Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Utility Costs? (New home considerations...)
Ok, so H and I have finally made up our minds and will be looking to buy a house this spring/early summer. We're trying to cover all of our bases for the new budget. Do you mind sharing roughly how much you spend on water/heat/electric? We've been paying our water and electric all along, but it's been an apartment. Not sure how comparable that is. I've always paid electric, but I've never had to pay gas before.
I know this will vary quite a bit depending on whether it's gas/elec appliances and how the heat works, but we're just trying to get a rough idea.
In the past, I've heard that you can call and get the past 6 months or so of utility costs for a property. Is this true? Do I have to call or can I look that info up online anywhere?
Thanks! (and hopefully I won't annoy you all too much in the next few months. I'm sure I'll have 5,000 more questions.)
Re: Utility Costs? (New home considerations...)
Our home was built in the 1920's. Older home, not very well insulated. Square footage is about 1100. For water, it's about $30 per month. For heat and electricity, it ranges between $200-285 per month in the winter time and $120-180 per month for the rest of the year. Trash comes in at about $30 a month.
I don't know if you're aboe to call and get the past 6 months. Maybe other nesties will know the answer to that.
Our home is 1100 finished square feet, with an equal size but unfinished basement. We have crappy old (1958) windows, but a brand new (replaced last year) air conditioner and forced air furnace (90% efficiency.)
In the summer, our lowest gas bill was $17.91. We have a gas range, water heater & furnace. In the winter, our highest gas bill was $150.21. We don't do the budget plan.
Our electricity bill - highest summer bill was $92.21 and our lowest winter bill $37.03. That is for lights, washer/dryer, a/c, fridge, dishwasher...
We pay quarterly for garbage, recycling and yard waste. That is about $70.
Water is billed quarterly and that's always around $55.
You can get utility costs by calling the actual utility company.
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
For sure -how much you pay is going to vary depending on the age of the house, condition of the HVAC equipment, etc. I have a teeny 780 square foot circa 1948 house in St. Paul that leaks like a sieve in the winter (we're chipping away at things bit by bit to make it more airtight). I pay about a hundred a month for gas AND electric on budget helper through Xcel. They take a typical year's worth of use and average your payments out throughout the year which is hugely helpful so that we don't have huge bills in the winter and tiny ones in the summer. My bills typically get smaller at the end of the year as they even it out based on the actual useage. We have a gas dryer and oven/stove, a brand new refrigerator (energy star), and have high efficiency furnace/AC and installed a high efficiency gas hot water heater as well if that helps you plan at all.
I never called to get the past usage on my house but I did ask the seller what they paid via my realtor talking to their realtor.
Water/Sewer is around 45 bucks every 3 months. That goes up a bit in the summer when I water my backyard garden veggies.
Trash for the smallest container they offer is 75 bucks every 3 months and I absolutely price shop on that one and don't be afraid to change it if they threaten to jack up the rates which they try to do yearly. Typically, if you call around, you'll find that everyone else is at the rate you used to pay. I just call and tell them I called around and their pricing is out of line and they generally re-set it. :-P
Thanks so far, everyone! Keep 'em coming?
This is about what I was expecting, I think.
We average around $20-$30/mo in our 1 bedroom apartment. We recently found out, though, that they split the common-use water (including a freaking pool) among all tenants. Now I'm even more annoyed that they'd leave the sprinklers on while it was raining.
I thought trash would be way more expensive, so that's a nice surprise. Witty- you can price shop on trash? I thought it was just one city company that always does it?
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
depends on the city. Some have a contract with a certain provider to do trash (cuts down on road wear, noise from multiple trucks, etc.) but others, like St. Paul, you can do whatever. Our block club looked into getting everyone on the same plan once to see if we could negotiate a discount but everyone's needs were so different that it didn't work out and there was no guarantee that new folks moving in would want to continue with it which would defeat the purpose.
St. Paul does citywide recycling though through Eureka and you pay for it with your property taxes. Yard waste is dependent on your provider but there are a couple yard waste/compost spots within the city you can drop off at for free.
We have a late 1980's split level 1500 sq ft house. Our windows suck and we use plastic in the cold months.
Gas/Electric is combined. We have a gas stove, furnace, water heater and dryer. Usually our bill is $90-200/month. It hits $200 every January and then goes back down from there.
Water is quarterly and expensive for us. We have started trying different ways to cut back. We'll see if it makes a difference. My last bill was $166.
Our trash/recycling is billed every 2 months and is $45. We drop off our yard waste at the compost site for $3/trip. It is way too expensive for our trash company to pick up.
my read shelf:
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
Our home is a 1951 small rambler style. About 1200 sq ft. finished.
I have been really surprised at how low our gas and electric are for the age of the house. Granted, the only appliance that was really old was the water heater (gas) which we replaced a year ago. Both gas and electric at their highest are about $90, or under $200 tops for both. We have newer windows and the attic is very well insulated.
Our water/sewer/garbage come in one bill quarterly (I think!) and that is around $130 if I am remembering right. In SLP you don't have a choice for garbage.
Another thing to consider is special assessments. New gas lines were installed and our road was repaved two years ago and we weren't assessed, but I know that in many other cities we would have been for the same work. So look into things like sidewalk replacements, street lights, street paving, sewer lines, etc. If that neighborhood is on their schedule for construction/improvement you might have to foot some of the bill.
