Cost of Gas and Electric in a Designer Home

[SteveFromNY]

I have owned my home in Liberty Park for 3 years, but never lived in it - I rent it thru TV Property Management an average of 120 days per year. I pay gas and electric each month, and of course it varies as a result of whether or not it's rented.

My gas bill is around $20 thru the summer when all that I am doing is keeping my hot water hot, and my elec is around $80 just to keep the house at 80 degrees.

Can someone who is a full time resident comment on what their bills are for gas and electric?

I realize "mileage will vary", but to get a ballpark idea, I thought I'd ask.

I am doing all my planning on what $ I really need to be there. With luck it will be pretty soon.

I know all of the "fixed costs", like lawn care, bug guys, amenities, etc. But G&E are still a bit of a mystery.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[villages07]

Steve,

We are full timers in a 2,000 sq ft block/stucco designer....just did a summary on quicken for past 12 months.

SECO - elec - 1,000 or approx $83/month avg

TECO - gas (heat, hw, stove) - 440 or approx $37/month avg

Total for both...averages $120/month over the course of a year.

Hope this helps...

[SteveFromNY]

07, that is EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Thank you!

[swrinfla]

SteveFromNY:

My Designer block/stucco model ran me about $230 a month last year for both gas and electric. In comparison with Villages07, I seem high. Guess I should eat out more (save on gas) and forget about timers on several lamps!

Still, better than I did in St. Louis (roughly $250-$275 a month there).

SWR

[Irish Rover]

SWRINFL - you should have been in St. Louis this winter. It was brutal - I mean the weather and gas bill. Not to mention the 12% increase AMEREN is now asking. Enjoy TV and never think of coming back. :)

[villages07]

swr...

Yikes...that sounds high; we run A/C at 78 from Mid May thru Late Oct; pretty much windows open from Oct til early May with a few days (maybe 14) with heat turned on and a few random A/C days thrown in. Heat set at 70.

Highest elec bill was 132 last summer; highest gas bill was about 70 in Feb.

Maybe your cat is leaving a door open in the summertime!!!

SteveNY...shows that it is good to get multiple opinions.

[drdodge]

I have an Amarillo and keep thermo on 72 year round.Electric is $140 in July & Augest and goes gradually down to about $65 in winter. Gas is $50 in winter and $330 in summer
drd

[Sidney Lanier]

Though we have the smallest Designer home (Bougainvillea--identical layout to an Amarillo Ranch), this may sound bizarre in contrast with earlier responses on this thread: March was our first full month here during which our gas bill was $18 and electricity $35. We're not complaining.... Have no idea, of course, how it'll shake out for the whole year.

[SteveFromNY]

By contrast, I live in NYC today, with a very old and pretty large Victorian. I am on the budget for both gas and electric and EACH runs around $275/mo (yes, total of $550/ mo). I'll make a planning assumption that I'll be between the $120/mo villages07 pays and the $230 swrinfla pays. Hooray!

Thanks for the responses.

[zcaveman]

I have an Amarillo. In 2007, My gas was $373 and my electric was $2080.

AC is set at 72 and heat is set at 70. We eat at home 5 days a week on average.

[swrinfla]

Irish Rover:
My daughter in Ballwin called me a couple of times during the winter, "Any room in your house for us to stay the rest of the winter?"

villages07:
Yes, I'll blame The Cat. 'Cuz I do, in fact, leave the bedroom-to-lanai door open a little 99% of the time. Always, always spoil The Cat. ;D :joke:

SWR