Energy costs are through the roof
If you’re a new homeowner, then likely you were shocked with your first couple energy bills. It seems that when I bought my house late last year, I underestimated how much energy would cost. Yes, I knew that by going from a decent sized apartment to a 2700+ square foot, 2 story home, my energy bills would go up. That’s just basic math. But I was hoping that the increase would be smaller than it is, and I’m downright concerned about how the summer will be. It gets awfully hot here in the summer (105 degrees isn’t uncommon ), and I like a cool house. I could be staring at $300+ electric bills – yikes.
What I’m getting at is this – if you’re considering making a house purchase, congratulations first and foremost. But be sure to overestimate your electric / gas usage. Your bill will go up, and it will go up quite a bit. Don’t leave it out when you’re doing the math – and make sure you’re comfortable with spending more in that area. Your budget will be affected, and it’s best to have it thought out ahead of time, rather than be surprised and have to find the money later on.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
The costs are high on the flip side for us… in the Northeast, it’s the winter that leads to high energy costs due to the cold weather. In these parts, adding insulation and searching for other ways to cut back are no insurance of lower costs, but they help. Sometimes, though, it’s just not enough – especially when costs rise at astronomical rates, such as this year in heating oil!
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
February 15th, 2008 at 1:15 am
I recently posted an article on my blog about the same issue. I was getting worried about how cold it was getting and how much I was spending to heat our home. I scheduled an energy audit of my house, and because of incentives offered by the utility company and the city I live in, I was able to get about $1200 of goods and services (insulation installation, HVAC tune-up) for $70 out-of-pocket. Plus, savings on my bill later on down the road due to better efficiency.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:22 am
That’s an impressive offer that your utility company has. I guess since the city owns / runs the utility, it’s in their best interest to maximize efficiency. Still, you got a great service for a tiny cost, and you’ll save money every month from here on out.
Our local utility is privately owned and doesn’t offer anything like that, unfortunately. A couple years down the line I may have to look at getting an independent energy audit to see the weak spots.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Jerry – my bills are high ( for me ) , and I’m way down here in southern Texas. I have family in MD, so I know they’re feeling the pain even more.
Once summertime comes around though, we’ll be the ones in pain while you guys are enjoying the small bills.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I can relate to this – we moved from a smaller townhouse into a 2250 sq ft. house. Our energy bills jumped when we moved in. Like you we underestimated the energy costs, and now are adjusting our budget. Sure is no fun to be paying those amounts every month.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Those big bills sure make you more energy conscious though.. which is probably a good thing in the long run. Just imagine – if you ever downsize, you’ll be used to using less energy, and your bills will be absolutely tiny!