Comparing Energy Costs (Austin: apartments, rent, how much)

[jenuw]

Coming from Seattle where air conditioning isn’t standard, can you comment on how air conditioning affects your monthly energy bill? In WA, I live in a one bedroom apartment and my summer energy bill is around $25. In winter it is around $50. How does it compare in Austin in the summer and winter in apartments?

Thanks!

[Trainwreck20]

Depends a lot on the age and size of your apartment, with the newer ones being significantly more insulated. If you live in the city of Austin, you will get a consolidated bill with electric, garbage, water, and wastewater, so you have to look at it pretty closely to see what portion is electric. Gas is on a separate bill, depending on the provider (or if it is even hooked to your apartment at all).

Anyway, a new, middle or lower floor apartment with units on two (or more) sides will have a very low electric portion of the bill, probably similar to what you are used to, but with the seasons reversed. An older or larger unit might run twice that, I suppose, but it has been years since my apartment days.

Now, coming from Seattle, you may have to restrain yourself from turning the AC too low . The cost of AC is not linear, and every degree you turn the AC cooler cost you more than the last one. Same goes for the outside temperature - our home utility bill went up about 50% from July to August this year, which correspons to an almost doubling of the electric portion of the bill. I don't know what the exact tempertures were but July was 'reasonable' (~96 for highs?) and August was 'unreasonable' (~101 for highs?). Those 5 degree cost us probably $100.

[southaustingal]

In my 1100 square foot apartment, the electric bill this month was $140. That is only for electric. The water is $25 and the gas is $30. Trash is something like $5. The thermostat here is set at about 75, and the apartment isn't as energy efficient as my old house (3000 square feet, electric, water and trash together was about $450 in summer and about $300 in winter; gas was about $30).

[southaustingal]

Forgot to add, the apartment is about 10 years old, it's on the first floor and is surrounded by large shade trees. Good thing I'm not on the third floor!

[Trainwreck20]

Wow, our house (2300 sqft) only had a $220 electric bill last (August) month, but it was ~$130 the month before that (July). Have not seen Sept. yet

[southaustingal]

Yeah, I'm not sure why ours is high. Well, right now it's cause we keep the thermostat so low. But in our house we keep it at 78. Maybe it's the watering (we had sprinklers and ran them about every five days for 25 minutes or so).

I'm certainly jealous of folks in other Texas cities who have a choice of utility companies.

[deeptrance]

Where you live is everything, like others said. My house in the country was cheaper to cool than to heat --- it was a forced-air electric heating system and just to keep it in the mid to upper 60s cost me about $250 a month in the 2 coldest months. My electric in summer was about $175.

Then I was in an apartment and never paid over $50 for a month of electric, but I was gone for the two hottest months (July and August.)

Ideally you want gas heat and efficient AC with no direct sun on your windows except in winter. Keep your air intake filters clean!!!! That makes a difference. And Trainwreck is smart, he talked about marginal costs of a degree on your thermostat and he's spot-on!

This morning my roommates have the thermostat set at 84 and I'm sweating like a pig in slop, I really want to turn it down to about 78 just to dry the air out a bit, but it's their house and I don't feel like I have the right to touch the dial.

[Trainwreck20]

Heh...talking about touching the dial...thank god we have a programmable thermostat - my wife is 7 months pregnant and it is turned downed to 71 at night right now. It is set to 80 or 82 during the day, I think, but cools down to 77 for the evening then down to 71 at night. I think it is going to be even cooler over the next couple months . I do not even THINK about warming it up at all. I sleep under the comforter and she is maybe under the sheet.

Of course, it is relatively cheap to keep it cool at night, since the AC only comes on a few times, so I don't think that affects the cost much. If you are in an apartment and are gone most of the day, a cheap programable thermostate will pay for itself in a month or two of summer, unless you are really disciplined about turning it up when you leave for work. There is some guidance out there on how much to turn it up when you are gone, so you don't spend as much money trying to cool it down from a near inferno, but don't know what it is.....

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

...a cheap programable thermostate will pay for itself in a month or two of summer...

There you go again, being smart. I lived ONCE with a programmable thermostat and I swear that thing was controlled by dwarf invisible lizards with devious intentions. I could NEVER figure it out, and the landlord was no help either!

I love manual controls. And I'm 50. That kinda says it all, eh? Old farts like me just can't figure out this newfangled technology. Like that Internet I keep hearing about, what the heck is THAT?!?!? But I'm serious about the thermostat.... I think Bill Gates must have designed it in collaboration with the people who design packaging for CD's and pills that come in "easy to pop-out" flat sheets, which I have to use a jackhammer to bust into.

[jenuw]

Wow! I was expecting you all to say it might be about $20 more, not $100! You really have to factor that into your overall rent then, it isn't so much an absorable cost as I thought.

All that thermostat adjusting sounds like a science. I would probably up my bill by my sheer ingnorance of it all!

Thanks for the comments, something more to ponder...