How much is your heat/electric bill?

[nunzia]

Our most recent gas bill was $80 and electric was $66.00. We keep the heat at 72 when we're home. We are gone during the day and turn the thermostat down to 60. However, for this most recent bill, we were all home for the Christmas break for two solid weeks so we had the heat on during the day.

The month before the gas was $68.00.

Our house is 1750 sq ft 2 story. The upstairs is always warmer, of course. Our days are not as cold as where you probably live (average in the low to mid 40s most days), but our nights and mornings drop into the teens and low 20s this time of the year.

Wow...we must be in different parts of NM It's been a cold winter so far for us and we've had 4 snows! (big deal, we usually only get maybe 1). Our gas was $123.00 and electric $75. Not horrible but still. Our house is about 1800 sq ft.

 

[angwill]

We are in IL. We got a new roof, new windows and new insulation this year. We keep our house at 66 during the day and 62 at night. We also have a pellet stove for the living room and stay in there as much as possible. We use oil heat at 2.36 per gallon and went through 250 gallons last month for a total of $590 not including the electric to run the furnace that will be around $120 thanks to it being regulated. Then there is the cost of pellets for the stove that we were told would heat our whole house saving us the cost of oil but only heats 1/4 of the house in reality. This was a really cold month so I am hopefull that that this warm up will stay so our bill goes down. Sadly, the improvements we made to save on our bill seem to have made little difference in our bill but cost us a lot of money.

As for the i heaters (I think that is what they call them) look online for reviews. I looked them up and read that they are overpriced space heaters and unless you have an open floor plan with not a lot of space to heat you will need more than one.

 

[angwill]

For the person with the $925 bill. I assume that is electric? You might want to compair your bill to the meter because they may be estimating it.

 

[grumpeeduck]

Ours came yesterday, and it was $388.00 for 3500 square feet! That is a record high for us!

 

[TaraPA]

Ok I thought I'd win but saw the $925 - glad THEY WIN! Our gas heat is anywhere from $450-$700 a month in the winter, electric another $200 on top of that. House is 4400 square feet. I keep it around 66-67 during the day, 68-70 in the evening and then back to 62 overnight.

Think spring!!!!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Ugh- got ours the other day $925 and we keep the house at 68*
We are 8 people living here, but that is still crazy. We have all energy efficient appliances, light bulbs, time of day, etc...

Hello neighbor! We got a bill like that a few years ago, which is why we are on the $500 a month year-round plan. NJ is way too expensive!

 

[mjkacmom]

For the person with the $925 bill. I assume that is electric? You might want to compair your bill to the meter because they may be estimating it.

Don't assume - it's pretty expensive to heat your home with gas or oil in NJ. Many people here complain about bills like this.

 

[puffkin]

Wow, we get a down right bargain....but we keep our house COLD COLD COLD. Frosty even. 64 when we are home, 60 overnight and when we are away during the day. We do run our gas fireplace in our main room pretty much the whole time we are home and that does warm that room and the kitchen area pretty well, but the bedroom are COLD.

I do the budget plan for gas. That is our heat/hot water. I pay roughly $50 a month. They readjust it a few dollars each month. May is our true up month...last year I only owed a couple dollars that month because we were overpaid. It was nice getting $15 bills in the summer, but the $200+ bills in the winter were killers! The budget plan is much nicer and budget friendly.

Our electric was $92...but that included a rather sizable Christmas display (our stove and dryer are electric as well). Normally it runs around $65-$75 in the winter. This is our last year of cheap electric though, as deregultion takes effect starting next year. Our bills are expected to at least double then

 

[Kimkimba]

We have good old oil heat.

Our electric bill was $240 and we just did our first fill of oil of 150 gallons at $403. We keep our house at about 58 most of the time.

 

[angwill]

I assumed because they said the bill was that high with all energy efficient appliances and bulbs. I never heard of appliances and light running on oil or gas. lol

 

[bettymae1121]

Wow, I don't know how I do it then. I'm in IL, and have 1500 sqft of uninsulated house (built in the 40's) with a 30 year old furnance. Our budget plan for natural gas is $80 a month! We keep it at 62 while at work and while we are asleep, with 68 for about 2 hours in the morning and from 4 to 10 in the evening when we're home. We use gas for the water heater, dryer, and of course furnace.

