How much was your electricity bill last month?

[Guest]

$307 here. That is about the top; it only goes that high on the very hottest/coldest months.

[redsquirrel]

In the summer it's very low, less than 100$. But I live in the NE and we don't have air conditioning.  I also have gas for cooking, the dryer and heating hot water. Our heat is hot water baseboard, so also gas. 

 

Our gas bill in the summer is super low, but in the winter it's more because of heating the water for the heat...but it's still not much.

 

What kills me are all the fees. We pay more in taxes and fees...for the privileged of just getting the power delivered to our house, than we pay for the actual power we use.  If we used nothing for the entire month, I think we would still have to pay about 75$ a month.

 

We tried to go solar this past year but our roof was juuuuuuust a bit too small. Maybe in the future?  But we use very little electricity. The company we worked with to maybe go solar didn't believe we have four people living in the house, lol.  Our electricity usage is super low for our area.  I think it's because we don't have a big TV entertainment center thing. We have a laptop for watching stuff and that's it. 

[Jane in NC]

I am relieved to say $149. We were out of town when a relay broke on our air conditioning system. The outside unit was running but no cool air was being forced into the house. Hence the outside unit was running...and running. We had no idea for how long.

 

That bill could have been much worse!

[EmilyGF]

Our friends stayed at our house and it was $110. We usually hit about $80 in the summer. But we have a huge tree on the south side of our house and share a wall with the neighbors. We have a whole-house AC and are about 2100 sq feet.

Emily

[HomeAgain]

Ours was $127, 9.6c per kilowatt hour, in a 1900 sq ft house.  I have a rule in the summer that our air is never set more than 20 degrees less than the outside. On days where it was 104, it was 84 in the house, dropping down to set at 80 at night.  We keep off electronics unless we're using them and grill a lot.  We also use fans to help during the hardest part of the day.

[TranquilMind]

Ours was $370. I'm in shock. It was super hot, but still. DANG.

 

A couple hundred, and I keep it cool.  I also keep it low in the winter, so my energy usage is as low as anyone's when you even it out. 

[MEmama]

Ours is around $50 all year. About half is just built in cost, so approx. $25 of actual usage per month.

 

1800 sq ft house. Obviously we don't have A/C.

[mamaraby]

We're on budget billing so it's $123/month for both natural gas and electricity. Sometimes it's more and sometimes it's less. They can adjust our payment twice a year. We have paid more and less depending on the heating/cooling season. Last month I believe the actual combined gas/electric was $172. All but about $20 of that was for electricity. ETA: That was for a little over 1000kwh. We have central a/c.

Edited August 26, 2016 by mamaraby

[happypamama]

I don't recall exactly but I think typical for summer for us. We have a budget plan so they spread out the summer highs and lows for us, and it evens out. What kills me is if we have a long cold winter and a long hot summer -- I rely on March/April and September/October to not need nigh heat or AC to balance it all out, or I get hit with a bill on January when it resets for the year. We have AC window units (6 of them -- 1 in each bedroom, 1 in the office/music room, and 1 to cool the entire downstairs) and only heat the upstairs and laundry room with electric heat; the first floor is heated with wood heat from our outdoor furnace.

 

But, this year: pregnant woman. Nuff said. I'm absolutely miserable if I'm not near the AC. I can just barely tolerate the kitchen (the AC unit is in the schoolroom next door and barely cools the kitchen).

 

But we don't pay for water or sewer, although we have to maintain those ourselves. I can't picture how expensive laundry and dishes and baths would be.

Edited August 26, 2016 by happypamama

[Guest]

Ours is gas and electric together and was $136. I was really surprised it wasn't more as hot as its been.

Edited August 26, 2016 by tbog

[peachskittles]

A shocking $250....$60 more than last year and using less electronics than last year...I think someone must have read the meter wrong, because this is insane...It's only an 1100 sq ft house...How is this possible?  I am glad that it has cooled off, maybe our bill will go down...

[tammyw]

$360 the past two months using the A/C (not all the time, just when we really wanted and at night in our bedroom only -- we have central A/C for the main part of the house and second unit for master only).

 

We JUST got solar though.

[cjzimmer1]

Ours was $334 for gas and electric combined.  Higher than usual but our AC was dying (18 years old and undersized for our house as well) so it ran at least 20 hours a day.  If I even turned on a burner the ac would run for hours to try to compensate for the heat. Anyways last week they replaced the AC and furnace so I'm hopefully the next bill will be better.

[Sara in AZ]

With two AC units working to cool 2600 square feet full time (thermostat set to 78) in the desert, ours is $262 every month on the equalizer plan.

[HRAAB]

Our bill for July was $85. for 802 KW hours.  2400 sq. ft. house.  I don't turn the a/c on until after 4PM and usually turn it off by 11PM.  There are times we run it earlier in the day and all night, like when it hits 100+ for a week.  The weather has cooled; right now it's a beautiful 84 outside and no a/c.  I have a gas water heater and hang the laundry on the line.  The highest bill we've had over the last 3 years was $120.

[aggie96]

$520-4300sqft, temp set at 71, work and school full time from home, house built 2013

 

previous house 3100sqft has same annual high bill, built 2002

 

This should be our highest bill of the year.

[Rachel]

$148 2000 sq ft house in south Texas- I guess I chose a great electric company and got a great rate :)

Mine was about the same but our house is a little bigger. We keep our house comfortable and I'm home pretty much all day. It's been in the 90's almost every day.

 

A local FB page asked this question awhile ago and answers were all over the map in my little town. It seems newer houses, even with cheap windows, are more energy efficient. Our electricity bill is half what many people pay who live in much smaller homes than what my family has. It is also much cheaper than when we lived in our 1100 sq foot house with the 40 or 50 year old air conditioner.

