Utility Bills- Advice needed

OKay 3 of my friends and I are getting a house near my college for the summer.

We are trying to figure out the total cost as to what we might pay in utilities (Gas, electric, sewer, trash...etc).

I dont really have any experience with this before. Anyone have any estimates as to what we might pay from experience (please only give me tips if you have experience.

It really depends on the size of the place, the cost of living in the area, and if you try to conserve energy or not.

For example, if you have Gas and Electric, it's safe to say that in the Summer you'll pay more towards electric, but in the winter, more towards gas. How much? Again, depends on your area.

My husband and I live in a small rental, two-bedroom house that is approx. 1025 sq. ft. We pay about $60-70 in gas this winter, but around $50-60 in electric over the summer. If it's just electric (no gas), and some places are, then my husband and I would pay $70-100 month.

Water and sewage depends on the area as well..we pay around $15 each month. You would need to talk to the management about trash. We don't have to pay extra for that.

Since there are three of you, I imagine you'll use more gas, electric, and water than my husband and I do. Also, I imagine it's a larger place, which also drives up the cost (takes more gas/electric to heat/cool a larger place).

My only advice is to split those bills three ways unless one of you is a resource hog (i.e., one roommate keeps turning the heat up to 75, but you and the other roomie like to keep it at 68), then you might need to negotiate other terms.

There are a lot of variables, and all of my estimates come from Indiana, so it really does depend on location. Indiana has a low standard of living, and I'm not sure about Ohio. I have a friend who lives in Columbus, and I could ask her?

[quote06d92c0b6a="zr2152"]OKay 3 of my friends and I are getting a house near my college for the summer.

We are trying to figure out the total cost as to what we might pay in utilities (Gas, electric, water, sewer, trash...etc).

I dont really have any experience with this before. Anyone have any estimates as to what we might pay from experience (please only give me tips if you have experience).[/quote06d92c0b6a]

You can either go on a set plan or pay for usage. We have a set plan of $300 a month but only use about $167 a month, the remainder of what we pay is used at the end of the year to pay for a few months of service from our overpayment. I would contact your Gas and Electric company to inquire about this, or ask neighbors in the area you are looking at to find out. It reall depends on what you do with your electric and gas. If it has natural gas stove, or electric, if you leave the lights on all the time or play a lot of video games, central air or window units. As for water thats typically pretty cheap.

Make sure you find out what your apartment pays for. Usually they at least take care of sewage and one other thing (at least for me).

[quote305ce2dbaf="johnjimjones"]Make sure you find out what your apartment pays for. Usually they at least take care of sewage and one other thing (at least for me).[/quote305ce2dbaf]

They are getting a house, although smoetimes rent can include utilities in a house most likely it doesnt or just pays partial.

Yeah we are getting a house and we are finding houses that have some utilities buit within the price.

There will be a total of 4 of us there, so splitting the bills 4 ways shouldnt be too bad. As far as usage goes, we will all be working full time during the day so I dont see too much usage there. As for lights/electric, i figure we could just use lamps and what not (some low wattage lights) to give us light at night.

I can just see up sucking up the heat in the summer and not getting ac or even an induvidual unit. Fans are always convenient.

Yeah so thats what im looking at. I see us cooking a lot so maybe gas would be the way to go?

The area that im in is Carlisle,PA..which is about 20 miles west of harrisburg.

[quote091a23b760="zr2152"]Yeah we are getting a house and we are finding houses that have some utilities buit within the price.

There will be a total of 4 of us there, so splitting the bills 4 ways shouldnt be too bad. As far as usage goes, we will all be working full time during the day so I dont see too much usage there. As for lights/electric, i figure we could just use lamps and what not (some low wattage lights) to give us light at night.

I can just see up sucking up the heat in the summer and not getting ac or even an induvidual unit. Fans are always convenient.

Yeah so thats what im looking at. I see us cooking a lot so maybe gas would be the way to go?

The area that im in is Carlisle,PA..which is about 20 miles west of harrisburg.[/quote091a23b760]

Your location confused me, lol.

Well, either the house has gas/electric or just electric, so that's dependant on how it was built. Most houses have both.

Also, the house you rent MIGHT have central air, so no need for individual units. )

Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for!

[quotec252cedffe="jadem"]It really depends on the size of the place, the cost of living in the area, and if you try to conserve energy or not.

For example, if you have Gas and Electric, it's safe to say that in the Summer you'll pay more towards electric, but in the winter, more towards gas. How much? Again, depends on your area.

My husband and I live in a small rental, two-bedroom house that is approx. 1025 sq. ft. We pay about $60-70 in gas this winter, but around $50-60 in electric over the summer. If it's just electric (no gas), and some places are, then my husband and I would pay $70-100 month.

Water and sewage depends on the area as well..we pay around $15 each month. You would need to talk to the management about trash. We don't have to pay extra for that.

Since there are three of you, I imagine you'll use more gas, electric, and water than my husband and I do. Also, I imagine it's a larger place, which also drives up the cost (takes more gas/electric to heat/cool a larger place).

My only advice is to split those bills three ways unless one of you is a resource hog (i.e., one roommate keeps turning the heat up to 75, but you and the other roomie like to keep it at 68), then you might need to negotiate other terms.

