your household natural gas/electricity costs

[Anonymous]

What do you spend on household utilities (gas and electric)? We're renters looking at buying a house, probably an older 3-4 bedroom in the Maryland suburbs. Currently our heat is paid for in our apartment building, so it would be helpful to have ballpark figures for what other people are paying as we make a budget. (We do already pay electricity but know that our electricity use will likely rise, as well.) Also, any other additional utility expenses that we might not be considering yet? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the costs are in MD but my suburban 4-br virginia house had the following utility costs last month:


water/sewer (pretty consistent except in summer when watering lawn: $200 every 3 months

power: $200/month (more in summer when a/c is running - mine runs higher b/c we've got enough computer equipment running to launch a shuttle to the moon)

gas: $185/month (this cuts in half during the summer but can be higher when winter is colder)

Don't forget trash pick-up, phone/internet/cable, maybe lawn service, pest control (which you can take it as it comes or sign up for a contract). I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Thanks! Any others?

[Anonymous]

We live in a 2 bedroom bungalow in Arlington and this month our electric was about 70, water/sewage was 257 (for two months), and gas was 435 (heat & water heating). We rent and this house is not insulated. The warmer months are much better but you'll probably want to budget for the colder months. This wasn't even a cold winter.

[Anonymous]

We're in a 3 bedroom in Rockville bordering Gaithersburg/North Potomac. We pay:

$300/month to Pepco pretty much year round but we have no gas

$300 for wood

$60/month HOA

$150 Comcast HD w/ dvr

$100 lawn service

$200 WASA every 3 months

[Anonymous]

We have a 2 bedroom apartment and our electricity bill averages $125/month year round. For the past couple of days, I've actully just turned the heat off completely and put on warmer clothes because our bills have increased. For such a tiny place, I thought our electricity bills would be lower because I'm very conscious with how much I use. I try not to have the heat on If I don't need it, I don't leave too many lights on, etc.