How Much Is Your Electric Bill?

Updated on May 24, 2012
T.O. asks from Buffalo, MN
22 answers

Just curious what others are paying. Ours seems to be so high. We have a 3,000 sq.ft home with all of our lights on dimmers, new energy star appliances, etc., but we do have 2 fridges (kitchen and downstairs in the laundry room). Always looking for ways to cut the cost and use of electricity. Ideas?

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~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

1600 sq ft house. Last bill was $30. Very little A/C. Water heater is gas. Peak of the summer/winter it gets around $60-70. Off season $20-30. I keep the thermostat on 77/78 in the summer and use fans and keep the heat on 62 and use blankets in the winter.

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J.S.

answers from Columbia on

$130 - 2400 sq ft - 2 fridges plus a third freezer. Therm at 72 in summer and 74 in winter (i think - although it's gas heating).

If i ain't using, it ain't plugged in (you get charged even if off when plugged in)

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J.B.

answers from Houston on

3200 sq ft. two story, one fridge. 3 t.vs, pool/pump runs 8 hrs a day, 2 a/c units and our bill averages $225. One of the best things we did was solar screens. They block literally 90% of UV rays (that is where the heat comes from). Both thermostats are on 77 during summer.
And we had radiant barrier put in the attic, we noticed a difference with that as well.
We have a smart meter for electric and I can go online and literally look at electric consumption by the minute and the biggest user is the washer/dryer. For that reason I only do laundry once a week.
Another thing that helps is turning lights off when no one is in the room. I know it sounds like a no brainer, but stay on top of it for a few days and you realize how many lights are on for no reason, around here anyway...

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F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

I have you all beat! Our house is 2000sf and in the summer our elec bill is over $400, that is with the a/c set 24/7 at 78. In the winter, its in the $80's. But I live in Hell, uh, I mean AZ, so you can't really compare. Good luck!

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B.C.

answers from Dallas on

We have an 1800sft home and I stay home, so the lights are always on, as well as the tv, etc. Our electric bill ranges from $150-220. We are with Stream energy.

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A.G.

answers from Houston on

Mine used to be over 300 most months but then I shipped around for a competitive rate and cut it in half.

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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda H ! ! !

$30 for a 1600 sq ft home. Smart lady! Especially when someone else said they had a 1300 sq ft home and spent almost 10 times as much.

We have a 2200 sq ft home built in 1962 when no one cared about insulation or energy efficiency. Our worst electricty bill was $375 in August. We changed out all of our incondecent light bulbs for the energy efficient CFL bulbs when they went on sale for $0.25 each. We had 4-light chandaliers and I unscrewed two or three lights depending on our lighting needs. The 300 watt outside flood lights are now 100 watt CFL bulbs that use 23 watts of electricity. We up graded our single pane windows to double pane windows. We added insulation in the attic and added a vapor barrior. We planted greenry to shade the house in the summer, but would loose their leaves in the winter to heat the home. We ended up having to replace the roof (leaking) and changed the dark shingles with very light gray to reflect the heat. We had an all electric home except for our furnace. I paid the minimum on our gas bill, about $10 per month 5 to 6 months of the year. When we had to replace the water heater we replaced the electric one with a gas one. We went to a high efficiency one with extra insulation. We changed out our electric double oven with a gas double oven (bought used from someone remodeling a home. It was only 4 or 5 years old.) and changed our 4 burner electric cook top with a 5 burner gas cook top. We tend to cook in the oven during the winter months and use the microwave whenever possible in the summer. I love to BBQ and smoke meat and of course that is outside cooking on my large BBQ grill.

We have a 2200 sq ft home with a large frig and a 22 cu ft chest freezer and a 100 gallon aquarium. I have a CPAP machine that uses a LOT of electricty. Our electricity bill last month was $68. Our electricity bill last August was $121. We have earned back all the money we spent on energy conservation in less than 5 years from when we spent it.

Good luck to you and yours.

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T.V.

answers from New York on

My home is about as large as yours. We have one fridge, but we have a treadmill that gets a good amount of use. Our electric bill is about 100 dollars a month.

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V.S.

answers from Lima on

Depends on the month. I pay over $200 in the winter, about $110 in the spring and roughly $150-$200 in the summer. Doesn't make sense when we use propane in the winter. We saved by getting a new dryer and all new appliances. Right now, we keep the house at about 76, which is hot for us and we haven't had to put the AC on much. My suggestion is to run around in shorts and a t-shirt. Also check to see what your AC unit is. Ours is old and I think it may be why we pay so much. So check that out too. Good luck.

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V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Our last one (just came in) was around $180. We have 2400 sqft (roughly) in a single level ranch. 4 br, 3 ba, newer dryer, french door/bottom freezer refrig, and a small freezer only in the garage. Also a pool pump that runs about 7 hrs a day, and an aux pump (for the pool vac) that runs about 2 hrs a day.

We didn't switch out all our bulbs for the energy efficient CF bulbs, but the ones I use the most we did (the light over the island mainly, and the front porch lights).
I run all dishes thru the dishwasher and all clothes thru the dryer. Family of 4, plus a dog.
We keep are a/c set on 78, and run ceiling fans in the occupied rooms. All tile floors in the main living area helps, too. It is hot where we are... and it was a mild winter.

oops, and 9 ft ceilings, except in a few rooms, where they are 11 ft.

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K.H.

answers from Reno on

Get a smaller house? jk! We had a huge hoiuse and recently moved to a smaller one and got an additional fridge and our bill is cut in half.
I like to open the windows at night so the house will cool down naturally without having the ac running all night. I also have used a clothes forever now-usually starting in March or April and going until it takes clothes too long to dry. I also usually don't have my dishwasher dry the dishes-just crack the door.

