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It's funny, I am in the same situation. Just rented an all electric condo...mine is much bigger though, around 790 ft. I don't have a washer/dryer in the unit or a dishwasher, which to be honest, I wouldn't want with an all electric system.
I haven't gotten my first bill yet but I am a bit nervous.
I have been keeping the heat off as much as possible, just wearing heavy clothes around the house....and I have a feeling in the summer it won't be too hot because it's a first floor. I have been trying to monitor my usage very carefully, like turning off lights, tvs, etc....also the hot water.
My friend lives in a three bedroom condo near me, also all electric...she has a washer/dryer and dishwasher and her condo is huge. She told me her winter bills, for January and February are about $400..and the rest of the year $200. She also went on the budget to help her avoid any huge bills.
I will probably go on the budget/level billing as well....I figure I will only be in this place for one year, hopefully my bills won't be too high.
Is $1450/mo( not including heat and hot water) for a 400 sq ft studio in Queens really considered "not too bad" these days ?
I'd count on at least 250/mo in electric bills on average so your rent is really $1,700/mo. Doesn't sound like any kind of a deal to me….not for 400 sq ft.
The location is nice.. it's about 5 minutes away from Broadway train station and there are lots of restaruants & bars just off the street.
There is really realllllyy nice renovated 1 bedroom for $1700 with regular utilities (~$100) but I couldn't afford that one..
I didnt know my average utility would be $250.... I was expecting $150 - $200 , but landlord provides $50 credit for 4 months (December, Jan, Feb, Mar)
Do you still this is not a great deal? I'm actually about to sign it this evening because I was afraid someone would take it
It's all in the way you use or don't use energy... 1500 sq foot place with electric heat and A/C (gas stove though. Gas paid by building ), dishwasher, washing machine & dryer but the hot water is also paid by the building. My winter bill averages $150 (yep that's it) and summer is about 1/2 of that. How? My thermostats are zoned and I use a timer on the heat/AC and only turn it on when I am there during waking hours. Since I'm out for work, that's not too much energy on weekdays. At night the temp is turned down to 65- I love my heavy down comforter and electric blanket! Dishwasher is only run when it's full and I do laundry like every 2 or 3 weeks (I have a bad shopping habit). On the weekends if I'm at home, temp will be set to 72 while awake. It's a bit chilly but I wear sweats and slippers around the house anyway. This works for me but my mom visited recently and she was cold so I had to crank up the heat for the weekend.
Think we are going to see more and more "all electric" apartments both perhaps rental and condo or co-op in future.
Leaving aside the ability of the property owner or owners to transfer the often not small cost of providing heat from themselves directly to residents, stricter rules regarding insulation and other factors will probably make traditional steam or hot water heating difficult or expensive.
If anyone can find away to make it work we might start seeing those instant water heaters for both kitchens and bathrooms as commonly found in much of Europe. Again the lure is transferring cost of providing hot water directly to the resident.
All electric apartments on the one hand are probably cleaner in terms of energy use since they do not have fumes from combustion. OTOH given utility costs here in NYC/NYS it could make arguments about "poor doors" seem almost silly.
I had about 700 square feet back in but it was only electric Heat, AC, appliances...I had free hot water and cooking gas.
Before I caught onto the trick of carefully heating the place with the stove and watching every watt, I hit the occasional 800-1000 kwhr/month in a cold winter
At NYC rates that would be that would be $240-$300. so liz's estimate is probably pretty spot on:
Quote:
On average in the winter, my bills were $150-$200. In the summer, they shot
up as high as $400.
I hope your hot water heater is in the apartment so that any heat lost from the water tank is regained as heat in Winter...Summer, another issue. Hints: seal all drafts, get an electric blanket so you can allow the apartment to get very cool in Winter, Pray that none of your neighbors are absent for more than a day or they will shut off heat and AC and you will need to heat them too before you can stay comfortable. That last item is all-important.
IF your heater is through the wall, don't use it for heat and use a small space heater instead (1500 W.) That way your valuable heat will not go outside to warm up the streets of Astoria but stay where you want it.
Warning though...this is NOT comfortable living.
Do you have a sunny window? If so USE it, you can get a lot of solar heat in a couple hours. But heavy drapes when the sun isn't shining.
Quote:
I have been trying to monitor my usage very carefully, like turning off
lights, tvs, etc.
No need for that in Winter. Every watt-hour consumed by any appliance, light, computer etc, is a watt that goes towards heating your home. Might as well get bright lights and TV's as a by product of your electric use. A watt of light is a watt of power (which creates heat) no matter what else it does.
Last edited by Kefir King; 12-05-2014 at 05:03 AM..
we had gas in staten island when I was a kid. for the stove. The heat was electrical, If I remember correctly. window-unit Air conditioning. electric might be safer.
That's illegal, landlords are required to provide cold season heating & 24/7/365 hot water at their cost. You can file actions to recoup the expenses
No true at all, many apartments have to pay their own heat...I always have.
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