There are many benefits of natural gas, but the main draw is the low cost compared to that of electricity. While electric devices are typically more common, many homes and apartments have propane or gas-powered furnaces, water heaters, and stoves. LEDs use up to 90% less energy and last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.īut what if your place hasn’t gone all-electric? Natural Gas – It Powers Hot Things!Īverage Gas Bill: $80/month (varies from month-to-month) You’ll want to change your furnace filter every 2 to 3 months to keep your machines running efficiently and improve the quality of air in your home. Opening blinds to let the sunshine in can keep things a bit warmer in the winter too.
#MONTHLY EXPENSES FOR A SINGLE PERSON WINDOWS#
You can also keep your home cool by closing shutters during the day opening windows at night in the summer. Make sure your ducts are well-maintained, regularly checking for and sealing leaks to ensure efficient use of your heating and cooling equipment.Ĭeiling and floor fans use way less energy than air conditioning, as long as you can remember to turn them off when you leave the room. Invest in a smart thermostat that can automatically regulate the temperature for you.
When it comes to setting the temperature in your home, keep things set as warm as you can stand in the summer and as cold as you’re comfortable with in the winter in order to keep your heat and A/C running as little as necessary. While many of the factors above are going to be largely out of your control, there’s plenty you can do to save energy when it comes to heating and air conditioning. Once you’ve figured all this out, here are some energy saving tips. How well insulated is the home? Are windows double-pane and well-sealed? If the home is older then it likely isn’t as well insulated as a newer home.How old are the appliances? If your HVAC system is 10 to15 years old it’s likely going to be less energy efficient than a newer unit.Keep in mind the average temperatures of any potential move. What’s the climate like? Your air conditioning usage is going to be different in Alaska than it is in San Diego.A one bedroom apartment is going to be cheaper to heat and cool than a two bedroom apartment. How large is the residence? The more square footage you have the more costly it will be to maintain a certain temperature.Heating and cooling usually make up 35%-40% of your energy bill.Ī few things to consider when trying to estimate energy costs… Still, there’s one major factor to your electric bill that requires special consideration… Heating and Air Conditioning – Different Variables Affect CostĪverage Heating Bill: $21.56 – $26.13 (3 – 4 months/year)Īverage Air Conditioning Bill: $21.56 – $26.13 (3 – 4 months/year)
If you live in San Francisco or Los Angeles you can expect to pay upwards of $222 a month on electricity alone (32% higher than the national average), so it’s important to understand how you are being billed. In California, there are laws that protect you so you won’t be overcharged for utilities by your landlord. If you are renting and your landlord is billing you for utilities you are a “sub-metered tenant”. Here’s the average cost of using some necessary household devices based on data from Duke Energy: Appliance Since everyone uses different appliances at different rates, it can be pretty hard to estimate average energy usage, but here are a few constants: Calculating Power Usage Your electricity consumption is going to be measured in kilowatt hours (kWh), which is essentially a measure of how much power a device uses over time. Electricity – The Cost of Powering Your HomeĪverage Electricity Bill: $65.33 – $88.10Īlmost every appliance in your home is going to be using electricity at some point in time, which is why it’s important to know exactly how you’re being charged for your power consumption. Requesting a copy of previous bills will also tell you which utilities were paid by the landlord and which were paid by the tenant.Įven though prior electric, water, and gas bills will vary based on usage, you’ll know with near 100 percent certainty what the trash/recycling and condo fees will cost. In most cases, landlords and real estate agents will provide last year’s bills if you ask them. One of the simplest ways of getting an idea of what the utility bills of a specific house or apartment will really be is to ask for prior utility bills. The average cost of $200 a month is only an average. Figure out how much your move will cost by using a moving cost calculator. Remember, calculating in the cost of utilities is part of the move process.
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