How Do Your Utility Bills Differ During Different Seasons?

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
I mostly see a difference during the summer since I don't have to pay for heat, just electricity. It's pretty warm in here most of the winter but when we get single digits, I sometimes have to use the heater. My average bills during the summer months were $87 a month in 2019 and $101 in 2020, a hike that made sense being I was home more because of the pandemic. My average bill during the rest of the year is $63 a month.
 

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My electricity use is less than 3 kwh a day, and gas use is only the water heater on pilot, the same all year. I live in a temperate area, so it rarely gets below freezing or over 100. The humidity can be moderately high, but the dew point hardly ever gets up to 70. So those two bills are about the lowest they can be, based on the exorbitant rates.

By far my highest bill is for city water, based on their bureaucratic determination of rates. Even though I use less than 1/20th the water of the average household, my monthly bill is greater than 80 percent of the average, i.e. over $100 a month! 😲

My Frontier bill for internet is $50 a month for only 1 Mbps, about the slowest in the country. It's ridiculous.😒
 
Our house is totally electric, and all of our utilities...electricity, TV, Internet, and phone are supplied by our rural electric Co-op. On a yearly average, we probably pay about $300 a month, for everything, The electricity costs rise during the hot Summer and cold Winter months, but remain fairly low for about half of the year. We have a good well, and a septic tank, so there are no water/sewer bills.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I mostly see a difference during the summer since I don't have to pay for heat, just electricity. It's pretty warm in here most of the winter but when we get single digits, I sometimes shave to use the heater. My average bills during the summer months were $87 a month in 2019 and $101 in 2020, a hike that made sense being I was home more because of the pandemic. My average bill during the rest of the year is $63 a month.
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LOL, can I swap bills with you? We tend to get hit hard in the summer with the air conditioners running.
 
Our utility bills are respectably low throughout the year, however, from December through to February, our gas bills are quite high, account our home being older and not as well insulated as a new home would be, so during the coldest months, December and January, monthly gas bills are typically in the mid to high $200's.

Hydro, which we're billed for every 2 months is typically in and around the $60 - $80 mark, with a slight increase over the course of summer when the central air is constantly in service, but really we don't notice much in the way of bill increases with the central air running. Probably because we have gotten used to it and don't really notice the minimal increase.

We're happy and wouldn't have it any other way though, because no matter where people are building around us now, there are no yards, no privacy, and no room for parking, but we have a classic home on a big lot, with all kinds of parking right within the confines of our property, and for us there's just no beating that, and as we improve upon the gardens and trees we have been adding to the property year after year, eventually it will be the dream property we have always longed for.

One thing that is terribly expensive is our property taxes, but that's a whole other issue.
 
My heat and hot water are included in my monthly rent.

The monthly bill for cooking gas and electric are from $55 - $60 per month. Most of that is for delivery charges, taxes, fees, etc... The main reason for fluctuations in the monthly bill is the number of days in the billing cycle.

IMO it’s an amazing value when you consider all of the work and expense that people who live off of the grid go through to provide very basic amenities.
 
I decided about 15 yrs ago that retirement was a stage I wanted to control prices as much as possible. So i'm offgrid creating my own electricity with a little generator help in the winter, i have a well so water costs going forward will be the pump replacement at some point. The house is a passive solar design maximizing solar energy in the winter and minimizing the sun in the summer I heat with wood which for this strawbale house is about 1.5 cords of wood a winter or roughly $400. Downsides are managing your own system but i enjoy that and keeps me out of trouble !
 
Water doesn't vary much and shouldn't. Electric heat drives up electric in winter of course. I use auto pay for utilities in case I'm layed up in the hospital for a long time and when I get home there is no electricity or water. You can't always count on family to take up the slack.
 
I'm in a one bedroom upstairs apartment. My recent PG&E (you know the company that burned down the town of Paradise) was under 81 dollars. I'm less in the winter. I've never done an average.
 
My one bedroom apartment is all electric. I pay for the electric and internet service.
... water is included in the rent.

In colder months, my electric service runs around $30-40 .. the rest of the year, it can get up to $100 a month when it's hot.
I have central A/C and a large dehumidifier in the summer, along with ceiling fans and other asst. fans.
 
Pecos said:
LOL, can I swap bills with you? We tend to get hit hard in the summer with the air conditioners running.
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Actually MB, I'm sure that the difference in sizes of our abodes contributes to the big difference in our bills. Also, I don't have central air...don't know if that makes a big difference.

I noticed that some people included their internet bills in their responses. I did not include mine which would add another $71 to the cost and that's stable. Another factor I forgot to mention was that in 2019, I took 7 vacations, each for one week. 4 of those were during the summer months. When I leave home I unplug my TV and computer. An HDTV pulls a lot of electricity.
 
Our utility is quite expensive for both gas and electricity. In late 2014 we installed 14 solar panels to take advantage of the NEM (Net Energy Metering) that gave special credits for generating electricity.

What we generate in kWh into the grid is credited to our account at retail prices; i.e., the same price per kWh we get charged from the utility for the electricity we use.

The difference is substantial. NEM is no longer available to new solar installations. They are credited from 3-7 cents per kWh, wholesale prices, for energy sent to the grid. Under NEM we get credited 26 cents per kWh.

Depending on how many sunny days we get during a month, the solar panels offset from one-half to 100% of our monthly electricity cost. The utility does a special billing for solar customers. We're billed only once a year, to average out the credits vs usage.

Before installing solar, our electricity usage was running $125/mo. After installation/NEM credits, we've been paying on average $11/mo. for electricity, for the last 7 years.

Unfortunately this ends in 2035, at which time we'll be credited with the same wholesale price as other homeowners. However, because we did have the advantage of NEM pricing, it means our system cost will be completely amortized by the end of 2021. So it was well worth it to do the panels.

We are billed monthly for gas, which runs about $85-90/mo in winter and about $20/mo when the furnace isn't being used.

We are eyeing the possibility of a whole-house battery system. Not interested in being "off the grid", just thinking it would be useful for power outages and brown-outs. Also makes the house more salable which is an important consideration for us, since we probably won't be staying here forever.
 
I live in Ohio, so it's hot in the summer months and cold in the winter ones. In the summer I use more electricity, in the winter, more gas. But I'm on what's called a "budget" plan. I pay the same amount every month and once a year they re-calculate my average usage. The next 12 months then are set at that reference point. I live in a condo and my water is paid for by the HOA. That way I never get hit with some outrageous amount for heating or cooling. It works well for me as it allows me to manage my expenses easily.
 
Mine don't change much.
I have more of a problem with being too cold than too hot. I'm comfortable when the house is around 85-90. I only use the air conditioners when I have company. In winter, I dress warmly around the house & set the thermostats at 68 & also use space heaters.
 
I live in a coop; gas & electric are included in the maintenance, but in the summer, for three months, we are charged approximately $60. per air conditioner, so for these months I pay $340. extra.
 

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