electric heating/cooling cost for a 1 bed room apartment in NoVa (Fairfax: apartment complexes, rental)

[Ml123]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking into several apartment complexes in the Dunn Loring / Vienna areas. A lot of the newer complexes are pretty reasonable rent wise (For example the new Prosperity Towers is brand new at ~$1700 a month). They don't include utilities though and mostly everything is electric heating and cooling.

Does anyone know the rough amounts I can expect to pay cooling in the summer and electric heating in the winter? We're talking ~700sq in a building.

Thanks very much!

[highpoint1]

It's going to depend heavily on the efficiency of the apartment's insulation, windows, and appliances, AND, if your apartment does not have its own electrical meter (most do not) the formula used by your landlord to apportion electricity costs between all of the units in the building. Since this formula varies WIDELY (it depends in part on how much the landlord is willing to chip in for the electricity used in common areas) I would strongly recommend that you get as much information about utility policy from your landlord in writing prior to signing a lease.

[KM_W&M06]

Good advice above.

FWIW, I had a ~1 bedroom (with a fairly small second room) in Fairfax and if I recall electric bills ranged from $40 to over $100 depending on the season (heat/AC was electric).

I honestly don't remember if we had our own meter or not.

[smarterguy]

Like mentioned above, lots of variables, but your bills could be as low as 40's to high as 100, or more, but most likely, I think any decent place will average around 60/month for the year if you're relatively conservative with the thermostat.

[KM_W&M06]

Originally Posted by smarterguy

Like mentioned above, lots of variables, but your bills could be as low as 40's to high as 100, or more, but most likely, I think any decent place will average around 60/month for the year if you're relatively conservative with the thermostat.

Yup, windows are your friend in spring and fall!

August and February will be $$$

[austindoxie1972]

I live in a 1 bedroom in Tysons (built in the late 90s and not very energy efficient). My gas+electric bills have never gone above $100 in total; sometimes it is as low as $60. I have old windows, two HUGE custom sliding glass doors (9 feet tall) that leak in the cold in winter.

[highpoint1]

Originally Posted by austindoxie1972

I live in a 1 bedroom in Tysons (built in the late 90s and not very energy efficient). My gas+electric bills have never gone above $100 in total; sometimes it is as low as $60. I have old windows, two HUGE custom sliding glass doors (9 feet tall) that leak in the cold in winter.

With all due respect, I doubt if your "not very energy efficient" apartment is comparable to a very large percentage of rental units in our area.

1) Technology from "the late 90s" was FAR above the thermal efficiency of units built just ten years before.

2) The ratio (which I mentioned above) of how much your landlord pays for common areas versus individual units matters A LOT.

3) Depending on the unit, some people pay comparatively little because of their neighbors. A few years ago, a friend of mine paid next to nothing for her 'leccy in July and August because her neighbors above, below, and to the right and left of her blasted their A/C to such a degree that she could shut her unit down in the height of summer.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by highpoint1

With all due respect, I doubt if your "not very energy efficient" apartment is comparable to a very large percentage of rental units in our area.

1) Technology from "the late 90s" was FAR above the thermal efficiency of units built just ten years before.

2) The ratio (which I mentioned above) of how much your landlord pays for common areas versus individual units matters A LOT.

3) Depending on the unit, some people pay comparatively little because of their neighbors. A few years ago, a friend of mine paid next to nothing for her 'leccy in July and August because her neighbors above, below, and to the right and left of her blasted their A/C to such a degree that she could shut her unit down in the height of summer.

Never had that happen in the case of AC (which is more about air flow than anything) but in the case of heat its absolutely true. In fact in the winter I need to crack the window for about 10 minutes each night just to make it more to my liking because if I don't the temps can rise to 76 from heat absorption.

between $60 and $100 is an accurate estimate so long as you aren't either a miser in terms of electricity (if you have only a small dorm sized fridge or something like that which is unlikely) or aren't an igloo lover in the summers. If you do things like leave TVs on all night, or keep it 70 in the summer then you could likely creep into the $130 range.

It also depends alot on how much day lighting your place gets. Big southern exposed windows can help cut down on heating costs without causing much problems with AC load (morning sun vs afternoon sun). And of course the insulation of those windows is the #1 loss of efficiency. For budget purposes though just put $100, in the winter you'll beat it, in the summer you might come in above it for the peaks.