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V.T.

answers from Washington DC on

Do you have a programmable thermostat? It makes it easier to adjust the temperature in your home. I set it for about 80-82 during the day, eventhough I'm home all day, I'm comfortable at 80. At around 5, I have it set to go down to 76, since my husband likes it colder. Any chance I get, I also open windows instead of turning on the air conditioning. Also, as for heat, we have a lot of blankets. I won't make anyone suffer or be uncomfortable, but I try to keep the house cooler in the winter and use a blanket or wear a sweatshirt.

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A.N.

answers from Madison on

We've seen a substantial reduction in our bill by switching to the new florescent light bulbs -- they even make ones that work on dimmers.

We also charge the kids a quarter if they leave a light on =)

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A.G.

answers from Dallas on

Our house is 2000sf, and we live in Texas (super hot) with all electric, no gas. Our bill this month was only $125! I was so excited! It's been in the 90s a bunch already. We got a new roof with much better ventilation, and it seems to be making a big difference in keeping the house cooler. The attic isn't holding all of that hot air. It stayed under $200 throughout the winter this year, too.

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J.K.

answers from Dallas on

I have a small home...about 1700SF. Our bill this month is $95.00.

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L.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Our current home has high ceilings and about 5,000 sq foot. *That includes the finished LL. We too have 2 refrigerators and a deep freeze. Our electric bill is about $200 a month. BUT we have been on the even payment plan ever since we got married 25 years ago and this is our 3rd home.

The even pay plan is not for poor people, like I had a friend comment. It just makes it easy to budget. So yes, we are paying $200 a month in the middle of winter, but we know about how much it's going to be. Same with our gas, $90 a month year round.

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B.B.

answers from New York on

For once, living in NJ is cheaper than the rest of the country! We have an 1800 sf house and only one of each essential appliance. We do not have central air but have 3 units that we run July and August. We have a attic fan that we run in May and 1/2 of June since the nights are cool. We unplug all the appliances that are not in use everyday such as the washer and dryer. Our bill is usually in the 60 dollar range for most of the year. In the winter it goes up to about 90-100 dollars but we have a wood burning stove that we like to use. If we do not use the woodburning stove, the house stays at about 66-68 degrees in the winter and in the summer it is about 75 during the day. At night the therm is set for 61 in winter and 72 in summer. We like it cool when we sleep.
Our last house was very old (bad windows, insulation), bigger, and we had a pool with a heater. In the winter our bills were in the 150 range and in July and August we had a bill for 400 dollars once...yikes!

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

This time of the year, it is usually about $180 or so. I am home with the kids most of the time. We have electric EVERYTHING, no gas at all. My dryer is an electric dryer. It is constantly on during waking hours. We have a 75 gallon aquarium that filters constantly, a septic system that has to pump water an acre away from the house, and a large workshop light that turns on everynight at sunset. I'd say that we are doing pretty good. I keep the thermostat at 75 during the day lately and 73 at night. Once it gets a little warmer, and it will...I will be turning it to 78 during the day and 75 at night. In the Summer our bill never reached 350, EVER, and we have very hot Summers.

OK...so the big change that we have made over the last year has been that we have replaced all of our lightbulbs with CFL ones, which have made quite a difference, I think. I turn off the monitor when I walk away from the computer. Be mindful of wasted power, thats all you have to do. I have a girlfriend that unplugs everything when shes not using it, like the coffeepot, microwave and the toaster. I have yet to try that. Oh, cooking in the crockpot saves electricity also, you are essentially heating just a casserole dish, instead of an entire oven to cook something.

EDIT: I forgot to add (I think) that we live in a 1700 sq ft house.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

We have buget billing so we pay 30/month ... and settle up at the end of the year - I tend to send in 50-60 if I can affoard it, but I do not know the actual bill amt honestly.

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T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Our highest bill was back in 2003 at $700. 4000SF house.

We built in 2000. We ripped out everything the builder installed, replaced and upgraded both pumps and both furnaces, put in more insulation. This was a pricey upgrade but well worth it in the long run.

We also have a new roof.

After we made these adjustments, our bill has never been over $400. The main thing we do is use the lightbulbs that last a lot longer. Our thermostat is usually around 75. We work from home.. we will be comfortable.

We have 2 fridges that run non-stop and a deep freezer. I wash at least 2 loads of clothes a day, 1 dishwasher load.

That said, my hot water, heat and fireplace are all gas. So my summer electric is less than $400 and gas is around $20 and in the winter, gas runs as high as $300 and electric is around $100.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Our average monthly bill is $275. Our house is about 1300 sq. feet.

We do not have the air set to any certain temp, or work at cutting anything. It seems no matter what we do the bill is always about the same. It can be over $400 in the summer and very low in the winter so the average is the best we can do.

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S.G.

answers from Rapid City on

I want your electric bills. Our house is around 2100 square feet and we have a detached garage that my husband made into a gun shop. Our bills have been running around $300+ all winter long even though I keep the heat down to around 68. We changed baseboard heaters into cove heaters or infared. We keep heat off in the bedroom that no one usually sleeps in and the door closed, we also keep ours way down because we like it cold when we sleep. We don't hardly use air condition in the summer, just on the days that it is over 100 outside. Our house is naturally cold with the trees and the main part of the house was built in 1900 but additions built around it. I think most of it is my husbands gun shop and hopefully with a coal stove in there this next winter it will cut it down. He is an electrician so he has more lights then he needs out there. Anyway, I would love it to be down even to $100 a month.

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