Utility cost for home built in 93, 2200sq feet? (apartment, house)

[Shyatic]

Hi all,

I'm moving to central NJ (just bought a home in Piscataway) and away from a small two bedroom apartment into a four bedroom home with basement (unfinished). I have three kids, so the extra room was really needed, and I am just trying to budget for myself what I'd spend on utilities.

My kids are all young, and my wife stays home with them so this is kind of a 24/7 thing (other than sleeping) so if anybody has any round figures, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[kimchee]

My house is an older home, about the same size as yours with unfnished attic and basement. We use PSEG and pay about 150-200 for gas and electricity in the warmer season, and 300-400 in the winter. We are also not at home during the daytime and are pretty tolerant to hot and cold so conservative when it comes to cooling/heating.

Hope that helps you get an idea of what to expect.

[Retriever]

Unfortunately, there is not enough background info to provide a really accurate estimate. For instance, we need to know...

>Are the furnace and central A/C the original (low-efficiency) units, or were they recently replaced with high efficiency units? (Hint: If these are the original units, they are now past their design life and should probably be replaced with more efficient, more reliable units)

>Does the furnace use gas or does it use fuel oil?

>How warm do you keep your home in the winter?

>How cool do you keep your home in the summer?

>Has the home's insulation been upgraded?

>Does the home have windows of double-pane glass?

>How old are the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the clothes dryer, the washing machine, and the water heater?

>Do you use high-efficiency bulbs?

>How many lights do you typically keep turned on in the evening?

Until you supply this type of information, I can only say that, with a similarly sized home, your monthly utility bills might range anywhere from $120-$200.

[TonyStarksNJ]

Im in a similar size home (split) built in 1964. New furnace installed last year (forced air), with all windows replaced within the past 5 years. We just moved in in Early september, we keep the furnace at 68 during the day (i work from home) and set to turn automatically to 58 from 10pm to 6am. Our November Bill (first one with heat on full time) was $169 (gas and electric). Just me and my wife, no kids yet.

[NJGOAT]

I agree with Retriever that more details are needed to give a real estimate. My house was built in 1993 and is 2,200 sq.ft. with 3BR and 2.5BA with an attached one car garage and built on a slab with an unfinished attic. We have gas heat, cooking and hotwater, central AC and electric dryer. My wife is a SAHM and we have 3 kids, only one of whom is in school fulltime, so there are people home virtually 24/7. I live in South Jersey and my electric is through Atlantic Electric and my gas is through South Jersey gas. My sewer is through the township and water is through American Water.

Gas: Ranges from a high of $180 in the winter (thermostat at 68) to a low of $25 the rest of the year. Overall we spent about $775 on gas last year, so figure about $65 a month.

Electric: Ranges from a high of $225 in the summer (thermostat set to 74) to a low of around $90 the rest of the year. Overall we spent about $1,650 on electric last year, so figure around $137 a month.

Sewer: $95 a quarter, so around $31.50 a month.

Water: Ranged last year from a high of $77 in the summer when we were supporting new grass to a low of $34 the rest of the year. Overall last year water ran us about $535, so figure about $44.50 per month.

All in for gas/electric/water/sewer we average about $280 a month on utilities. The most expensive months are the winter where we run about $366 as the heater is on.

[RobRiguez]

I have a 4yr old that my elderly MIL watches at the house all day while were working. Before going on the equal pay plan it was 120-ish in the summer and 640-ish in the winter for electric and gas. Because they are at the house all day, we cant adjust the thermostat too much in any direction.

[rscalzo]

Why not let the current owner provide the past months billings? There are just too many variables to get an accurate cost.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by rscalzo

Why not let the current owner provide the past months billings? There are just too many variables to get an accurate cost.

Sometimes the simplest solution...

Really though, this is a great suggestion. When we bought our last house the previous owner gave us a years worth of numbers on the utilities, so we knew exactly what to expect. Overall, we've actually beaten their numbers by a decent margin. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can also call the utility and ask them what the usage has been if you are buying the property.

[nismos14]

Even what the previous owner spends isn't a good indication because you may or may not use the utilities as much as they did. Previous owner to our home was paying an average of $330 a month for utlilties, I have yet to have a bill over $150 and we keep our heat at 70 when we're home and at 62 when sleeping, 65 in transitional times like weekend afternoons when we may or may not be home.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by nismos14

Even what the previous owner spends isn't a good indication because you may or may not use the utilities as much as they did. Previous owner to our home was paying an average of $330 a month for utlilties, I have yet to have a bill over $150 and we keep our heat at 70 when we're home and at 62 when sleeping, 65 in transitional times like weekend afternoons when we may or may not be home.

but it's the best indicator - likely more accurate than asking a generic question on a message board.