Made it down! (Knoxville, Lenoir City, Halls: 2013, to rent, condo)

[huntinFF72]

I've made it down to Knoxville! I just got hired @ Rural/Metro. I trying to get my budget together and was wondering what the utilities were like (on average) in Knoxville and surrounding areas. I'm looking for specific #'s just round figures.
I've heard and read some bad things about HPUD

[Barking Spider]

This topic has been covered before, so you might want to search old threads to get more info.
There are several different utility companies in the Knoxville area, so it really depends on what area you are going to live.
KUD handles all utilities (gas, water, sewer) in some parts of Knoxville, but only some in other parts. For instance, I live in Karns and I have KUB for gas, West Knox Utility for water, and Lenoir City Utility for electricity.
Giving you my costs for utilities will not really tell you much, because I may have a different size house, and different appliances then you will.

In January (which was a very cold month) my gas was $121, water was $28, electricity was $176. However that doesn't really tell you a lot, because you don't know how big my house is, where we keep our thermostat settings, the type of appliances we have, or how many people are living in the house, or our lifestyle. It does give you some numbers though.

Case in point. My mother used to live in a condo that is about half the size of my house. When she went to assisted living my daughter moved into the condo, with a room mate. My mother would sometimes have a gas bill much higher than my house, because she kept the thermostat at about 80, and ran her gas log fireplace almost all the time. When my daughter moved in, the gas bill was hardly anything, but the water went up because there were two young girls living there instead of one senior. Their electrical also went down because they were not home much, and my mother was home all the time, and had a habit of leaving all the lights on.

I know this isn't much help, but its almost impossible to tell you what to budget without knowing where you are going to live, and what type of equipment there is, etc.

Good luck with your move and new job!

[huntinFF72]

I was able to get up with previous owners of home we are looking to rent from. Water seemed to be the highest at any given time. But i've read that Hallsdale has got a bad reputation.

[Barking Spider]

If you are going to live in their area, you are stuck with them. Its not like you can pick and choose.
For what its worth, I've never heard anything, but I don't live in that area.

[hiknapster]

It's true. Halls-Powell Utility District is God-awful. They charge through the nose for everything, yet built this gorgeous building for themselves. I used to rent in that area, responsible for my own water and sewer. Was so glad to get rid of them and get to KUB. That was six years ago, and I haven't looked back.

This article will give you an idea of the outrage regarding HPUD.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/ja...lsdale-powell/

I've written out details about what I've paid for utilities over the years and Barking Spider is correct. It's useless. Your mileage may vary and will. I refuse to go through that time-consuming exercise again, just so someone can get an "idea." In the end, your bill will probably be far different.

I will say that KUB is very inexpensive for electricity, some of the cheapest in the country. The chance that you were paying more elsewhere is very good.

Cable is the same wherever you go.