Utilities

[Raidra]

Can someone give me an idea of how much I should be expecting utilities to cost? I just had a talk with my father about what he needs us to contribute towards the bills, and he was saying that we pay $1000 a month in utilities.

So for utilities, we're counting phone, internet, cable (Comcast with movie channels, 2 regular DVR boxes and a HD DVR box), electric, gas heat, and water (though they haven't actually paid the water bill in, like.. years).

There are eight of us living here, in a raised ranch converted into a two-family. The four adults shower daily. The kids get baths, like.. once a week. We run our dishwasher usually once a day, downstairs they run theirs probably every other day. We keep our heat pretty low up here, but they tend to keep theirs fairly high downstairs. We use more electricity in the summer because of our three window ACs, whereas they don't downstairs because it's naturally cooler. Um.. I don't know what else is really relevant. We try to keep our water and electricity usage as low as possible.. not leaving the water running, not leaving lights or the TV on, etc.

So.. what do you guys think? I'm sure that we'll eventually sit down to look at the bills, but I was just hoping for an idea of what's reasonable.

[hillview]

We pay roughly
170 in cable (2 HD boxes but not pay for channels, internet, phone)
as much as 400-600 in heat (we have gas) in winter depending on the month
not sure on electric and water is 600 maybe quarterly?

I could easily see in a house in New England paying 1k in utilities.

ETA we have a house built in 1895 and roughly 2500 sq feet.
/hillary

[KLD313]

It sounds right to me. I'm sure i pay about that and there are three people in this house.

[kijip]

We pay:

Optional bills:

$80 for phone and internet combined.
$0 for cable because we used Netflix/Library/Hulu/iTunes instead

Necessary Bills:

$100 a month more or less for Water/Sewer/Garbage
Averages to $90 a month for electric (lower in summer/higher in winter) for Electric. Our heat is electric so that is not just lights and appliances. But we live in new construction in the very mild PNW and have great blinds. So basically we use heat from November-March and turn on a few fans for all of a month in the summer. Not much to heat or cool. We barely use our heat and are big blanket/sweater/socks people.

When we had oil heat and lived in a drafty old house, the heating alone was well over $1200 a season for the same weather. And the house was so hot in the summer, we all slept on the first floor rathe than tread upstairs to our rooms.

$1000 a month for two families in a cold climate with cable sounds about right. I would look at a year's worth of bills and winterize the best you can.

[HIU8]

We pay at most $350/month in gas (during the winter--usually under $100 in the summer). Electricity is about $170 (jumped up b/c useage charges changed). Water is about $200/quarter. Phone/cable/internet is a package deal of $140/month. So rounded up to about $750 a month for a family of 4 in 2400 sq feet.

[o_mom]

We range from $500-700/month for Utilities - TV, Phone, Internet, Water, Sewer, Garbage, Electric, Gas. That is for a family of 5 in a newer house with gas heat/central air. I could see it being $1000/month in your situation.

ETA: That was an eyeball estimate - I went back and total for Gas, Electric, Water/Sewer/Garbage, Phone, Cell, Cable averages $532/mo over the last year.

[mommylamb]

I think it's really hard to say what utilities "should" cost because there's so much variation depending on how energy efficient your house is (windows, doors, appliances, furnace, etc) and depending on what kind of heat you have. You're in the Northeast, so there's a good chance you use home heating oil, the price for which is volatile. My parents used to live up there, but they had the storage for the oil and would buy a year's supply in August when the price was usually cheapest. For us, we have gas heat, and prices have been relatively stable for the last few years. We also replaced our A/C and Furnace a couple years ago with a highly energy efficient model, and it has cut our electric and gas bills substantially. Seriously, I bet we easily save $120/month in the warm months and $75/month in the cold months since we put it in. I'd say on average, we spend $400-$450/month on all of the utilities you included (water is a quarterly bill, but I've done the math and included it in that estimate). We're just a family of 3 though and we live in a 2800 foot town house.

ETA: Some of our utilities (sewer/garbage/snow removal) are included in our HOA fees, so I didn't include those as I have no idea how they would break out.

[Jo..]

Following Katie, Optional bills:

Almost $190 for phone/internet/ tv combined. We JUST decreased that this week by calling cable and telling them the bill was too high, and that we didn't WANT to shop around, so what could they do for us? They decreased our monthly bill. Cable rates are NEGOTIABLE. Call!

(We got rid of the phone portion of cable, and then after that they gave us a rate reduction of about 20% per month for internet/TV...we have a really good internet package, HD TV in two rooms, DVR, etc, and now pay $122/mo)

Necessary Bills:

About $200 per month (average) gas and electric. Gas is higher in the winter, electric is higher in the summer.
$50-$150 per month for water depending on rainfall/garden...$200 is if I am watering my garden for eight hours per day in drought conditions. $50 is normal for a family of four.
$20 per month for Sewer/Garbage

House bills average $500 per month total (of course not including insurance, taxes, etc)

ETA We have a 2700 square foot house. In WV we had over 3500 heated square feet, and paid less. Our house is old and crappy.

