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Looking at a house built in 2008 that has 2000 sq feet and the average light bill is $400. The light company says the average bill for a 2000 sq foot house in my area (Clearwater FL) is $200, so it's double in this house.
Home facts:
4 b/4 ba
2000 sq feet
2 A/C units/2 floors
all block construction
gas stove
gas water heater
no pool
spanish tile roof
Everything else about the home seems fine, but this is a major worry. I am thinking there must be something wrong with the home.......but what could it be, after all, it's NEW! Aren't new homes supposed to be up to energy codes and super efficient??? I have never called on a home before and been told that the bill was so high (I do this on every home I look at); have you all ever encountered this before? I do not want to buy a home that is going to have $400 bills; I think if I got a $400 bill I'd have to be helicoptered to the ER!
May depend on the previous occupants electrical usage habits. Perhaps they ran the AC constantly at low temps?
Exactly!! You have no idea what their usage was like so maybe they are the type of people who have thier AC on all the time, lights on in one room, TV on in another, etc.
Maybe they are running grow lights for some "special" plants...
Seriously, while they could be growing pot, they could also be avid hunters or buy cows by the side so they have several chest freezers running. Maybe someone has really bad allergies and they are running ion filters all day. Maybe they have a water bed. Maybe they have a hot tub.
I'd find out why the electricity bill is so high from the seller. If it something that you wouldn't do, such as have a water bed, then you can lower those bills.
Exactly!! You have no idea what their usage was like so maybe they are the type of people who have thier AC on all the time, lights on in one room, TV on in another, etc.
Ditto
I would suggest you ask if:
the windows are dual pane
the thermostats are programmable
the insulation grade is walls and roof
if there is attic ventilation
how big the water heater is
number of freezes/frigs' running
temp at which the previous owners kept the house summer and winter
appliances left running all the time (TV, computers, etc.)
All these will affect bills. I live in AZ and get an occasional bill over $300 in the hottest part of summer (2711 SF). My last one, however, was $88.
The biggest factors on an older house is poor insulation, an old inefficient AC unit and if the house has a pool.
This is Trifecta of a high energy bill along with as mentioned above personal usage.
When people move from the north to the warmer climates it can take a couple of summers and high bills before they acclimatize and adjust their AC to a higher setting.
Well this might be humorous,bought a foreclosed home in Ct.We have daughter in Enfield.
We had electric turned on 9/1/09,they charge $16 for 0 usage,Sept 0,$16.In Oct contractor replaced roof structure over garage over 10 day period.The house is still winterized empty wall to wall,pipes blown out,antifreeze,no heat etc.
Electric bill $88 405 kwh.This as much as my sisters home and more than daughters home,protested had meter replaced said meter tested 100.028 percent on test???This woud equate to $400 plus bill??Scared to occupy.
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