So I'm looking at renting a place that is about 1,000 square feet, and I checked with Pacific Power to get high lows and costs and all that. They said in June/July it was about $74 per month electric bill, and in December it hit $471 and averaged out through the year it was $171. Now obviously that could have to do with the previous people if they were home all day, how high they cranked it etc... but does that sound reasonable for an electric bill at all? I am looking to move from a 600 sq foot cabin with a fire place so I cant speak for certain on how much a bill SHOULD be lol. Thanks in advance
That seems awfully high. For an all-electric house (heat/water/air conditioning/cooking/light/power), the rule of thumb is the average cost per month is $0.10/psf. So, the costs should average $100/mo for a 1,000 sf place.
I had an energy audit done on my rentals and that's what the auditor said. I ended up having insulation and duct-sealing work in most of my places. It turned out to cost me near zero after the grants and subsidies from PGE, the State of Oregon and the DOE. After that, I could charge a bit more because the utility rates were lowered. It also increased the resale value. If you know any landlords, or after you move into a place, have them check out an energy audit as a way to save both you and the landlord money.
$471/mn is pretty insane for 1,000 square feet. If you're only turning on the heat in the room you're in at the moment, then it probably shouldn't be much more than $100 - $150/mn. Maybe the previous residents were growing pot or the place has really crappy insulation.
How old is the place you're looking at? If it's an apartment, how is it located in the building, ie are there units left and right, above and below? Your neighbors will help insulate and give you free heat.
The good thing about electric heat is each room is usually it's own heating zone. I barely heat the first floor of my house because I'm never down there for very long. I keep mainly to my room during the winter, just to keep the heat cost down.
Here in Beautiful Central Oregon we have an electric co-op, which not only keeps the costs down but they start rebating you $ after 15 years or so. We average about $0.06/psf when we don't use the fireplace. When the temps dip below freezing in Dec/Jan it has neared $0.10/psf. The savings comes from being a co-op (OMG! COMMUNISM!) so no lining any corporate profiteer's pockets (any excess $ collected is returned to members with earned interest) and no payment assistance programs for the needy (you anti-communists should like that). A huge portion of what you PGE customers in the valley pay is simply for the uber-wealthy and the uber-needy. Middle-class gets the shaft again.
Its the fucking windows man. They need to be replaced. That is way too much to spend on electricity for a place that size.
Ok so looked at the place. And it turns out that it was a family with 2 toddlers. Its only a 1 Bedroom and it also has an un-insulated loft that they turned into a bedroom for the kids (wtf) which leads me to believe they had space heaters or something running almost all the time to keep it comfortably warm up there. They said the family lived there about a year and a half... so I called Pacific Power again and went back further on averages.. and sure enough Winters in 07, 08, and 09 averaged about $115 in the winter, and $70 or so in the summer. It wasnt until Winter of 2010 that they moved in to where it started jumping to above the 300's in the winter. So I feel much better now lol.
where I am at now is the Hood River Co-op and I am quite happy with the services they have provided me over the 3 years I have lived here. Something we agree on Maris!!!
Maybe someone can give me some advice on how to handle my current situation regarding my electric bill. I am a renter in an older home with little if any insulation. My power bill for December and Janurary combined was $735.00!! Needles to say I was unable to pay the full bill and had to seek public assistance and am trying to work a payment plan out with the electric company. February rolls around and I noticed a leak coming from the ceiling where there is a chimney that used to be a functioning fireplace prior to my taking residence. The hole is covered from the inside with a thin piece of metal. Maintenance responded a few days later and went on the roof to investigate. Well what do you know, the chimney was never capped off!! You could see into my kitchen and feel the heat going right out of the chimney. I informed the property management of the findings and asked to see if they could compensate me in some way. My question is would this be a violation of Tenant Landlord rights for a non weatherized home?
