Cost of Utilities (Phoenix, Mesa: how much, house, water heater)

[TexasTBone]

Just curious, how much is your average monthy bill for electricity and water in the Phoenix area? The house we're moving into is roughly 1,600 sq ft and I'm trying to get a ballpark idea or what utility costs will be.

[liz451]

Hard to tell as there's so many factors that can go into your electricity bill but I'd say plan on summer months being between $200-300 for electricity. Water depends on your amount of grass and if you have a pool or not.

[wit-nit]

You can call the utility company's and they can tell you what the average costs are plus if you give them your address the past costs of that residence.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by nitram

You can call the utility company's and they can tell you what the average costs are plus if you give them your address the past costs of that residence.

This is the best approach, with the caveat that you may see a difference based on what your thermostat setting will be compared to the unknown settings on the prior bills. Everything else will be pretty much the same no matter who is living there. There are TOO MANY variables to get reliable, useful information based on someone else's house that is the same size.

[S. Chris Webb]

There are a lot of factors indeed: How green the house itself is (CFL bulbs?), what you set your thermostat temp to, your pattern of usuage (keep your lights and fans off when not in the room?), who your providers are, whether you have gas (way cheaper than electric for cooking, hot water, and heating), whether you have a pool, etc.

My house and my next door neighbor's house are roughly the same size - about 2400 sft. My highest summer electricity bill was around $300 and theirs was $600. We have a pool and they don't, and we have a home business so are always home. But they have their HVAC units constantly running, leave their lights on all the time, keep their thermo set to 72, and I'm pretty sure they have the old inefficient light bulbs. We are conservative as much as possible and take advantage of time-of-use plans. Our water bills run $54-80/month, and gas is $20-$47 depending on time of year. (total bill). Our lowest electric bill was $93.02.

[johnnyrotten54]

Originally Posted by TexasTBone

Just curious, how much is your average monthy bill for electricity and water in the Phoenix area? The house we're moving into is roughly 1,600 sq ft and I'm trying to get a ballpark idea or what utility costs will be.

Depends on where you live!
In the west valley my electric bill avgs $177. per month. Highest was $4oo. for August and lowest was $89 for Jan.

Water we were just taken over by a different water company and my water bill almost doubled. I was paying $60. per Month now last 2 bills have been $120.

Pm. me and I'll tell you who my water co is and electric co.!

Yes I have a pool and we keep our air @ 78 daytime and 76 @ night. Our home is less than 2 years old about 3k sq ft. and is energy star rated! We also have added insulation in attic .......right now it's r38 and hopefully before next summer we will upgrade to r50!

[observer53]

Originally Posted by johnnyrotten54

Depends on where you live!
In the west valley my electric bill avgs $177. per month. Highest was $4oo. for August and lowest was $89 for Jan.

Water we were just taken over by a different water company and my water bill almost doubled. I was paying $60. per Month now last 2 bills have been $120.

Pm. me and I'll tell you who my water co is and electric co.!

Yes I have a pool and we keep our air @ 78 daytime and 76 @ night. Our home is less than 2 years old about 3k sq ft. and is energy star rated! We also have added insulation in attic .......right now it's r38 and hopefully before next summer we will upgrade to r50!

It doesn't depend that much on where you live, if you are talking Phoenix metro area, with either APS or SRP for electric (and which one you get depends on where the house is located, you can't choose to have one or the other). In more remote areas outside the main part of the Valley, there are other electric providers.

Water bills do seem to vary more, even between city water departments. If the water is coming from a private company, the variation can be even more.

[johnnyrotten54]

Originally Posted by observer53

It doesn't depend that much on where you live, if you are talking Phoenix metro area, with either APS or SRP for electric (and which one you get depends on where the house is located, you can't choose to have one or the other). In more remote areas outside the main part of the Valley, there are other electric providers.

Water bills do seem to vary more, even between city water departments. If the water is coming from a private company, the variation can be even more.

Didn't know If I could name APS or not. Water co used to be Arizona American Water noe it's Epcor and all they did was raise the damn rates .....Double! Ok now I feel better!

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by observer53

with either APS or SRP for electric (and which one you get depends on where the house is located, you can't choose to have one or the other).

Parts of Mesa (the area surrounding and including the downtown area) is neither served by APS nor SRP, but is served by the city's own utility. Other downtown areas in the valley are served by APS, while most suburban areas are served by SRP. I have heard that APS is more expensive than SRP. Not sure what are the rates are for the City of Mesa's own utility.

Not sure how our bills are since I don't pay them, however, I presume our biggest electricity user is probably the pool pump, which we have reduced the running time recently. Our AC system is a 14.5 SEER Carrier system, and our home was tested for Energy Star compliance by a third party.

Since we have gas heat, our winter electric bills are probably much lower, and this past winter, the furnace generally only ran early in the morning and was off most of the day with our thermostat setting, so our gas bills probably aren't too high. Our water heater is a 0.62 EF Bradford White gas unit, which is generally as efficient you can get with a gas storage tank unit without using power venting or automatic flue dampers.

Our winter water bills were very high since we were filling the pool, however, they are probably much lower now. We use a front-loading Samsung HE washer for our laundry.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Andros 1337

Parts of Mesa (the area surrounding and including the downtown area) is neither served by APS nor SRP, but is served by the city's own utility. Other downtown areas in the valley are served by APS, while most suburban areas are served by SRP. I have heard that APS is more expensive than SRP. Not sure what are the rates are for the City of Mesa's own utility.

Thanks, I had forgotten about those Mesa areas. Since we don't know where the OP's house is, it may or may not matter. .

There's a general perception that SRP is somewhat cheaper than APS. With all the changes in pricing seasons, and other adjustments, and the different rate plans each has, I'm not sure how much difference there is now. You'd have to know the costs per kilowatt hour, and go from there.