What is your utility bill each month? (credit, houses)

[pathrunner]

Thank you! That really helps plan my budget. I might consider keeping it higher; yesterday my apt here in Portland was 80 and I was quite comfortable. (I realize the air is cooler outside here than there.)

I cannot imagine paying $400+!!

[Ritchie_az]

But heating bills are almost non-existent here. They are probably not terrible in Portland, but in some parts of the country the heating bills are easily as high as our summer cooling bills.

[CoolJourney]

We live in a Del Webb (Sun City-Merrill Ranch) home in Florence. We just bought there in February, 2010. Our home is 1816 sf, 2 br. 2 ba., no pool. Our last electrical bill for June 10-July 10 was $85. I offer this as a point of reference for those living in their home. We did not live in our home during this period (traveling) and we kept the temperature at 85 degrees. So our cost is for AC cooling only and all shades/blinds closed. We have no prior experience with the Phoenix area utility costs, but our cost seems pretty reasonable even though we are not in our home.

[OnYourSide]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Thank you! That really helps plan my budget. I might consider keeping it higher; yesterday my apt here in Portland was 80 and I was quite comfortable. (I realize the air is cooler outside here than there.)

I cannot imagine paying $400+!!

Keeping it higher is a good idea, but either way your electric bill will run well over $400. All you can do is try to budget ahead for the $500-800 bills during the multi-month summer.

[landbox]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

I am moving to Scottsdale next month and will have a ground floor condo with mostly stone tile floors on the west side of the bldg (cooler in morning). The place is 750 sq ft. I wonder if I can get away with not running the A/C? Yeah, dreaming I know!

I grew up in the SW so 80-90-100 doesn't bother me. 110 might.

Originally Posted by OnYourSide

Keeping it higher is a good idea, but either way your electric bill will run well over $400. All you can do is try to budget ahead for the $500-800 bills during the multi-month summer.

$400 - Not for 750 sq ft. Ground floor is great. Using ceiling fan and windows treatment help. Tile floor is cooler. Facing the West will cost a bit more - much hotter in the afternoon/evening. Setting at higher temperature helps a lot. And with APS (7pm-12pm offpeak), you pay more 4 times more onpeak than offpeak. Should be similar to SRP. So if you are not at home during office hours. set it to higher temperature and do the washing etc during offpeak. Too many variables - age of the condo, temperature setting, .... - $100?

[OnYourSide]

landbox: If in a complex of some sort, being on the ground floor can help a lot. Also, something of importance is what time of day people work. If they can be gone during the day, they can try and save a lot of money by turning the A/C way down.

[RattleSnake_Heads]

For the house, you will be paying $550+ in electricity for several months out of the year, unless you can stand having the thermostat turned way up. Using one of the APS off-peak plans might help if you can leave the house unoccupied during the middle of the day.

[Todd TCE]

1350sq feet, two story, two people, down to 72 at night.....runs $135mo with the av plan. With home improvements (windows, doors, cfl's) the usage has not gone up but in fact the bill has gone down over the past couple of years.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by cwhanes

We are house hunting & would like to know what everyones utility bill runs. We are looking at a 5br, 3ba home w/ a pool. About 3000 sf. Any info is a great help. Thanks

I have a 3350 sqft home with a pool my last bill was 480.00. Actually mine is 5 bedroom plus office and 3.5 baths.

[EDnurse]

Originally Posted by cwhanes

We are house hunting & would like to know what everyones utility bill runs. We are looking at a 5br, 3ba home w/ a pool. About 3000 sf. Any info is a great help. Thanks

May I suggest you buy a house that has N/S exposure and almost no windows on the west side. It helps out a lot.

I understand SRP is cheaper than APS as well.

My 2700 sq ft, two story house electric bill (SRP) is 165.00/mo and the thermostat is always set for 76 degrees. The house is 10 yrs old. No pool, though.