AIR Con Cost Help (Jacksonville: 2013, house, water heater)

[andycfoster]

We are buying a brand new 2013 home that's about 4000qft over two floors with following setup and I'm trying to pre-plan my budget as best I can.

Energy Saving Features:

* Seer 14 Heat and Cool
* Two compressors Upstairs and Downstairs have own ducting and programmable thermos
* Low E - Vinyl Windows
* Batt / Blown insulation R-Factor of 30
* Batt Insulation exterior walls R factor 11

What do you guess air con costs might be at say this basic setting

8am to 5pm - 79 degrees (out of house should I set it higher?)
5pm to 8am - 75 degrees (in house)

Thanks
Andy

[grayrunner]

Can't estimate the costs until I know more about the ductwork. It's probably going through the attic, which gets really hot in the summer time. Attics down here are really small! You can insulate the ducts, put heat reflective barriers against the walls but I did all that and had no change until I found the hottest spot and put a powered roof fan with a temperature switch.

[EricBoyd]

This is sort of off-topic. I suggest you also upgrade the bathroom exhaust fans to larger/quieter units. That's one thing we overlooked when we built a few years ago, and ended up with the basic, noisy 50CFM Broan fans. I recently upgraded our master bathroom fan to a Panasonic WhisperCeiling 150CFM fan. I also had to install 6" duct to accommodate the extra airflow. It was worth the effort and expense to get this done, but would have been a whole heck of a lot easier to let the builder do it. Heck, even if all you can get them to do is put in the larger ductwork, the replacement of the fan is relatively easy, as long as the lower grade one they install is positioned in such a manner that a larger one can easily take its place.

[andycfoster]

Thanks - really just looking at gut instinct at the moment

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by andycfoster

We are buying a brand new 2013 home that's about 4000qft over two floors with following setup and I'm trying to pre-plan my budget as best I can.

Energy Saving Features:

* Seer 14 Heat and Cool
* Two compressors Upstairs and Downstairs have own ducting and programmable thermos
* Low E - Vinyl Windows
* Batt / Blown insulation R-Factor of 30
* Batt Insulation exterior walls R factor 11

What do you guess air con costs might be at say this basic setting

8am to 5pm - 79 degrees (out of house should I set it higher?)
5pm to 8am - 75 degrees (in house)

Thanks
Andy

Sounds exactly like the specs on my newly built home. Last electric bill I think was $78, but we have a gas cooktop and a gas tankless water heater, but I keep the AC on 74 at all times. Hope this helps.

SS

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by andycfoster

We are buying a brand new 2013 home that's about 4000qft over two floors with following setup and I'm trying to pre-plan my budget as best I can.

Energy Saving Features:

* Seer 14 Heat and Cool
* Two compressors Upstairs and Downstairs have own ducting and programmable thermos
* Low E - Vinyl Windows
* Batt / Blown insulation R-Factor of 30
* Batt Insulation exterior walls R factor 11

What do you guess air con costs might be at say this basic setting

8am to 5pm - 79 degrees (out of house should I set it higher?)
5pm to 8am - 75 degrees (in house)

Thanks
Andy

We have an all-electric somewhat energy efficient house (not the best and far from the worst) - 2900 sf under A/C - single story - built in 1996 and are retired (so we spend more time in the house than people who are working). Our average electric bill is about $325 a month - with big monthly variations. The bill can actually be higher in the winter when we're using heat than in the summer when we're using A/C if it's a cold winter. We keep the A/C at 76 - and the heat at 72. We find those temps comfortable but YMMV. I wouldn't set the A/C higher than 79 when I was out of the house (you'll have potential problems with mold and mildew). Robyn

[Wunderkinder]

I just received my first JEA bill since moving back to Jacksonville, it is right at $450 for the month of which $300 was for electricity, $50 was for the water bill and $100 was for the sewer fee. We have a 5br/4.5ba 4000sq ft brick home my parents had built in 1975. We keep the thermostat right at 72° all day/night long because my wife being from Munich, Germany hasn't acclimated to the Florida heat yet. I do plan on adding another AC unit that only cools the 2 back bedrooms and the family room zoned cooling it's called I think(we didn't have anything like it in Germany) I also plan on adding a separate water meter for the irrigation system to cut down on the sewer fees