How much are utility bills in a small home?

amother

Sat, Mar 03 2012, 7:17 pm

Looking for the average cost of utilities for a small home- 3 bed/2.5 bath. A breakdown would be appreciated for those who know offhand or can quickly look it up.

Also please note if you are careful about dripping faucets, lights left on, an overly warm/air-conditioned home, etc.

(If location matters, I'm in Brooklyn. I'm just trying to decide if condo fees that cover utilities come out to be the same as paying in house.)

Thank you!

rac429

Sat, Mar 03 2012, 8:15 pm

I dont live in Brooklyn so I cannot give you prices there but where I live (Baltimore) it varies from month to month. In the winter our bills can get up to $400.00 per month but in the summer our bills are around $200.00 per month. I am very consciensious about turning lights off and we keep our thermostat on a timer so during the day when no one is home it goes down or up. We do not pay for water as it is included in our condo fees. Hope this helps a little.

Fabulous

Sat, Mar 03 2012, 8:19 pm

It also depends if you have gas or oil heat. Heating is a HUGE cost!!! If you keep your home toasty, even only in the evenings, it will be $$. Also air conditioning, lights, water, gas for washing machine, oven etc.. I think it's a totally individual thing. Also every month is different for each person depending on events, usage, and weather.

STovah

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 6:12 am

My gas and electric monthly bills each range from $120-$220 monthly. This is for a small Brooklyn 3 bedroom house. We are pretty good about our electric usage (except for our washing machine; my babysitter often runs small loads) and we try to keep our air conditioning usage to a minimum (the kids rooms don't have air conditioning, though we'll probably have to put those in this year). In terms of our gas usage, my house is pretty leaky. We've added insulation in the attic and probably should've taped up the windows, etc. Our thermostat is probably set at an average of 66. I don't have a water bill handy to be able to advise on that.

STovah

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 6:15 am

Just to add - central air will probably run your electric bills higher. The people I know with central tend to use that when opening windows would work just as well.

sky

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 8:17 am

2 Bedroom, 2 bath small 3 floor home.
Depends on the weather. This past February our gas usage was $80.00 (it runs contant as I work from home with a newborn) but it was a very warm February. Last year it was over 200 for February (this is only gas).
Our electric bill in the summer gets VERY high with central air. Especially if it is hot. Once month last summer it was over 300.

amother

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 8:55 am

Thank you to those who responded. You are helping me make a decision. So if condo fees are $400, and they include heat, hot water, water (and other things like maintenance and repair on the exterior of the building), it seems like we would pay about that much anyway per month if owning a house. Am I right?

Anybody know how much they pay per month for water?

Fabulous

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 8:56 am

what about gas and electric? Also, do you have control of the amount of heat?

Water is about $1500 a year, I think.

amother

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 9:04 am

We pay cooking gas and electricity now, when renting. So that would be the same for us. The condo building is small so we should be able to have a say in what we need/want.

1500/year is 125/month. So the $400 figure isn't terrible.

sky

Sun, Mar 04 2012, 8:03 pm

maintence on exterior is a huge saving. That means no worrying about gutters, roof, grass, etc.