I can't imagine what it will drop to when we got a new furnance and blow some insulation in, we hope to do that in the next few years!

 

[budbeerlady]

In Mi... 1800 sq foot home.

Our heat is on 68 when we are home and 60 at night and when we are gone.... budget payments of $55 a month... Electric runs $65-75 a month for us.

 

[mjkacmom]

Wow, I don't know how I do it then. I'm in IL, and have 1500 sqft of uninsulated house (built in the 40's) with a 30 year old furnance. Our budget plan for natural gas is $80 a month! We keep it at 62 while at work and while we are asleep, with 68 for about 2 hours in the morning and from 4 to 10 in the evening when we're home. We use gas for the water heater, dryer, and of course furnace.

I can't imagine what it will drop to when we got a new furnance and blow some insulation in, we hope to do that in the next few years!

I don't think you are doing anything special to keep your costs down, except living in an area with a lower COL. My sister lives in Naperville, and can't get over how less expensive it is to live there than here in NJ (and her home is 4000 square feet). She keeps trying to get me to move!

 

[antmaril]

Michigan here. Just paid my gas bill. I'm on the budget plan (1400 sf ranch) which is $85 a month. However, the "real" bill was $175. Thermostat is set at 68 degrees all the time. Electric bill was $145 - due to Christmas lights, I think.

 

[iwrbnd]

I know what you mean! We can have bills as high as $300! Last year I decided to use our fireplace and keep our heat turned low. I was miserable all winter because I hate being cold but did it anyway. When the bill came I was excited to see I saved $100/month but then my husband pointed out we were spending $100/month in wood! You can't win!

 

[mnrose]

We live in two homes (for complicated reasons having to do with where my children attend school). We live in uber cold Minnesota. One home is 4800 square feet, and is used about 3 days per week. Heating bill (thermostat at 68 when we are there) was $78 for mid-Dec through mid-Jan (approximate dates). The other home (used 4 days per week), similar time frame, about 2800 square feet, had a bill of $108. Both are heated with gas, but the larger home has an excellent passive solar design, two story, with lower level heated with in-floor radiant heat, single boiler system. Both homes are well built and super insulated. So, to heat TWO homes in Minnesota, it cost us less than $200.

I think it is a crying shame that people have such high heat bills in relatively warmer places than Minnesota. If everyone built homes the way they are built here, think of the savings!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

My last gas bill at the end of Dec was $80, my elictric bill yesterday was $189 and that is on budget bill. Our gas has gone down significantly in the last year or so and we only have a significant bill 3 maybe 4 months of the year, from May to Dec is is usually $8.00. Our electric bill has been bad for awhile now and I don't think it will ever go back down.

We keep our heat at 66 during the day and as low as 62 at night, except this last 2 weeks when it has been much colder than normal.

Suzanne

 

[angwill]

I don't think you are doing anything special to keep your costs down, except living in an area with a lower COL. My sister lives in Naperville, and can't get over how less expensive it is to live there than here in NJ (and her home is 4000 square feet). She keeps trying to get me to move!

Illinois is really not a low COL but it may be lower than the NJ/NY area. I grew up in the area your sister lives in. Mind you our electric is regulated here but have you asked her what she pays for taxes on her home? Our taxes on the goods we buy including food is high as well. Our taxes on purchases ranges from bout 7-9% and Cook county being the highest in the nation.

Thinking about it I don't know if natural gas is regulated here in IL as well?

 

[shamrock30]

Electric bill averages about $110-120 a month. Our oil tank fill-up last week was about $530, and we will probably have to fill up again in another 4-5 weeks. Our house is eight years old, and we keep it at 59-64 degrees in the winter.

 

[mjkacmom]

Illinois is really not a low COL but it may be lower than the NJ/NY area. I grew up in the area your sister lives in. Mind you our electric is regulated here but have you asked her what she pays for taxes on her home? Our taxes on the goods we buy including food is high as well. Our taxes on purchases ranges from bout 7-9% and Cook county being the highest in the nation.

Thinking about it I don't know if natural gas is regulated here in IL as well?

I'll ask, but I think I pay more. My home is valued at around $450,000, and I pay over $11,000 a year in property taxes. She bought her home for $800,000 (and it would be worth way over a million here). NJ has the highest property taxes in the country, and I believe my county is #2.