Southern Maryland to San Diego - advice?

[Clevelandgal]

When we lived downtown in a rented condo, water was included in our rent. Our electric (heat and ac) was 40-75 a month. We never turned the heat on except for a few minutes to take the chill out. I think we got insulation from next door condos. We did use the air at night in summer and fall, but sometimes it was because we had to close windows due to noise from people out by the pool which was outside our patio. I know in other areas people do the same to drown street noise ( we had none thankfully as our neighborhood was pretty quiet-cortez hill).

We live on the beach in a single fam house (small) now and pre heat wave our first full gas/electric was $33, the next $35.We moved in late May and actually had to turn the heat on a few nights. In mid July things heated up and have stayed warm and humid and I am ashamed to say, we have put the air on almost every night....still only $66 is the highest bill. So not bad. Now granted downtown and the beach are cooler, so ac functions mostly as an awesome dehumidifier, whereas inland its going to cost more due to it being hotter.

Keep in mind water costs more here than other areas. It may be included in rent. Since we bought, We now pay for water, and it is billed every other month, and our bill for 2 people plus succulent garden and citrus (no grass)is around 70. In Cleveland we paid 12-18 a month! I guess I should have honored the Great Lakes a little more.

[tonyinsd]

The biggest electric bill I've ever had is around $25. Now granted, I have a fairly small place, around 500 square feet. But there's no reason you'd run up a huge bill if you just do simple, logical things like turning off the lights, shutting your computer and entertainment system down completely by turning it off at the power strip when you're out of the home, and so on.