Electric Utility bills in premier homes
 

hello,

I'm looking for feedback regarding an average utility bill on a home with over 3,200 sf (the Sanibel or grandview). There are 3 of us so we are building one of the premier models but curious about electricity bills people are paying. Any information you want to share is appreciated. thank you

Roughly 125-160 per month with a pool pump running 8 hours a day every day plus AC for our Sanibel.

Whoa - tell me your secret I'm 1300 sq.ft and no pool and running about $150
Temperature is set on 77 and the home is 4 years old. What am I doing wrong?

Own a Sanibel... 3050 sq. ft. Pool pump runs about 9 hours/day maintaining 86 in the pool, household thremostat is set for 79 and master BR lowered to 75 a night. We do not heat the pool Nov-March and our year round average bill is about $250/mo.

ok 1200sqft no pool (LOL) $87 in the summer

1800 sf in Norcal mtns 9 months avg (Oct - Jun)

$4.50/mo.

1800 sf in TV 3 months avg (Jul - Sep)

$50.00/mo

.

Lantana Model
 

About 2000 sq ft. 3 people(86 YO father). Moved in Jan 20012, turned A/C on late Feb at 77 degrees. HW heater set a 125 degrees. Feb $180 (43 days), Mar.$136, April $143, May $175, June $182, July $ 201. Welcome to TV!:pepper2:

Our SECO bill for 32 days 6/22-7/24 used 1011 KWH for our Sanibel model built this year.

Total bill with tax $155.58

We keep the house at 77 degrees (Lanai with Western exposure which we only wanted)24 hours a day and run the pool pump 8 hours a day.

Maybe those with higher bills have electric golf carts?

Fyi
 

prior to 2011, utilities were high (June-Aug $316 to $247), SECO came out and evaluated problem (pool spa was using according to SECO $80 a month), now utilities run during same months $253 to $182), we keep temperatures on 80 degrees, 3 bedroom/3 bath...

RE: Previous post from espulmano

This figure represents both gas and electric bills... no electric golf cart here.

$90 JAN
$68 FEB
$96 MAR
$105 APR
$90 MAY
$131 JUN
$127 JUL

AC at 76 day and 77 night, 2 electric carts, gas heat, dryer, stove.

1696 sq/ft

Like J.P Morgan once said, "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it." BTW, my Lantana with a pool pump running eight hours a day and the themostat set at 78 degrees has averaged $200 the last couple of months.

New (closed 3/12) expanded 3/3 3200 sq. ft. St. Charles

All electric ...pool pump runs 8 hrs.....thermostats on 77 during day...master 76 at night.... all windows tinted...rear faces east.

Interestingly consistent around $230

1500 square foot Wisteria. $130 last two months. The highest was in January 2 years ago at $176. All electric home, gas golf cart.

Gas
 

We have a Gas Cart. :gc:

We just received out 1st bill for almost exactly 1/2 month, 14 billing days. Excluding connect fee and membership application, it was $64 with 536 KWH used. Average 38 KWH a day. 1700 SF 3/2. Is that good? Hope so. OH, we are 100% electric with a gas cart.
Don & Kaz

I just check ours and we are over 2500 sf and have a pool pump running 8 hours a day and it is going for about $150.

So here we have some folks with pools and 2500+ sq ft paying $150 - $160 and then we have others at 1200 paying $150. Now assuming we are around the same age (4 years or so) and we have the same units how do explain the difference. Okay I have a gas golf cart, temp is consistently set at 77, face east with lanai, west with the front; however the main living area is protected by a front porch. There are 2 of us and 2 dogs, but I don't think they are using the electricty. Just had Munds out to check the system and they claim it looks like it is brand new. Suggestions???

Our home is 1926 sf. block and stucco 6 years old. Gas stove. $120 in July. We have a hot tub that the pump runs for about 8 hours/day. Temp set at 76 during day, 74 at night. Electric golf cart.

cooking
 

How often you cook at home would be a "factor" !

Maybe the homes with lower electric bills are newer concrete block, have double pane low E windows and have more insulation as a standard.

This does not affect our bill but our garage ceiling is insulated and with flooring for storage as standard.

All utilities other than outdoor kitchen are electric.

We will be adding a pool heat pump so our bills will be higher in the colder months but we will not be heating the pool in the winter months.

We use the MBR fan everynight and the FR fan all day.

Hard to say why the variations in usage

Isn't this like asking about the gas mileage on a Rolls Royce or Ferrari?

Good point - I cook most nights. I'm thinking maybe the fridge in the garage full of beer, water, and soda may be responsible for a good portion of my bill.
But, let me say I am thrilled with only $150 in July in Florida. We moved from a historic condo in Wilmington NC (100+ years old) and the bills were in the
mid to high $200's in the summer. So I feel very luck to only be paying $150, but I'm still curious about the variations people have with their bills. Guess how you lives probably plays a huge amount.

