How many square feet is your house - And what is your electric bill?

luvmykids wrote: I'm flipping out, I just got the new electric bill and it's almost $600.00!!!!!!

One of the things that appealed to me was that although the house is a little on the large size, 3200 SF, it's all set up for off peak storage, meaning I'm supposed to store energy during off peak hours and draw from that during the day rather than use on peak energy, kwim? The previous owners' highest bill in a three year period was $274. Granted, it was an older couple so I have more laundry, dishes, showers, etc but GEEEEEEEZ. Something just doesn't seem right!

A&A'smommy replied: yeah that does NOT sound right!!! I can't help you my house is TINY and we pay an outragoues amount in power

amynicole21 replied: My house is 1700 square feet (ranch) and we paid $128 last month. Of course, we've been running the AC already, so it will only go up from here

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: DH pays the bill, so I don't know. But I imagine pretty high since we leave the heat on all the time and lights too.

Cece00 replied: Well, our new home is about 2600 sq feet (living).

We havent gotten a full month's bill yet, but the average bill here (its for power, water, and garbage) last year was less than $120.

Now, we have 4 kids in the house, so I expect our bill to be higher. Hopefully not TOO high, though

But at our last house, it was about 1400 sq feet and our bills were about $110-130 a month, but it was not even close to energy efficient.

gr33n3y3z replied: what did your last bill say? And was it estmated this time?

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Our house is about 1600 square feet. Obviously not counting the basement though, since you never count the basement in sq footage... our bill is about 100$ every month lately, since the heating was a little lower than in the past, kept at about 70 degrees.

We are 5 in the house, although we usually spend time on one floor at a time, and there is usually only one or two lights on at a time.

My grandmother, though, lived in a 2 bedroom apartment last year, and had hydro bills of almost 400$. She lived alone. Crazy.

lovemy2 replied: My house is almost 2000 sq ft and our budget bill is $186...our actual bills normally though are probably about $160 in the winter and maybe $120 in the summer even with ac running....

$600 sounds crazy, my mom had a problem last year with her meter freezing outside.....

Our Lil' Family replied: 1400 sq. ft. and average bill for electricity only is about $90...that's average...in the summer it has gotten up to $150.

hoosier momma replied: My house is very small, only about 1000 square feet and our electric bill is about $95. My gas bill on the other hand is a completely different story. It jumped $125 for last month.

TheOaf66 replied: our house is on the small side at 884 sq ft. We are on the budget billing cycle so we pay $181 a month

lisar replied: My house is about 1600 sg feet and my light bill is about $130.00 a month.

If I was you I would call the power company and make them come and check your meter can, your lines, etc.... To make sure there is nothing wrong.

inmom2two replied: Was your last bill estimated? Ours was because of the weather and we got caught up this month. Still, it was only $330 for a 2200 sq foot house. However, before we put in new windows that bill would have run us nearly 550-600$!
If it seems really out of whack, call the electric company.

coasterqueen replied: Our house is roughly 2300 sq ft ranch and 1000 sq ft in finished basement. Our electric bill went from a budget pay of $150 a month to $455 a month this past month. Ours skyrocketed because they deregulated the electric market and there is only one company to choose from. Sore subject around here.

ETA that we also pay roughly $200-$300 a month for propane.

my2girls replied: Our house is 1650 sq.ft. and our bill was $54.00.
It is $160.00 in summer July/August because we use the air cond. 24/7 in this Vegas heat.

luvmykids replied: Karen you made me feel a tiny bit better, we only have one company to choose from too

I did call, it wasn't estimated and they've been high every month but this one was a shocker....the last two months, with all our cold, cold weather and snow, were in the 400-450 range. She said she'd have someone come check the meter and told me to try turning off a breaker, go out and see if the meter changed, come in turn off another breaker, look at the meter, etc to see if I could figure out if there was a room with really high usage which would mean something is being left on.

I just can't believe how high they've been in general and then this one, when it's been so much warmer, really took me for a spin

moped replied: Our house is 2200 and I think we pay around $100-$130 a month ish.........

lovemy2 replied: My bill at $186 is actually GAS and ELECTRIC combined....so $600 for just electric is scary

hopefulmomtobe replied: 3000 square foot with 5 people usually is $160.00 - we have a 4 sided brick house and I think that helps with cutting down the costs.

grapfruit replied: You know our first apartment had OUTRAGOUS electric bills (for us at least) and we found out that the old crappy Federal Pacific panel was grounding out (or something like that) and that we weren't USING the energy, just being charged for it. Is your house old??

luvmykids replied:
Only about 12 years, but I guess thats old enough for something like that to happen. Thanks for the idea, I'll get it checked out!

sunrosejenn replied: Yikes!!!

Not sure how many square feet. It's a 2 bedroom apartment, reasonable size. Electric and water for 1 month during the winter is $114

Nina J replied: Ours is almost 3000 sq ft and the bill is about 400-500

luvmykids replied:
Thank you, that makes me feel a little better It dawned on me also that we have really high ceilings so it probably takes a lot to heat the main floor where we spend most of our time.

cameragirl21 replied: lol, Monica, this reminds me of a true story i once heard.... a guy was paying his electric bill thru some drive thru window and he had his bill and a check attached. the bill was very high, or at least he thought so, so on the bill he wrote, "this is robbery."
and handed it to the drive thru teller who called the cops thinking it was a stick up....

redchief replied: A little over $300.00 last month... 2,100 sq ft house.