Boy/girl twins born at 37w1d and 37w2d
We have a walk out rambler (built in 89) with about 2300 sq.ft and the AC unit and furnace are original to the house so they don't have any of the energy saving features. Our range and dryer are electric. We haven't lived here in the summer yet, but so far in the winter our electric is around $50 a month and our gas around $150.
We haven't paid a water/sewer/trash bill yet, so I'm no help there. But, I do know that our suburb (Farmington) has a contract, so we weren't able to shop around for garbage and recycling.
We live in a rambler with a finished basement in S. Minneapolis. Our house is MAC-ed, so it is very energy efficient in terms of heating and cooling. I think the most our gas bill ever is in the winter is about $150-160. We keep our heat at 68 when we are home, 65 when we aren't, and 62 at night. (Programmable thermostat helps. Install one if the house you buy doesn't have one.) We have a gas range, water heater, and furnace, plus a gas hookup outside for our grill. It is about $15 in the summer.
Our electric is relatively high year-round, and I attribute that to leaving a bunch of electronics plugged in all the time. We run about $65-70 in the winter and as high as $150 in the summer with central A/C. I think we went over that once or twice but never, ever above $175.
Our water, sewer, and trash are combined because we live in the city of Minneapolis. It runs about $60 a month for all three, and I think trash is about $25 of that. It is like $30 for trash with a $7 credit for recycling. We do water periodically in the summer and then it goes up some but not too much. We have an HE washer and dryer (love), so the washer is low on water consumption. In Minneapolis, trash is through the city. No options.
Our bills (for a 4200 SF house built in 2005):
Water: about $25 per month in the winter, more in the hottest part of summer when we're watering the lawn, up to $75/month.
Gas: $50 at the lowest in the summer, $150 at the highest in the winter (we have a gas forced air furnace, gas cooktop, gas dryer, and a gas water heater)
Electric: $50-100, depending on the month
Trash: $30 a month (we added the yard waste pick up, so that gets sent to composting instead of going in the trash)
Then there's cable, internet, etc. - and that adds up fast!
Mr. Sammy Dog
Mr. Sammy Dog
Agree with PP's about it varying on the age of the house and how you use stuff.
I am a RE agent and see it across the board. Yes you can call the utility company (ideally your agent will do this for you, saves you the leg work, and really it isn't a bother) and they'll give you the average high/low for the previous 12 months.
I have a buyer looking at a 1920's house in St.Paul and the low was about $180 for gas and electric and over $400 for the the high (which I was completely floored at).
With that said at our townhome we pay about $120 for 1800 sq ft and that's gas and electric. We don't pay water.
OMG this!!! You wouldn't believe the difference a new fridge made in our energy bills. It was awesome.
It's super helpful and gives you exact numbers to work with.
Speaking of energy costs....how long do water heaters usually last? I don't think ours is too great.
Our furnace is gas and in the dead of the winter Up Here our gas bill has been around $200 or more for the last 3 months. In the summer my gas bill is like $7. No idea what else in this house uses the gas.
A/C cranks up our electric in the summer, but not quite as badly. Our city has the water, electric, and trash on one bill. Usually it's around $120 - $150 a month.
10-15 years. If you notice things like that your shower gets cooler while you use it, it might be worth replacing before it dies. (Because when it dies, it pours out over the whole floor most of the time.) And, not needing the plumber in an emergency situation like a holiday weekend (ours died on New Year's Day) is a big savings in stress and money.
We have a small (< 1,000 sq ft) rambler-style house on the east side. Built in the 50's (I think). We put a high efficiency furnace in the winter before DD was born. We used to keep the house at 65* in the winter, and now keep it at 72* (since DD). Even with the temperature change, our gas bills were cut dramatically with the new furnace. Well worth our investment.
Water - $50/quarter (summer is a bit more). You will find that this varies widely by municipality.
Gas/Electric (same bill) - $80/summer (we limit the air use), tops out at $220 in the winter. I used to put $150/month away to pay the Xcel bill out of (to try and even out our budget) and had extra at the end of every year, so the monthly average is less than that somewhere.
We have a gas dryer, electric stove, dishwasher and newer high efficiency water heater. (though not a tankless)
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
I thought that there are different "classes" of water heaters - that they are rated for different lengths of time? I seem to recall reading on ours that it's a 8 year water heater..? Or maybe I'm confusing something. I know that the water heater in our house went out before it was put on the market, and the previous owners basically bought the cheapest one that they could find. We are expecting to need to replace it in 5-6 years.
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
1000+ SF 1920s bungalow in mpls.
Gas- low $30 - high $180 with an old gravity fed, octopus type heater. People will say to stay away from these, but mine is a tank and I've never really had an issue with it. I never thought the bills were all that out of whack with more efficient units. and my windows are original wood with 70s era storms on them.
Electric - $30-$50 (window unit air in summer)
Water/Trash/Sewer (all one bill) $50
Good luck Steph and happy house hunting.
We had to replace out water heater (gas) in a sort of emergency situation in January of 2010. The old one was from, what I could gather, the early 70's or even late 60's. It had a good run! I noticed it was leaking a little water and decided to call before it the bottom compeltely rusted away and I came home to a flooded basement.
Unfortunately, we had to pay to have it installed since my father or anyone who would have known how to do it, wasn't available and it happened on a week day, so we were sort of stuck. The unit itself was mid-range and for it and labor was just under $900. We weren't able at the time to spend more on a more expensive unit that may last 5 years longer or so. I expect it to last 8 - 10 years tops.
Boy/girl twins born at 37w1d and 37w2d