OP here, thanks so much for your suggestions and feedback. It appears we're right to be shocked and frustrated. The house is 17 years old but we bought it last fall. Not old enough for the tax break, unfortunately.

The master is not over the garage but there is a large empty space over the master and we added loose insulation to that area. In the winter, our 1st floor master bath was 55 degrees but the upstairs hallway was 82 even when those zones were set to 70. I had someone come to check the direction of the airflow and vents but he couldn't find anything that seemed off. Could the floor plan be that inefficient?

We have three zones, one has a Nest thermostat in it and is preset for away hours and otherwise at 68-74 year round. The other zone on that floor set to 74 and upstairs set to 72. In the winter I set everything lower, about 68. Even when we were gone for 10 days in one month this summer and set all three to 78, we had a $500 bill. I feel like we must have a giant hole in the roof!

OP - is your master over the garage? Do you adjust the temps during the day if everyone is out of the house? What are your average settings?

Our house is well insulated but still runs cool which is a bonus in the summer. We rarely had to turn our AC on. Electric was about $100 a month. House size is about 3,700 main and an additional 1700 unfinished basement.
Winter is another story. We have lots of windows. We keep daytime temp at about 66 and bump down to 63 at night. I hate to have it this cold during the day since I work from home sometimes. Our gas heat runs in the low 300 range. I am going to bump up daytime temp to 69 and see what the impact is.

Anonymous wrote:Our tiny 1200 sq ft house was running $230/mo in elec bills this summer.

Either your house is not well insulated or your A/C is running high. Our house is 3200 sqft (with basement), stat set at 77, our electric bill in the summer is hovers around 150.

Our tiny 1200 sq ft house was running $230/mo in elec bills this summer.

Do y'all have a meth lab tucked away somewhere?

Have never gone above $230 in summer or winter. House is new, have the heating and coolant checked every year. All electric.

Air- 73 during the summer days
71 at night

heat- 67 during the winter days
64 at night

Also wood fireplace - $100 for wood

Use an infra red heater in the bathroom. Hate being cold when we shower or bathe.

2000 sq. ft.

Anonymous wrote:How much do you average? What are your high summer and winter bills? For how many square feet?

I cannot seem to get below $500 a month even when setting the thermostat higher than I'd like in the summer and lower than I'd like in the winter. 4500 square feet. In the winter, master bath is 55 degrees yet we have a $500 gas bill!

House 2500 sq. ft. ranch. Family of three. Your house style matters i've been told. Some are less efficient to heat and cool.
We keep the thermostat around 69-71

My gas bill is $55 yr round

Electric is $280-350 for peak summer months and $150-200 for Winter and in between.

Anonymous wrote:We have similar square footage, but all electric, including septic and well pump and 3-zone HVAC. Our August electric will was $1,000 which is completely insane. (That's with basement AC set to 85, first floor at 79, and upstairs at 77).

Just wanted to add that all 3 HVAC systems are less than 5 years old, so that's not our issue. I think it's a big house/hot summer/well issue.

I know people who replaced their old HVAC and installed geothermal heating/cooling system. This lowered their monthly bill from $500/mo to $100/mo.

Initial price tag for installation is high but you get federal tax credits and an additional deduction if your HVAC unit is over 25 -30yo. Initial cost was $29K but with tax credit it came to about $8k-$9k, about what u normally pay for a traditional HVAC. Plus they save $400 every month. That's $5K every year.

Something to think about.

Wow, is that an old house? Something is wrong.

We have about 3,000 sf on the main levels, and 1200 in the finished walkout basement, and the combined gas/electric might be $300 in January and $150 in August. House is nine years old. 76 in summer, 69 in winter.

Anonymous wrote:OP again...wondering because we think there must be an insulation issue. Has anyone done spray insulation ? Did it help?

I had insulation added in late June. Worth.Every.Penny.

My highest gas bill in the winter was just less than 300; and my highest electric this summer was about 150-- 2000 sq ft. cape cod

I expect these (especially the gas) to be lower in the coming year.

We have similar square footage, but all electric, including septic and well pump and 3-zone HVAC. Our August electric will was $1,000 which is completely insane. (That's with basement AC set to 85, first floor at 79, and upstairs at 77).

OP again...wondering because we think there must be an insulation issue. Has anyone done spray insulation ? Did it help?

How much do you average? What are your high summer and winter bills? For how many square feet?

I cannot seem to get below $500 a month even when setting the thermostat higher than I'd like in the summer and lower than I'd like in the winter. 4500 square feet. In the winter, master bath is 55 degrees yet we have a $500 gas bill!