[amldaley]

(I am also digging Katie's set up:) )

Keep in mind that different parts of the country pay more or less. I would look for answers from BBB'ers in your neck of the woods. There are several. IIRC, my MIL, who lives not too far from you, has ridiculously high utilities by comparison. She has the same type of house you do and only has 2 adults living there. They do not use the downstairs at all except for laundry and storage.

This is for 2 adults (and sometimes 3 adults) and 1 child. We have a 2 story home with cathedral ceilings (the poorest design for energy usage ever!)

Optional bills:
$188 per month for Cable (no movie channels)/Phone/Internet
$189 per month for 2 smartphones with data and one regular cell

Necessary Bills:
$31/ month for trash & recycling
$15-$20 month for water (we are on septic, so no sewer bill)
$150-$250 month for electricity (ours is higher in the summer and our heating and cooling is all electric. We have one bill per year that hits $300).

[amldaley]

Most places have someone come out from the electric company or gas company etc who will do a walk through your home, identify energy wasters, etc and sit down with you and look at the last 12+ months of bills to help you figure out ways to improve your useage.

We have done this in MD and NC and it was very informative. It was free in both places.

[mytwosons]

Also following Katie's format.

ETA: This is for a 1700 sqft home w/approx 20 year old furnace and 15 yr old AC. We have drafty windows, but have added insulation to the attic.

Optional bills:

$32 for basic phone w/out long distance capabilities. We just used our cells for years, but recently added a land line since DS1 likes to talk on the phone w/his friends.
$0 for internet - We do without.
$40 for basic satelite service.

Necessary Bills:

$75 a month more or less for Water.
We live in the midwest and have cold winters and warm/hot summers. Gas heat and electric central AC. Our stove is electric, our washer and dryer are gas. We run the dishwasher daily. We average $140/month. The highest bill we had this summer was $200. The most we paid last year during the winter was $300. We set the heat at 60 overnight and 68 when we are home during the day. During the summer, the AC is always on, but it is set at 78-80 during the day and goes down to 72 at night. I'd love to not be as strict with our thermostat, but we can't afford higher utility bills. [/QUOTE]

[vludmilla]

It sounds like a lot to me but it depends a lot on your area and the size of your home.
I am in a HCOL area in 1800 sq. ft. and we pay about
$40 a month in water
$250 month (average) on gas and electric
$100 month for phone, cable, and Internet

[MamaKath]

It does not sound out of the realm of normal if you are dealing with water bills, oil, electric, cable, phones all for 8 people in the northeast. We also have garbage fees, alarm fees and at our last home had road fees and association fees that would have fallen into the utilities category.

[KrisM]

We pay:

Cable/Phone/Internet $130/month We only have regular cable, no movie channels, no DVRs, etc.

Electric and gas are on budget billing, so it's the same all year. Total is $311/month.

In the summer, we are at about $50/month for water. It'll go down in winter to $30 or so. $120/year for sewer.

Total of that is $500 or so.

[daniele_ut]

I'm kind of shocked at what some people are paying in utilities. We have a 2700sf brick house and the only insulation on the main floor is the air gap between the brick and the tar paper. We also have single pane aluminum frame windows (read - drafty). We live in the mountain west and it gets quite cold here and snows a lot.

Our house has gas heat and we have separate furnaces for the main level and basement. We pay $92 a month for gas with the equal payment plan

We pay our city utility company for electric, water, sewer and trash and that costs us $190 a month with the equal payment plan.

So, necessary utilities cost us a total of $282 a month.

Optional bills include bundled cable/internet at $85 a month and dh's cell phone at $85 a month for a total of $170. We got rid of our land line and cut back our cable recently and that saved us $50 a month

[fumofu]

Internet & TV: $100
Cell phone for 3: $150

Electric & gas: $75
Water, trash, sewers: $35

Total: $360

Household of 3, 1300 sq ft townhouse, plus my dad's basic cell phone

[MontrealMum]

I agree that this can vary wildly due to location, but that seems high to me. I guess because you're effectively 2 units in one home (you're in a sort of duplex situation, right?) you should probably double what ours is, since you've got 2 phones, 2 cable plans, etc. etc.

Here's ours:
$58.00 for landline
$77 for alarm system
$100 cable bundle (includes internet)
$30 my cell (DH's is thru his work) - that's just the service fee, not including any calls
$100 Hydro

I'm having a hard time reading the Hydro bill (water/heat/electric here), but I think that this is right. We're on the averaged payment plan so we pay the same winter or summer. They take several readings and then tell you what the monthly average should be, spreading it out throughout the year. Our home has electric heat. Some of our neighbors are on gas (used to be cheaper, but no longer) and some have woodburning stoves, but these are banned in some areas due to particulate matter. Our Hydro bill is low becasue we live in a part of the country with some of the lowest Hydro bills. We are an energy rich province.

