snow birds
 

can someone tell me what it cost per mounth for an iris when your not there in the summer time . like your ele bill,water,lawn care. and do you keep the ac on all the time??

I assume all homes will find the almost the same - electric bills about the same in vacant summer months as used winter months. Water reduces dramatically but water for irrigation may increase.

Unless you have done your own lawn care in the winter the summer months will stay the same as winter

It is essential to keep air con running 24/7 although you may increase the temperature for it to come on - fail to use the ac and you risk a bill of hundreds of $ to correct mildew and related problems

Strongly suggest you use an empty nest service to ensure that the house is watched over, that wc, washers etc are run (weekly?) and that any golf cart is used and charged. Cost for empty nest services about $50/month

Comcast will put their services into 'absent' mode which is not free but much cheaper - be warned they will then cancel any incentives of lower rates for the first 2 years

We kept our a/c set at 82. The house stays very cool when nobody is coming in and out. Most people install a rheostat which measures humidity and puts a/c on when the humidity reaches a certain level.

We didn't, and it was fine. Our builder told us he's had houses sit for a year with nothing but the a/c set at 82 and no rheostat. However, it's not an expensive item.

I think our highest elec. bill was in the hottest summer month. Might have been $80. Our house is newish (2011) and has the latest-for-that-time energy efficiency stuff they were building into homes here.

I believe the part you're referring to is a humidstat. It is installed in parallel with your thermostat and has the A/C system run when the humidity in the home reaches a certain point.

Your monthly amenity bill is due monthly whether you're living there or not.

Thanks. Right you are.

Snow Birds - Utility Bills
 

Anyone know how much irrigation should be costing for a house with a .12 acre? Irrigation control has six zones and is set for twice/week for 20 minutes.

Using a humidistat our electric bill ranges between $25 and $40. Our last bill was $35.

Empty home
 

These figures are for a Patio Villa for the last billing cycle in 2014.
Amenity,water,sewage,trash $203
Home watch $45
Grass mowing trimming $35
Directv on vacation $0
Internet on vacation $15 CenturyLink
Gas $25
Electric $50 Ac set at 80 degrees
Termite bond,lawn and
bug treatments $40

Total $413

We budgeted $500.00 a month on our Lily and find that to be pretty accurate. Set our thermostat at 80. Highly recommend a watch service weekly----things can go wrong (experience) while you are gone!

Obviously there are variables such as the amount of rain and the climate could vary a bit from year to year. However, overtime it will average pretty much the same.

We own a a Designer home in Fernandina and would agree with these numbers though our costs maybe slightly higher in the range of $500/month. Would also recommend a home watch service as essential. We keep our thermostat at 80 and place Comcast on vacation mode to save cost.

While not an Iris, my wife and I have a Gardinia, which we visit 2 times each month, but it is mostly vacant. We pay the monthly amenity, garbage and water bill for a large cudesac lot, $250, Elec with a humidistat $60 on average, Internet and TV $128, 1/12th ins per month $65, Taxes and bond and non-ad veloraum, 1/12th $458 mo, lawn and pest control $166 mo, alarm, $20 mo, Surveilance camera recording $20 for a total of $1,167 per month. If you do not have internet for say camera's you can save that, no alarms, save there. It would seem $1,000 if you have both bond and tax payment.

We pay peanuts for electricity in the summer months because we have a humidistat.
It's well worth the money (we bought it at Ace Hardware and Fireboy installed it himself).
Some months our Hydro Bill is under $15, and we leave our fridge on.
We have Village Watchdogs check our home weekly.
Of course taxes, amenities, water and garbage are monthly whether you occupy your home or go North for the summer.

One thing I would recommend is to have a home watch service look at your home weekly. We had a neighbor a few blocks away have their sprinkler system not work properly and they lost their whole lawn. It was very expensive to rip out the old sod and install new sod.

I'm glad to see all the recommendations for a home watch service.
I do have snowbird friends who rely on the kindness of friends or neighbors to do an occasional check. :eek:
However I think a Homewatch Service is imperative, and there are a lot of great ones around.
They are professionals, they know what to check and when to notify you.