Forgot to mention we also have a ref. in our outdoor kitchen and 2 AC units for the house.

The outside fridge is set as high as it will go (I think 37 or 47 degrees) for pop, beer so pretty happy our bill seems to be low. Hope it stays that way.

This is interesting to watch the various costs and temp settings people use. For giggles, I put the numbers together on various data mentioned here. For instance:
Pool No Pool
Avg Temp 77.4 77.8
Avg Size SF 2669 1693
Avg Per/sf $8.99 $8.33 Yrly Avg (Based on Cost/100sf of house)

I know it is not a lot of data, but fun to see the costs and what house temps are set at.
But what is SHOCKING is the costs here for utilities!!
I tracked all costs similar to this in the northern climate. There, natural gas and electric is used. 54% of costs were for gas with gas heat and cooking, AC electric. Temps were from -5 or less degrees to 100 degrees in a year. The costs per 100 sf of house averaged out over a few years at $4.43 with no pool. House at 77 summer, 68 winter. About 10% higher with a pool (pools only used in summers so only pump costs) The costs are very consistent on an annual basis! HALF of costs here. Electric rates recently north were $0.13/kwh vs. $0.13/kwh here with all adjustments and taxes.
I know, lots of factors to consider. I am sure I will get lots of reasons besides ... Maybe those would also be fun to explain. Natural gas is much cheaper than electric. Even the insulation which is basically non-existent here. Many homes north have at least R13-R20 in walls, and R30-R36 in ceilings. Here it is about a third of those numbers. But just fun data too look at. As more come in, I will add and the more data the better the numbers.

You are shocked in a good way or a bad way about the cost of utilities here? I read your post three times but I didn't quite understand.

I don't understand either. My electric bills here are about 1/2 what they were in New York in a similar size home.

MY energy bills north were about 25% less what they are here on my house. 50% of what is being posted here. Electric heat is far more costly than gas. Like heating with a toaster. We all know the insulation values here are not that high. MAYBE R-7 walls with block & stucco walls, board and gypsum, non-insulating glass double pane no gas in windows here (new construction), ~R-30 ceiling (12" blown with new construction) here.
What people have posted shows their bills are averaging $8.00+ per 100 sf of house. Far higher than I would have thought though! Maybe it is lifestyles. Maybe they are including their charges for surge protectors, memberships, startup, who knows.. I keep the house 2 degrees (79) warmer than the average so far in the posts. That wouldn't make up that difference. I have 1970 sf here. My last bill for the electric portion alone was $109. At the "going rate" posted it would have been $165.
Regarding your bills in New York, maybe you had horrible rates there. Greater than $0.13 kwh?
Don't shoot the messenger. I am just putting the numbers together what people have posted. Without telling everyone to submit data a certain way, I am sure it is skewed. I have never came CLOSE to those high of per sf costs north and HOPEFULLY not here! If so, some of my homes would have been "averaging" $550+ per month all year! Ouch! :)

Yes, Con Edison in NY is famous for high rates. Unfortunately I did not keep any of those bills so don't know what the kwh was.

Just looked up rates at Con Edison. They are running twice the national avg at $.2585 kwh vs national avg of $.1154 kwh, vs TV (SECO) of .13 kwh.
There is the relief for those now living here vs NY and why they like it so much! :22yikes:

Many good reasons for the disparity have been posted here. I did not mention that we cook at home 5 nights a week, and that we have a monster fridge in the hot garage. That does make some difference, eh?

Yep. It all adds up! Lifestyles are much of it. I have heard $1 per day for electric cart. DON'T start the gas vs electric here!

If others would post their numbers I will keep the data going to see what it comes up with for numbers. But, it appears the rates are reasonably within the national average. It's just how they are used with appliances, carts, temps, patio doors opening a lot, number of residents in the house, etc

Lights
 

It also depends on how many lights you keep on at night. I spent a month with my family in Missouri in June. They kept all of the lights on in the house until they went to bed. I would turn off a light and someone would come and turn it back on. I finally gave up and figured it was their checkbook paying the bill. LOL

I agree with you. Lifestyles again. To each there own, as long as they know they are "paying" for that lifestyle in one way or another.

Or you could live in Hawaii and pay the highest in the nation (usually about .35 per KWH).

Utilities - Premier home
 

Premier home 3 months, new construction, rear facing south (so no direct western sun), two persons, "cooks" 2 meals per day, small pool with filter running 5 hours per day, keeping summer temps set at 76 degrees, separate HVAC for master turns down to 74 at night. First two bills each $120. We did add extra insulation during construction both in home and over lanai (an option). Do not have electric golf cart. Will wait for cooler temps to open patio doors to lanai.

I too added insulation throughout the house. I don't have any figures to compare it to for savings but my guess would be 5-10% based on previous experiences. But the sound proofing is also nice.
What is the square foot of your home for the calculation? Based on what I am seeing it probably is in the 2400 sf range? But $120 appears to be pretty good for your lifestyle.