We do not pay for trash or snow removal. This comes out of our taxes.

[roseyloxs]

We just moved so we haven't lived here long enough to know what it actually costs but I can tell that the military gives us about $920 to cover our utility costs which is based on average usage for military families in this area. That number does not change based on rank.

[zoestargrove]

We live in New England

optional

cable (very bare bones basic plus internet) - $75
2 cellphones with data $170

necessary

Electricity - about $150/month
Oil and wood for heating -estimated about $300/month
water -$50 quarterly

[Raidra]

Wow, I had no idea it varied quite *that* much!

For some clarification.. we don't have to pay for sewer, trash, alarm, or any condo/city fees. We share the same phone and cable service, so it's not like paying for two separate accounts (and we only have one landline). My husband's cell phone is paid for by work, and mine is an extra of my parents' that they can't cancel the contract on. My mom refuses to get rid of the landline because we've had the same phone number since I was a baby, and she's attached to it (yeah, crazy, I know).

Some things we're better about, and some things they're better about. For instance.. we keep our heat pretty low--in fact, we almost have to, because my mom insists on keeping hers high and it really heats my house.

[amldaley]

Wow, I had no idea it varied quite *that* much!

For some clarification.. we don't have to pay for sewer, trash, alarm, or any condo/city fees. We share the same phone and cable service, so it's not like paying for two separate accounts (and we only have one landline). My husband's cell phone is paid for by work, and mine is an extra of my parents' that they can't cancel the contract on. My mom refuses to get rid of the landline because we've had the same phone number since I was a baby, and she's attached to it (yeah, crazy, I know).

Some things we're better about, and some things they're better about. For instance.. we keep our heat pretty low--in fact, we almost have to, because my mom insists on keeping hers high and it really heats my house.

So, your Dad is saying it costs $1000 month for water, electricity/gas, & cable bundle?

[shawnandangel]

Optional Bills:

Phone: $68
Internet: $40 - the slowest they offer for "high speed"
Cable: $40 - we have basic with additional children's shows "family package"

Necessary Bills:

Gas: $19 in the summer, $300-450 in the winter
Electric: $150-$200 in the summer, about $70-$100 in winter
Water: $30-50

[zoestargrove]

Do you think he is including a portion of the property tax. I can see how you would justify that if you trash removal and sewer were not specifically billed by the town.

[wendibird22]

In W. NY and we have a 2200sq ft home and it's a 6yo build so probably pretty energy efficient.

Phone (landline): $32
Cable/internet: $115 (and going up thanks to TW)
Gas: $90
Electric: $80
Water: $30

[bekahjean]

Reading all of your water bills is making me jealous! We just got our first water bill at our new rental and the water bill was $25, but there is a $120 sewage charge EVERY MONTH! We were planning on staying in this house for several years, but now we are thinking that we'll move when our lease is up.

[khm]

I don't know if it's universal, but here you can call the utilities and they'll give you a billing history on a property for at least the past year. VERY helpful when house shopping.

Our Optional Stuff-
Cable/internet/phone bundle - $120

Non-Optional-
Gas/Electric - $202 budget billed (same amount all year). It changes every 6 months if we "get ahead or behind", been as low as $151 but current at $202. We have paid in more than our charges though, so it may creep down. We live in the midwest and have big A/C bills and big heating bills.

Garbage/water- $40


bekahjean, my husband's office / construction yard incurs a $20/mo water bill, but the stormwater fee is $400/mo. I always wonder how bad the residential homes nearby get dinged.....

[khalloc]

We have a 2600 sq ft + another 600 sq feet in the basement that is heated. My cable is from Comcast and we have 2 digital boxes, high speed internet, phone and its about $170/month. Gas is probably like $25 in summer and $350 in winter. Our dryer also runs on natural gas. Electric varies. DH always pays these bills so I am kind of clueless. But I would guess like $150 at the most in the summer because then we have window ACs running at night.

Trash removal is probably at least $50/month. Water is on a quarterly basis. No idea how much that is. We have a septic system so no sewer fees.

[bekahjean]

bekahjean, my husband's office / construction yard incurs a $20/mo water bill, but the stormwater fee is $400/mo. I always wonder how bad the residential homes nearby get dinged.....

It's because the developer sold the water service to a national company, but kept the sewer system. He's apparently raised the charges from $150 per quarter when the house was built (10 years ago) to the current charge of $120 per month. There has apparently been lawsuits brought by the residents, but we can't really do anything about it. It's really frustrating and I wish the landlord had mentioned it before we signed the lease. We did ask her about all the other utility costs, but didn't think to ask about the sewage.

[Jo..]

. My mom refuses to get rid of the landline because we've had the same phone number since I was a baby, and she's attached to it (yeah, crazy, I know).



We just recently cancelled our landline and went all cellular. I had my home number ported into my new cell. It took about 10 days and had to be done through the corporate office. Now my cell number is the same as my home number (which we have had for five years and didn't want to get rid of)