Utilities in Northeast Philadelphia (Modena: insurance, homes, square footage)

[misty2088]

We already live in the Northeast part of Philadelphia in Modena Park, a three floor end unit home (about 1600 square feet). My utilites were very expensive last winter and we kept the thermostat the lowest ever.

We are looking around the corner at a two story home (about 900 square feet) and was curious as to if we would see a big enough savings to make the move worth it.

Both use PGW's gas to heat the home.

Thank you.

[ajb842]

I would assume that the less square footage you have, the less your bill might be BUT this may or may not be true depending on how efficient the heating and windows are. For example, I live in a 1000sq foot home, so only a little more than what you're looking at, and my gas bill last winter was about 250-265/month. My electric was about 100-130/month. I don't know what it was for your 1600sq ft home, but if it was similar, this may just be the effects of rising gas costs and there's not a whole lot of difference to be made by moving. However, to downsize from 1600sq ft to 900sq ft is huge....you may want to weigh that as well. Consider getting space heaters and using up your electric instead of the gas. You will have to turn on the gas if it gets really cold, but we had a pretty mild winter this past year and you could keep the thermostat on 50 and then use space heaters. It seems this is the common practice in many Philadelphia homes as they are older and less efficient with heating and air conditioning.

[misty2088]

Excellent point about windows and heating unit.

Thank you.

[misty2088]

Could some people share with me a little bit of information about their utilities. Like what type of home, where in Philadelphia, square footage, end or middle unit, condition of heater and windows and most importantly what they spend to heat their home in the winter and what temperature they leave their thermostat on.

I went on the budget plan this year and still owe about $1,000 dollars. I am very serious on possibly moving to try and cut some where.

[Hillrunner]

Originally Posted by misty2088

Could some people share with me a little bit of information about their utilities. Like what type of home, where in Philadelphia, square footage, end or middle unit, condition of heater and windows and most importantly what they spend to heat their home in the winter and what temperature they leave their thermostat on.

I went on the budget plan this year and still owe about $1,000 dollars. I am very serious on possibly moving to try and cut some where.

If your looking for an extreme lowering of your utility costs then I would recommend moving out of the City. You would immediatly see a severe decrease. Your gas and electric would be through PECO and your water from AQUA PA. Your insurance rates would also drop quite a bit also.