There are a lot of variables, and all of my estimates come from Indiana, so it really does depend on location. Indiana has a low standard of living, and I'm not sure about Ohio. I have a friend who lives in Columbus, and I could ask her?[/quotec252cedffe]

You live in a rental and pay gas and trash?

Damn...

[quoteb5431382e3="bballp6699"][quoteb5431382e3="jadem"]It really depends on the size of the place, the cost of living in the area, and if you try to conserve energy or not.

For example, if you have Gas and Electric, it's safe to say that in the Summer you'll pay more towards electric, but in the winter, more towards gas. How much? Again, depends on your area.

My husband and I live in a small rental, two-bedroom house that is approx. 1025 sq. ft. We pay about $60-70 in gas this winter, but around $50-60 in electric over the summer. If it's just electric (no gas), and some places are, then my husband and I would pay $70-100 month.

Water and sewage depends on the area as well..we pay around $15 each month. You would need to talk to the management about trash. We don't have to pay extra for that.

Since there are three of you, I imagine you'll use more gas, electric, and water than my husband and I do. Also, I imagine it's a larger place, which also drives up the cost (takes more gas/electric to heat/cool a larger place).

My only advice is to split those bills three ways unless one of you is a resource hog (i.e., one roommate keeps turning the heat up to 75, but you and the other roomie like to keep it at 68), then you might need to negotiate other terms.

There are a lot of variables, and all of my estimates come from Indiana, so it really does depend on location. Indiana has a low standard of living, and I'm not sure about Ohio. I have a friend who lives in Columbus, and I could ask her?[/quoteb5431382e3]

You live in a rental and pay gas and trash?

Damn...[/quoteb5431382e3]

I pay electric, water, gas, and extras like cable and internet. Trash is included. We're renting a house from an apartment complex...the little "neighborhood" is actually part of the rental property, but they are houses. Hubby doesn't want to be in debt with a mortgage this early in our marriage. I just want a home. lol

[quoteb3571094fc="zr2152"]
The area that im in is Carlisle,PA..which is about 20 miles west of harrisburg.[/quoteb3571094fc]

You should be fine, we dont use much AC in the summer either because our windows are smaller and not a lot of heat comes in. The kitchen however has a patio door so its always hot in there, but who hangs out in the kitchen for hours?

My house is 3500 sqr feet, I pay around $400 a month in the winter for heat and electric

I pay about $200-$280 in the spring/summer/fall, and about $275-$400 in the winter, for electricty. We don't have gas -- we do have propane fireplace logs, but we seldom use them because honestly it gets too hot and the air too dry. Plus the tank is about empty, and with gas prices today, it'll cost a fortune to fill a 250 gallon tank. I need to do a partial fill I guess.

That's for 3 of us (most of the time, my son and his wife & daughter lived with us for a few months last year) in a 3000 sq ft house.

[quoted07180258e="dmorris68"]I pay about $200-$280 in the spring/summer/fall, and about $275-$400 in the winter, for electricty. We don't have gas -- we do have propane fireplace logs, but we seldom use them because honestly it gets too hot and the air too dry. Plus the tank is about empty, and with gas prices today, it'll cost a fortune to fill a 250 gallon tank. I need to do a partial fill I guess.

That's for 3 of us (most of the time, my son and his wife & daughter lived with us for a few months last year) in a 3000 sq ft house.[/quoted07180258e]


Yeah i dont see it being more that 250 for the 4 of us per month so im not really worried, just wanted to get some ideas.

Thanks everyone )

I actually just bought a pellet stove for the house to see how much it would cut down my bill. Pellets are about $239 a ton and they said I'd go through about 3 ton of pellets this winter. I totally shut off my heat and so far the stove has worked great.

[quote4ba3b745b4="hairyferry"]I actually just bought a pellet stove for the house to see how much it would cut down my bill. Pellets are about $239 a ton and they said I'd go through about 3 ton of pellets this winter. I totally shut off my heat and so far the stove has worked great.[/quote4ba3b745b4]

Yeah i dont think ill be needing the heat in the summer..lol

But I thikn that ill just use little fans to keep the house cool.

Definitely find out which utilities/services are included in your rent and which are not so you have a good idea of what your costs will be. Splitting the total by the number of roomies may be the fairest solution, regardless of who likes it warmer/colder etc. Sometimes if you know the street address and the utility company used you can get an average idea of the bills by calling the utility company...Also, if the landlord's willing to install one, a programmable thermostat is a great way to save money because you can set it to lower at night and rise again in the morning etc...We pay $117/mo elec. year round (window a/c), well water, septic (both "free" until they break), $30/mo trash, $55/mo phone and $125/mo propane year round - and we heat with wood! Grrrrr. happy house hunting!!! )

not sure if anyone mentioned this, but just stop by and ask the current tennants what they pay and what they set their heat at and if they tend to conserve/use a lot of utilities )
note that some great ways to save on bills
heat - plastic up those windows in old houses in the winter in cold climes, program to down cycle when you are not home
water - dont leave it on when not in use )
electricity - those newer bulbs are great and do save energy, turn off lights when not in use
gas - similar to heat/electric ; consider turning down your water temp on your boiler
garbage - recycling can help if you have tags for pickup as u will use fewer bags
phone/internet/etc - if u will not use the internet much use dial up which is often free with some colleges. for phone if everyone has a cell do you actually need a landline? if u dont watch tv seriously consider if u need it