[Selkie]

Ours was $375 because it was so hot and humid.  We have a fairly big house that we like to keep cool, and opening windows isn't an option for us because of allergies.

[umsami]

2000 square foot house.... Florida... super hot.... good AC system....temp set at 75.... $279 (but includes water fee as well)

Edited August 27, 2016 by umsami

[Kalypso]

Ours was $321 for 3200 sq ft. AC was on all the time set at 80-81. I was happy with that considering how hot it is.

[Liz CA]

Just paid it - $125.

We have a higher bill to run the heater without a wood stove.

House is about 1500 square feet.

Average outside temp during August F95-F105

Edited August 27, 2016 by Liz CA

[Saddlemomma]

It was $58 for 1700 sqft.  We don't have any need for air conditioning where we live.  

[Arctic Bunny]

$110.67 (674 kW.h at $0.13/kW.h, plus $21.25 basic charge)

[TrixieB]

$29

 

We don't have a/c; water heater, dryer, and range are gas.

[Lady Florida.]

$295 for an 1800 sq. ft. house - built in 1969, all electric including stove, old windows, old a/c unit. The air conditioner runs 24/7 for months (longer than just calendar summer) however it's higher than normal this year. It's been really hot even by Florida standards and we've had to keep the temperature lower than we usually do just for it to keep up with the heat. We look forward to winter when we can open the windows and have a low bill - usually under $100.

 

We really need to replace our a/c unit. Everyone we know who has done so especially if their house is old, has said it paid for itself quickly with much lower electric bills. 

[Melinda S in TX]

We are on average billing, and it runs $420-$450 year round.  I have two with medical conditions so we can never open windows, but they must be kept cool.  The kitchen is a separate area that has a window a/c.  The waterheater for the main house is electric and everyone takes 1-2 showers a day, sometimes more if it rains and they get muddy.  We wash and dry 4-6 loads of laundry a day.  We use propane for heating the main house and kitchen, the kitchen waterheater, and the stove.

[Ellie]

$300

 

Welcome to Texas in July. :svengo:

[Ausmumof3]

$750 for two and a half months...

Don't move to Aus.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Ausmumof3

[momto10blessings]

300ish

4200 square foot house, set on 76

My husband blames it on using the dryer so often

[TammyinTN]

The last bill for our 6000 sq foot home was 290.00

New bill at our 3200 sq foot home was 290.00

 

The new house had AC issues since resolved, and it's been super hot here and humid.   Both homes were set at 74*.  

 

[slackermom]

$45. No AC.

[foxbridgeacademy]

$331 for 2500+ sq ft. But one of the condensers (for the upstairs) wasn't working right, it's since been replaced so fingers crossed the bill goes down.

[Carrie12345]

The bill was $283. We used less than $100 worth, but we're on the budget plan since we use about ONE THOUSAND dollars worth during some winter months.

[Myra]

Highest this year: $118  It usually runs just under $100

We have a swamp cooler, no refrigerated AC.  Propane water heater.

 

Don't ask what our propane costs in the winter.  Ugh.

 

Just curious - we have a propane water heater also - would you share how much it runs you for propane per month.

 

i live in upstate NY and we are paying around $85 per month just for propane alone.

[Jerico]

$16

 

We don't have central a/c- live at 6200 feet. We do have a plug in one for our living room and run it in the afternoons/evening (not this week). I was surprised at how low it was. I don't miss the Midwest that is for sure. Our house is also very well insulated. We have a stucco exterior and I think that really helps. Our windows suck though.

[DawnM]

I know I have thought of doing the average leveling bill thing and was told it would be $197/mo, based on our last 12 months divided into 12.

 

Our bill last month was $256, but in the Fall and Spring we average $150/mo.

[Scarlett]

I just got my bill....$409. Yikes.

[LucyStoner]

$45 or so in summer months.

 

No air conditioning and next to no days per year hot enough to justify using it if we did have it. Basically no one has central AC here.

[MeghansMom]

Our electric bill for July was 214. I like it cold though. Our house is 1600 square feet. Our bill is usually in the low 100s when it is not too hot or too cold.

[Stratford]

$204 for a 2600 sq ft house set at 72.  

[MomsintheGarden]

$11.40

 

We have grid-tied solar, and that is the cost for connecting to the grid. We had to buy the system, though.

[AmandaVT]

Just curious - we have a propane water heater also - would you share how much it runs you for propane per month.

 

i live in upstate NY and we are paying around $85 per month just for propane alone.

 

We have a propane water heater. Last winter we spent just over $600 for the season, but propane was super cheap last year. We have radiant heat in our floors, so the water heater runs a lot in the winter, basically keeping the whole first floor warm. 

[Lizzie in Ma]

$171, no AC here but tons of fans.

[speedmom4]

I'm too embarrassed to say how high our bill was. 😠We are on a budget bill plan so our bill is the same each month except for August. That's when we pay any extra charges for higher than expected months. Plus it was super hot and humid here and all four of our children were home. Plus we have an old air conditioning unit that obviously isn't very efficient.

 

Let's just say I bet I have the highest bill. ☹ï¸

[jeremmy]

$220. It's normally that high for 2-3 months. The a/c runs constantly and the house still stays about 5 degrees warmer than we prefer during the day. I have a small house too.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KrissiK]

Shockingly high. Over $400. It was hot and yes, we did run the AC a little more than usual due to the heat and poor air quality, though we keep the daytime temp @ 80 degrees and when we run it at night we only bump it down to 74. I am just sick. The energy company seems to raise its rates every month.

Edited August 28, 2016 by KrissiK