Utility bills in Indiana?? (new house, buy, schools)

[CravenClan]

We are in So. Cal and looking into relocating to Indiana...while i have done lots of research on homes, schools and other stuff...can anyone give me "rough" estimates on utilities & water??

I know the winters are COLD, so are the bills HUGE??? Summers, need a/c??

Maybe those of you, that will respond can tell me:
1. size of home
2. Average bills in the hottest & coldest months
3. Propane or Natural gas??

Then i can go from there...here our electricity bill is DOUBLE the cost per watt than our home in Arizona, and it is way hotter there than here...so any help would be GREAT!!!

[gtrman]

Originally Posted by CravenClan

We are in So. Cal and looking into relocating to Indiana...while i have done lots of research on homes, schools and other stuff...can anyone give me "rough" estimates on utilities & water??

Welcome (in advance)! First, it's not *that* cold here, but everything is relative I guess. This isn't Minnesota or Cleveland. We had a pretty mild summer, and I rarely ran the A/C at all in my 2 story 4BD/2Bath house. I didn't have an electric bill much over $100 all summer. It was unseasonably cool though. Still, you're a Southern Californian, so you'd likely be happy with attic fans and/or box fans for a good bit of the time.

Water/sewer bills are around $35 for us.

Winter will be higher bills. Natural gas prices are up something like 30% and we have an older unit. We're going to keep things cooler than usual and hope to keep the bills at $150 and lower.

Prices will be insanely lower than what you're used to in California across the board. Name the item and it's lower, other than maybe oranges.

Good luck!

[sweetana3]

We have a tall and narrow urban house(1500 plus 750 finished basement). Electric is $90 which is year round due to electrical equipment of hubby. It includes AC which is run on a programmable thermostat and we keep it on the high side using fans. I could get it down to $60 but hubby would not be happy. He loves his air cleaners, dehumidifyer, and all his electric junk.

Natural gas for cooking, water heat, and house heat. We did replace all heating/AC with a good Trane and now the bill is $32 expected to go up to $50 or $60 a month due to increases. Now we keep it cool and use afghans and socks.

The Trane furnace and AC made all the difference in the total comfort of the home. Great investment.

Now if you buy a 3000+ foot home with cathedral ceilings, costs will go up and maybe someone else can post.

[Michelle Morris]

My costs for a 2000+ sq ft home are about $90 for gas ( we ar eon a budget bill, where they average your costs and you pay that all year long so you don't go broke in the winter) our electric is usually in the $70's but on the hotter days in the summer it can go up to the $90's. Water is under 30 for my family of 4.

[CravenClan]

Thanks so much, and you are right MUCH cheaper than here!!!!

It is HOT here, we are in Temecula, and 3-4 months out of the year it is easily 105-110 degrees in the summer, so our air runs. I stay home and have a babies that still nap, so we keep our air at about 75-76..and our HIGHEST bill this year was $490. We have a brand new house, great efficiency but it is also 4200 sq. ft. Water is about $75, with a pool, and our gas (natural) runs $60-90...we will see what the winter is like, it gets CHILLY here, in the mornings it can be about 28 degrees, YIKES!!!

I think it also depends on the newer the house, and of course the size...but we will be cutting back to move there, a better quality of life is most important to us and raising our little ones...it is time to blow this taco stand!