Electric bill in one-bedroom apartment

[Supreme Admiral]

Time drawn so closer that I'm ready to move to my new home very soon, so I want to know how can I save energy while living in my new apartment? There's no way in hell will I pay 100-125 dollars for that electric bill.

What am I going to do about it?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Turn shit off when you aren't using it.

Use fluorescent light bulbs.

 

[thestrangequark]

You bill was $120? That's pretty high. Do you have electric or gas heat? AC? All you can do is use your energy wisely. Get energy saving bulbs, turn off/unplug lights and appliances when you are not using them. Don't use the lights during the day (I can never understand why my roommates insist on having the lights on in the daytime -- we have perfectly adequate windows). My roommates and I share a 4 bed/2 bath, and our electric is only about $100/month ($25 a piece isn't bad at all) in the winter (we have gas heat), and about $150 during the hottest summer months (window AC units in each bedroom).

 

[Trekker4747]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

Yeah, mine runs about $50, in freakin' Jersey. I suspect our friend SA is not so good about turning things off, or he likes to have the thermostat way up.

 

[Brent]

Switch over to all CFL bulbs, that could save you $10 a month or more if you use lights a lot. I work out of my home, and I have lights on all the time. I made the switch to CFL and I'm saving $20 a month on that alone.

Also, turn stuff off when not in the room/apartment. A few things that eat up electricity are washer and dryer, the heating element on dishwashers (use air dry instead and turn off the element when using the dishwasher), and TVs, and electric stoves/ovens. Use these as little as possible, and for as short a time as possible.

If you have computers shut them off at night, and put them in sleep mode when out of the room.

Use the A/C/heat as little as possible, open windows, opt for fans instead.

Make sure windows and doors are sealed and not leaking out your A/C or heat. You can put up your own weather stripping usually, but ask your front office first.

Just basically use less electricity and your bill will be lower.

 

[Supreme Admiral]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

Yeah, mine runs about $50, in freakin' Jersey. I suspect our friend SA is not so good about turning things off, or he likes to have the thermostat way up.

Hey, DA, I'm trying not to be greedy to running the electric too much, but I'm trying to be green this year at this time of the year. I don't want to waste all that electric once I move to my new apartment.

I was informed that if I bring three cats to my new apartment, I'd have to pay pet fee of 900 dollars.

 

[John Picard]

Geez am I glad I live in the sticks. Three bedroom house and I rarely use the A/C in the summer. My electric bill averages to $35 some months.

 

[Warp Coil]

I have a 2-bedroom condo on the ground floor. The unit is all-electric (no gas). My bill varies throughout the year, depending on the season and climate. Summers are surprisingly the cheapest for me, since my unit doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight. Also, being on the ground floor, the place stays cool even when it's really hot outside. An average bill during the spring and summer might be $70-75/month. Winters, however, are another story. Warm air rises, so keeping my place warm in the winter is very difficult. I replaced my windows with more energy-efficient ones, but it sure didn't make much difference last winter when it was so bitterly cold. My electric bill was substantially higher in the winter months.

So where you live can impact your energy expenses, in addition to your habits and personal usage.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Jeez man when I had a two bedroom in LA of all places my electric bill never exceeded $35. Are you cranking your A/C constantly? How efficient are your big appliances? An old inefficient refrigerator can triple the energy costs in an apartment.

 

[Captain Ice]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

My highest electric bill was $90 in August/September in Vegas.

Some tips:

Get a first floor apartment that faces north. Windows that face South or West will heat up from exposure to the sun.

Run appliances that use a lot of electricity (like your washer or dishwasher) after 7 pm or before 11am when electrical rates are cheaper.

Set your thermostat as high as you can stand in the summer. In the winter, set it as low as you can.

 

[Maestro]

We average $125 per month in a 1500 square foot, three bedroom house with a comparable basement. The only thing we have that's gas is the heat. Electric range, electric water heater, electric dryer. That's really low for what we have.

 

[RoJoHen]

Air conditioning will kill ya. My bill practically doubles in the summer when I have the A/C on.

Otherwise, yeah, turn shit off.

 

[Trekker4747]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

Yeah, mine runs about $50, in freakin' Jersey. I suspect our friend SA is not so good about turning things off, or he likes to have the thermostat way up.

