Electric bill in Az very expensive (Phoenix, Surprise: homes, to buy, maintenance)

[shiraz72]

Talked to someone today & they told me the electric bill in thier home is $800 a month in summer for a newer 2 story home in Surprise, Az. That is crazy, should you expect a $400 electric bill for a one story home?

[PoppySead]

So many threads on this, you can search the threads, but it really depends on age, how it's built and your habits. Most of the homes I've lived in were 10 years or older and yes, pretty expensive. My one story, 4 bedroom was about 450, 500 in the summer. My monsterous 2 story is 2800sf, it's a monster only because the electric bill in the summer is 650. I also have a pool in this one. But, the new builds are pretty energy star now and it's a lot less. Some peoples are lower some higher. It all depends. I think i've had some very leaky homes, not very efficient.

[shiraz72]

Thank you poppy seed. how many months out of the year should it be like $440 a month? what temp is that putting the electric on? We will have a one story trying to buy a home build after 2000.

[rjrcm]

Your friends home is either very energy inefficient, or they keep the A/C temp very low. As said there are a lot of variables to consider.

[Ponderosa]

My monthly budget plan bill is now less than my cell phone bill! If you have time of day rate, stick to the hours, and keep the thermostat near 80 in the summer, your average bill will be around $200 per month - up to 300 in July/Aug/Sep billings and around 100 at the lowest time which is now. You can manage to spend a lot more, but probably not a lot less than that.

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by shiraz72

Talked to someone today & they told me the electric bill in thier home is $800 a month in summer for a newer 2 story home in Surprise, Az. That is crazy, should you expect a $400 electric bill for a one story home?

Welcome to Phoenix! That sounds about right for Phoenix. The older homes will carry higher electric bills due to their single pane windows and lack of insulation. Newer homes have better dual pane windows and higher insulation so you will have lower electric bills in those type of homes.

Does that home have a pool? Most likely it does.

Everyone who moves to Phoenix wants a pool but as they soon discover, their electric bill skyrockets with pools. Not to mention the cost of maintenance. Everyone I know has lived with a pool would NO LONGER ever buy a home with a pool. Except for the wealthy people, as they don't care what they pay for electricity.

[shiraz72]

Thanks this is great help, my husband likes to keep the electric on about 72 degrees year round. And we are not going with a pool for sure.

[shiraz72]

Btw when you say older homes what year would that be? what year on would be considered newer? We are going to buy a one story approx 1200 sq foot.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by shiraz72

Thanks this is great help, my husband likes to keep the electric on about 72 degrees year round. And we are not going with a pool for sure.

72 is going to cost you. Depending on where you come from, you may find that you don't need it so cool because the air is much driier and ceiling fans really help make it feel better. Anyway, take the numbers I gave you above and add about 5% for every degree you go below 80 on your summer settings.

[shiraz72]

thanks makes sense