[slapmatt]

I'm from England, so assume I know nothing!

Can someone give me examples of what the cost of utility bills, such as electricity, gas, ISP, TV package, local taxes etc. that would be payable on a 4 bedroom family home in Las Vegas.

And any other things I may have forgotten!

Thanks in advance.

[BUGBULLY]

I have a 2700 square foot home in North Las Vegas with a pool.


Electric- Highest for the Summer was $320.00

Gas-Average for the summer was $45.00, we will see for the winter Last house which was 1700 square feet was $150.00 to $200.00.

Water, Sewer, & Trash- $100.00 average, we have grass and a lot of flowers in the back, and I also do laundry everyday(North Las Vegas has these combined)

Cable- $50.00, that is for just basic cable

DSL-I am getting reamed on this one due to is is with of biz line, but $75.00 that is with Embarq. Waiting until next month, so I can swith my phones and internet.


Taxes depends on if you are buying a home or renting. If you are looking at buying a home, then on the MLS sheet it will list want the estimated tax is for the year. The taxes are split up with quarterly payments.

[007 license to sell]

Your utilities can be higher in an older home as well, meaning in a 2005 home electricity may be $320.00 in the summer in a older home it can be $400.00 on a 1900 sq/ft house or more depending on your usage. Try to find an energy star home meaning that it has better insulation an windows, not always true some claim to be energy efficient and aren't.

It is expensive here compared to rural states, about the same for other metro area's. Summer is the most expensive time due to the air-conditioning to keep you cool in the 115 degree weather.

[MediocreButArrogant]

My electric bill for Aug 15 to Sept 15 was only $150. For a 5br 2200 sq ft house with a pool (pump ran 24x7 for entire month), built in 1998 with no special energy conserving features, I consider this remarkable, especially since I believe that period was hotter than normal, with temperatures more like July. I believe the following contribute to this relatively low electric use:

1) Variable speed pool pump - my Pentair VS3050 probably uses 1/4th the electricity of a single speed pump. Actually it uses 1/8 the power at the speed I run it, but I have to run it twice as long (24 hrs a day) to get the same amount of turnover in the pool as with a single speed pump. The net result is 75% savings.

2) Solar screens on all south and west facing windows. Windows are double-pane, argon-filled, but so old they do not insulate nearly as well as when new.

3) Recently replaced high-efficiency heat pumps with matching air handlers (love my American Standard heat pumps from Chazell A/C).

4) Thermostat set to 78F. I could save even more energy by programming the thermostats to 82F during sleeping hours, and during weekdays when no one was home.

5) Some shade from a 30' tall pine tree on NE side of house.

My water bill for the same period was $90 - 1200 gallons per day. I'm trying to revive my lawn so I can get the Xeriscape conversion rebate from SNWA (meaning I will turn around and kill the lawn as soon as they do their initial survey). Still I was surprised at the usage.

Embarq basic phone and 3Mb/s DSL is $64 after adding $9 in taxes. I thought I needed a landline; I could be getting much faster and reliable Internet service from Cox for the same cost if I were willing to give up my landline.

Trash is about $40/quarter (just paid it), sewer is $240-260/year I believe.

My Dish Network bill is about $190/month, but I subscribe to everything. You could spend as little as $30/month.

[airics]

how much do you think that the pool pump saves you a month? i'm pretty much kicking myself on this one with the new pool because i went with a 2hp pentair.. the variable was about 900. more so i figured if i saved 10 bucks a month, not really worth it, but we will see..


i like the idea of solar shades, definitely in the plans for next year... were they expensive?

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by airics

how much do you think that the pool pump saves you a month? i'm pretty much kicking myself on this one with the new pool because i went with a 2hp pentair.. the variable was about 900. more so i figured if i saved 10 bucks a month, not really worth it, but we will see..

I think I figured it can pay for itself in around 2 years, definitely 3. And at the low speed, it is so quiet you can barely hear it.

2hp is about 1500 watts. Figure 85% efficiency and that is 1.76kw. If you run 12 hrs a day, 1.76kw, and 11.6 cents per kilowatt hour, that's $2.44 per day, or $75 month. I figure I'm saving 75%, so $56 in savings per month June-Sept. There is an instant $200 rebate, check that, it's only $100 now from the power company if you buy a variable speed pump. So 2-3 year payback period seems about right. $900 more seems a little high, pump should be about $1100 after $100 rebate. The Intelliflo VF is $500 more than the VS3050 though, maybe that's what you were quoted.

i like the idea of solar shades, definitely in the plans for next year... were they expensive?

Surprisingly cheap, barely over $1100 for about a ten windows. I used atomicsolarscreens.com, Tom seems like a reputable guy. He offered several ways for me to save money on the installation, for instance reusing some of the old frames. I chose not to, since the cost was not high.

[SoHoVe]

As others have mentioned it will somewhat depend on the house you choose.

Realistically when compared to many other U S cities Vegas seems quite inexpensive in respect to utility costs. I am single only live in a 1600 sq ft home and am rarely home so I don't think my numbers would be anything useful to the average person. I do know that my utilities living in Vegas run significantly less than they do on my vacant home in Texas but I believe Houston has some of the highest rates in the country.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by SoHoVe

Realistically when compared to many other U S cities Vegas seems quite inexpensive in respect to utility costs.

There would be riots in the streets if Las Vegas had to pay the same electricity rates as some other cities. 11.6 cents per kwh is not the lowest in the country, but it is low. Some people pay $0.25 per kwh - that would push a $400 monthly summer utility bill to almost $900. I only pay around $0.09 per kwh for my place in CA through Silicon Valley Power, but this guy who works for me has PG&E, and his top tier, in which he had over 1200kwh, was something like 42 cents per kwh. His electricity bill was around $800, and he didn't even run his air conditioner at all that month. That bill was mostly due to swimming pool, solar panels, and water features. For that much I'd record the sound of a waterfall, and listen to it instead of running the actual waterfall.

[AA702]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

There would be riots in the streets if Las Vegas had to pay the same electricity rates as some other cities. 11.6 cents per kwh is not the lowest in the country, but it is low. Some people pay $0.25 per kwh - that would push a $400 monthly summer utility bill to almost $900. I only pay around $0.09 per kwh for my place in CA through Silicon Valley Power, but this guy who works for me has PG&E, and his top tier, in which he had over 1200kwh, was something like 42 cents per kwh. His electricity bill was around $800, and he didn't even run his air conditioner at all that month. That bill was mostly due to swimming pool, solar panels, and water features. For that much I'd record the sound of a waterfall, and listen to it instead of running the actual waterfall.

How long has Silicon Valley Power been around? I thought everyone was stuck with PG&E and getting reamed. 9 cents a killowatt is a deal.

[AA702]

Originally Posted by airics

how much do you think that the pool pump saves you a month? i'm pretty much kicking myself on this one with the new pool because i went with a 2hp pentair.. the variable was about 900. more so i figured if i saved 10 bucks a month, not really worth it, but we will see..


i like the idea of solar shades, definitely in the plans for next year... were they expensive?

I recommend and install Pentair/Sta-rite VS pumps since they are the best. The only thing about running them in low speed is if you have a in-ground self cleaning systems (pop-ups) is it will not clean the pool very well at low speeds, but you can program it to clean for a few hours and go back to the lower speeds. Its also nice to have a Pentair Intelltouch electronic panel so you can control everything with ease.