Over the Summer I had my A/C pretty low (high?) as I liked it cool in the place, my computer is on 24/7 and when I'm home I'm always burning one light (the main light in living area) and the TV, DVD player and cable box (which by its nature is always on), I also often have the ceiling fan on for circulation, the back-porch light on for security and then there's the secondary stuff that, obviously is always plugged in and suckling at electricity (the fridge, microwave and stove clocks, alarm clocks, battery-powered item chargers (phone, toothbrush.)

Over the winter I keep the place also -fairly- warm which means the electric heat-pump is always cycling on and off. With all of that going on, yeah, my bill is usally around $70, maybe peaks-out at $80. It's never been much higher than that.

But I'm also on automatic bill-pay so it's not like check how much I'm being charged all that often.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

My electrical bill in a one-bed apartment is about $70.

Yeah, mine runs about $50, in freakin' Jersey. I suspect our friend SA is not so good about turning things off, or he likes to have the thermostat way up.

Over the Summer I had my A/C pretty low (high?) as I liked it cool in the place, my computer is on 24/7 and when I'm home I'm always burning one light (the main light in living area) and the TV, DVD player and cable box (which by its nature is always on), I also often have the ceiling fan on for circulation, the back-porch light on for security and then there's the secondary stuff that, obviously is always plugged in and suckling at electricity (the fridge, microwave and stove clocks, arm clocks, battery-powered item chargers (phone, toothbrush.)

Ober the winter I keep the place also -fairly- warm which means the electric heat-pump is always cycling on and off. With all of that going on, yeah, my bill is usally around $70, maybe peaks-out at $80. It's never been much higher than that.

But I'm also on automatic bill-pay so it's not like check how much I'm being charged all that often.

In my apartment, I have a single window A/C unit. I have baseboard heaters, but they are water-based and (I think) powered by natural gas and a boiler. I'm not even sure they work. I can live without heat, though. If it bothers me I'll bitch at the landlord or something. Anyway, my combined gas/electric bill, running the A/C a bunch, was $50!

 

[Tim]

$125?! I live in a spacious one BR and my electric bill is usually under $25 a month.

 

[bigdaddy]

Yeah you are being screwed by other people, it's why I hate hate "utilities split X ways". I shut my shit off, so why pay for others?

No way it should be $120. Damn!

 

[Timby]

Otherwise, yeah, turn shit off.

That's really the best way of putting it.

Every so often, my wife will leave our television (a 42" plasma, which sucks electricity like no one's business) on all day long, even if she's nowhere near it. Other times, she turns the cable box off but forgets to turn the television itself off. Alliant Energy likes those days.

 

[Yoda]

     Days       $      kWh

Sep    30    135.96    627
Aug    29    159.12    681
Jul    32     164.2    720
Jun    29    138.14    622
May    30    124.23    607
Apr    32     78.79    569
Mar    29     71.41    516
Feb    30    111.38    708
Jan    33    135.06    821
Dec    30    107.28    701
Nov    32     82.69    580
Oct    30     88.00    500
Sep    32    114.78    619
Aug     6      8.48     25

My bill tends to be pretty high for my 2 bed rental apartment. Drives me a little crazy, but there's not a whole lot left I can do. My bulbs are mostly the energy saver kinds. My computer has to be on nearly all the time, as I work on it from home, and it's usually doing some sort of night tasks as well. The fridge is newer, but probably budget range and not that efficient as it is a sort of ghetto rental. I have another fridge for beverages in the living room. And then a whole battery of set top boxes and the like along with the HDTV. No air conditioning, but a couple of large fans that do work overtime in the summer on account of us being on the second (top) floor with west facing windows.

I don't know how it works in other places, as I've only been responsible for the electricity bill directly since I've lived in San Diego, but I HATE this baseline allowance ridiculousness. The rate per Kilowatt Hour spikes like mad after a certain amount of usage. WTF? I barely use any gasoline, but of course, you don't have a usage allowance for that, do you?

 

[Luckyflux]

Phone chargers or any kind of charger left plugged in for a Blackberry, DS, phone....stuff like that. Unplug the charger when you aren't charging something. The charger draws power even if something is not plugged in. A small charger probably isn't taking up too much, but anything might help.