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Just trying to get a feel for what people pay in Jersey for utilities.
Got a heating oil delivery to refill usage from December to January - $500!!!! Granted we live in an old home with poorer insulation, but geeeezzz!!!
And our electric bill is around $150-250 a month. Lights, appliances, hot water heater only. This seems high but I am assuming that even our new, supposedly energy efficient hot water heater is really sucking back some juice.
1. oil heating is expensive
2. poor insulation is a KELLER!!!
We have 2880 sq ft old house, but renovated in 2010 and redid all insulation. We use gas heating. Max monthly gas bill is 270 and lowest is 18 (when only use for cooking, hot water and dryer). Electrical bill is 125-150 average through out the year. We both work and kid is in school so no one home during day time. We set temp to 58 in winter and 68 when everyone comes home.
Well I learned my lesson this year. Last year I paid over $2k in heating oil within a 3 month period and I swear I was being cheated because I was getting 100-200 gallons and it would be gone within 2-3 weeks when I keep my temp at 65 the highest when we're home in the evening. This year I've gotten somewhat wiser, I pay my balance off every month and immediately order 100 gallons so I don't have to deal with running out of oil and strugging to pay my balance. When spring hits I am going to send atleast $200 per month just to have money on my account so next winter I won't have to pay out $400 a month. It's an old drafty house which makes it worse I'm bleeding heat even though I finally "winterized" my house. Utilities I pay about $100 a month on average which is not bad.
Any way you slice it that's still a hell of a lot of money to spend during a few months of winter.
agree that poor insulation is a killer. 20 years ago we had a 2 bedroom apartment (2nd floor of a 3 family so we got the benefit of being "sandwiched" between two floors) and our heating was about $175/mo. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but again, it was *20* years ago, and the apartment couldn't have been more than 700 sq ft. And we were both gone all day. You could feel the breeze coming in the bad windows.
have you thought of having a blower door test... they will find the bad drafts in your house. that could help a lot. i think it is costly though. 500 bucks. you would want to fix known drafts first, otherwise they are just going to tell you what you already know.
have you thought of having a blower door test... they will find the bad drafts in your house. that could help a lot. i think it is costly though. 500 bucks. you would want to fix known drafts first, otherwise they are just going to tell you what you already know.
do you have access to natural gas?
No natural gas. We use propane for our stove (which runs like 9-12 a month or so).
The oil was a big shock as we are new homeowners.
I'm still scratching my head as to why the electric bill is so high. I don't think its a matter of error either. We started off with like $80 and then got an adjusted bill in like Sept or October for 200-something. And now its been $140 to over $200 a month. Basic appliances and hot water heater.
we have 2 frigs (1 energy save, 1 is not), 2 desktops(plug in all day), 3 laptops, 2 LCD TV, microwave/oven comb, AC, dishwasher, washer, iRobot (plug in all day to charge) are on electricity. We also use attic fan and ceiling fan in summer and space heater in winter night if needed. All our light bulbs are energy save. Our electricity bill runs 175 the max (while christmas decor are on all night through out the whole month). Not sure about electrical water heater. does it eat up lots of electricity?
have you thought of having a blower door test... they will find the bad drafts in your house. that could help a lot. i think it is costly though. 500 bucks. you would want to fix known drafts first, otherwise they are just going to tell you what you already know.
do you have access to natural gas?
i had it done for $300. going through the process of plugging all my gaps now. definitely worth it, especially for someone on oil heat.
also - if you're on oil heat right now, might want to consider going through NJ's program to take advantage of the tax benefits and 0% loan if you achieve 25% improvement in efficiency!
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