vs 78 degrees. it makes a diff.

[Sarges Dad]

I built an 1800 sq ft house this time so I could afford to heat and cool it when I retire. I do not need a big house. Tstat is set on 74. If my daughter ever moves out bill will drop quit a bit. Big houses do NOT impress me. Cash in the bank for hard times does.

[milledj]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

$50/mo ??? !!! Does that include everything?

Is that subsidized?

No, that is everything. That is one great thing about building green... No subsidizing, either. 5 occupants. 3 BR, 2 BA, 1170 SF. Isn't that great?

[milledj]

Originally Posted by friday13

Whoa, hold it there... I saw that Habitat house: it's ONE level SMALL house. Yes, it's true is new and energy efficient, but its efficiency also lies in SIZE. What is it? 1500 sft, 1700? I would be shocked if it was larger than that.- I'm talking about the "model" house that was referenced on this website couple months ago by the poster from Florence.
And the other thing, as the poster said, they have a different utility provider than HsvU (rates?)
Plus, take into consideration people's thermostat preference, say 73 vs 78 degrees. it makes a diff.

If you saw the one in Florence, come by our house in Athens. We are building 3 of them now. The bedrooms are quite small, but the living room/dining room/kitchen is very nice. Everyone loves them. Bay window in the living room gives extra space, two very nice porches.
Yes, they aren't the McMansions that we are so used to seeing. But I could live in one very easily. No wasted hallway space helps a great deal, and combining functions in a flexible, open plan also helps with space.

I think some of us (me included, not a criticism of anyone) need to adjust our spacial perception of homes. (Read Sarah Susanka's books, for example). We waste a lot of space. And when I watch some of the shows on TV, most California and NY homes are no bigger than Habitat homes... some smaller (NY apartments, CA bungalows).

Something to think about.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by milledj

If you saw the one in Florence, come by our house in Athens. We are building 3 of them now. The bedrooms are quite small, but the living room/dining room/kitchen is very nice. Everyone loves them. Bay window in the living room gives extra space, two very nice porches.
Yes, they aren't the McMansions that we are so used to seeing. But I could live in one very easily. No wasted hallway space helps a great deal, and combining functions in a flexible, open plan also helps with space.

I think some of us (me included, not a criticism of anyone) need to adjust our spacial perception of homes. (Read Sarah Susanka's books, for example). We waste a lot of space. And when I watch some of the shows on TV, most California and NY homes are no bigger than Habitat homes... some smaller (NY apartments, CA bungalows).

Something to think about.

The house I saw was in Athens (on the street, building was going on in the back), I was referring to "the poster from Florence" -thought you were from Florence. My bad.
I was just telling the folks here that $50 bill was not for a big house (and you saw the shock in their posts) - and you confirmed it 1200sqft. I did not in any way make comments about small being bad. I do agree with you: smart layout, no wasted space is better. That's my our next home will be a one-level (I do not sleep/spend time on the staircase).

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by milledj

No, that is everything. That is one great thing about building green... No subsidizing, either. 5 occupants. 3 BR, 2 BA, 1170 SF. Isn't that great?

That is still pretty darn good of utility rate.

My first house in California was a ranch style house, 3 br, 1 ba, ~1,200 sq. ft.. That was 20 yrs ago and I can't imagine a utility bill that's $50/mo.

If you think about it, heating/ cooling cost is not directly relate to the square feet of a house, but the surface area of a house (L X W X H + roof area), so it's not a 1:1 comparison (say 1,200 vs. 3,600 sq. ft).

[friday13]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

If you think about it, heating/ cooling cost is not directly relate to the square feet of a house, but the surface area of a house (L X W X H + roof area), so it's not a 1:1 comparison (say 1,200 vs. 3,600 sq. ft).

I'm no "fluid mechanics" engineer (nor any other type of engineer), but I thought we were ACing a volume, not a surface. 3600 sft is still larger by surface, or volume than a 1200 sft.

And a 2-story with a high-ceiling staircase (1floor-to-the 2nd floor-ceiling) is definitely a waste of resources.And a highly fragmented floor plan (4-wall enclosures) is definitely not the most AC efficient, couple that with the location of the thermostat. Just my utility bill...

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by friday13

I'm no "fluid mechanics" engineer (nor any other type of engineer), but I thought we were ACing a volume, not a surface. 3600 sft is still larger by surface, or volume than a 1200 sft.

And a 2-story with a high-ceiling staircase (1floor-to-the 2nd floor-ceiling) is definitely a waste of resources.And a highly fragmented floor plan (4-wall enclosures) is definitely not the most AC efficient, couple that with the location of the thermostat. Just my utility bill...

I am not a 'HVAC' engineer myself, but this is what I was thinking...

Initially, you're correct that we are ACing a volume of air inside of house as we cool the whole place down to a thermostat setpoint temperature. Then throughout the day & the evening, it is the heat coming into the house that the AC is cooling. The heat comes in from the 4 walls, plus the roof (for sake of argument we can eliminate ground if we have concrete foundation for now), those heat in turn warms the air in the house which triggers the AC to turn back on to cool them down.

But lots of factors can affect the rate of heat coming into a house, e.g., wall insulation effectiveness, shades, air humidity, etc., so it's not strictly a house surface area relationship.

So here's an interesting exercies, for a same square footage house, which one will have a lower cooling bill, the one-story or a 2-story house?