How expensive is it to cool your house? (Mesa, Glendale: appliances, how much)

[CanesTime]

My wife and I (and our 10-month-old son) are considering a move from San Diego to the PHX area. We have a few questions:
How high are the utility bills in the summer (presumably for a 1500-2000 sq-foot house or townhouse)?
What's the job market for an experienced writer/editor?
What's a good neighborhood to raise a family?
Is there a good Jewish community?

[keninaz]

Our kids home, built in 1998 and all electric of course, is 1700 sq ft single story with high ceilings and they ran it pretty cool, (too cool for us particularly at night) both worked with no kids at the time they lived there until a year ago.
Their bill could hit $260 in a really warm month she says.

[khuntrevor]

A north facing TH, would be a lot cheaper than a West facing house of the same size. In my 2 level 703 SF TH, my high bill was 120. I kept it on 82, and used ceiling fans. Lady with West facing, identical unit had a 300 bill. She had an older unit. Some houses have gas HWH, that cuts about 35 off your electric in the Summer (or more). Worst case scenario for a 2000 SF house would probably be about 400. Identify and avoid, using common sense, like age of a/c and exposure.

Job market is horrible for writer/editor, and I doubt it has ever been that good here.

Tell us your budget, and we can recommend good neighborhoods for you.

Try a one mile radius of Central Ave. and Glendale for areas with lots of Jewish folks. You will get a lot of recommendations for the East Valley, but I think the Mormons would have you outnumbered 30 to 1.
15 years ago, there was one Jewish member of the Mesa Country Club.

Las Vegas is actually the fastest growing Jewish Community in the US.

[AZPam]

1900 sq ft single level built in 1995 but a/c replaced 2 years ago, so newer unit. Have a pool that we run the pump 10 hours a day in the summer. Also have night shifters so somebody is always sleeping. Therefore our thermostat is kept at 77 degrees 24/7. On his off days my husband runs a window unit in the garage so he can work in his shop, so that really ups our bill. It's not unusual for us to have $400-$450 bills in the worst months.

It all depends on how you live. You can call SRP and ask for a high, low and average on a home you are considering. You won't know how the previous tenant lived and kept the temp at, but at least it would give you an idea.

[keninaz]

Lots of factors here too.
Age of the home, quality of the build and insulation used. Numbers and types/sizes of windows and height of the ceiling are all factors that come into play.
Also in the heat of the day in the really warm season I have seen people open there house up to vent and then go to work allowing all that 100°+ heat to enter their homes.
Keeping the well insulated home sealed and shades drawn will help with the bills too.
Overall if you have a recently built home and keep the temps around 80 in the daytime and 75 or less at night your bills should not be that bad for a 1600 sq ft home.
Also keep in mind that many utility companies have programs where if you run your pool pumps/filters/cleaners during non peak hours that you will save money on the kWh rates too.
My son had a pool at his home in Chandler and he is on such a system.

[CanesTime]

How about the market for a technical writer/editor? any different?

[CheyDee]

As has already been posted, the electric bills will depend upon a variety of factors, including the age of home/insulation quality, (including window quality), age/efficiency of a/c unit(s), house exposure and location, (if there is a two-story blocking some of your sun or a townhouse attached which will block some), number of stories, (it costs more to cool a two story house than it does a single story), whether or not you use a time-of-use plan for discounted off peak rates, whether you have all electric appliances, if you run a pool pump, and your family's comfort level. (Obviously if you keep your house at 70 degrees, your bill will be significantly higher than someone who keeps the same house at 82 during the day.)

I may be mistaken, but I believe Scottsdale has the largest Jewish population in the valley. You can use the number of synagogues in the area as a guideline or call a couple for more precise info. There is a list here. There are other areas with a Jewish presence, but they are more dispersed throughout the towns rather than being in "enclaves", as one may find in say, New York.

[musicforme]

House Built: 2006
Stories: 2
Faces: East
Sq Ft: 3900
Average Billing: $279 a month

[pandaundercover]

The last house we were in was a single story, 1400 sqft and AC bill ran up to $300 n the summer. .. although this was mostly due to a faulty AC unit that was working full time and producing NO cool air. But even in the apt we had before that house, our AC ran to a max of $280... but it's only ever that high about 2-3 months, then it'll fluctuate in the lower ranges as the weather cools down. Our current house is a 2 story, 1900 sq ft, and we've only been here for 3 months now, and our a/c bill has been under $100 so far. We expect it to skyrocket to 300 in the summer, although we're typically careful to not turn the a/c on until off-peak electricity hours so to have the lowest bill possible. If possible, I recommend investing in fans in all rooms and tinting the windows if possible. Oh, that's the costs with APS. One thing you have to know moving to AZ from CA, is AZ electricity companies will charge you nearly 3x more than CA companies... it is the HUGEST rip off of a bill you will ever see, but there's nothing we can do about it. The only other electric company out here is SRP, but it is limited most homes east of Avondale and Peoria. I heard their charges are about the same as APS though and you can't really CHOOSe one of them at all. So it depends where you live, what you invest in, and how much a/c you use.

I don't know much about your other questions. No matter where you live in AZ, your a/c bill will be ridiculous in the summer... so I'd propose you just be prepared for a 300-400 summer bill, and put your priorities on the other things to narrow down a location.

[Jkgourmet]

3025 sq ft one story house built in 2000
Two a/c units. Gas heat and hot water. 2 refrigerators. Ceiling fans in every room. Sun screen on the windows. Thermostat set at 77-78 all summer. No pool.
In three years, our lowest monthly electric bill was $40. Our highest - ever - was $250.