| Author |
Message |
    
MQ42
Citizen
Username: Mq42
Post Number: 100
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 9:08 pm: | 
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Just wondering what people pay on average for home insurance per month?
And also, what the average monthly electric bill comes to for a standard 3 bed house?
Thanks! |
Jenny
Citizen
Username: Jenjen
Post Number: 83
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 9:42 pm: |
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Home insurance: I think the avg is $75-$100/month |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1679
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 10:38 pm: |
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My utility bill is atypical, but I will tell you anyway. I live in a 3-BR house that was built in the 1930s. It probably (definitely) could use new windows and insulation. During the winter, I have had PSE&G bills in excess of $700. (That was not a typo.)
Would be interested to know what others pay, and how outrageous my bills are comparatively.
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K_soze
Citizen
Username: K_soze
Post Number: 43
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:06 pm: |
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Home ins - $88.00/mo
Phone - $31.00/mo (vonage)
Elect - $90 to $160/mo
Gas - $167.00/mo (this is our pay plan so it feels like less of a hit in the winter)
Water - $30/mo (except for when I water the hell out of it in the summer, last year's Aug bill was close to $740.00 )
BTW, this house isn't in Maplewood or SO |
jersey Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 452
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:12 pm: |
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ess,
I have a five bedroom in S.O. and my monthly utilities have been under $700. Do you crank the heat?
My house is brick, which I think helps, and we keep it cold, but I thought we still had it bad. I guess the fireplace is doing more than I realized.
J.B. |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1681
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:22 pm: |
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JB -
I never have the heat above 65, and it would only be that high on a really, really cold day. The house is very drafty, and poorly insulated. It is stone, partly. It is always freezing in here, yet I pay outrageous utility bills. It just is not right. |
jersey Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 455
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:36 pm: |
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ess,
The truth about our "five bedroom" house is that there's only three of us right now, so we had a space heater in the child's room, and one in the kitchen and our bathroom. We'd jump out from under the covers and into the warm bathroom to shower. Then run down to the warm kitchen for coffee and leave for work. Then at night we'd have a fire in the fire place and the kid in his room warmed by a space heater.
The gas heat was really only for weekends. I don't know what's going on at your house though. Have you read the threads in Home Fix-it about drafts and heat.
Oh, this is an interesting thing. When we had a fire going I always felt this cold breeze coming into the living room. It turns out the front door has a letter hole. AND there is a radiator in the foyer that's defunct. However, there is a grate intended to allow the heat from the defuct radiator to enter the front hall. When we had a fire going, the cold air was flowing through the letter hole through the grate and directly into the living room. The fire was suckin it in. I put a space heater in the foyer and no more draft.
Good luck next winter, ess. Now, about keeping a house cool in summer...
J.B. |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1683
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:45 pm: |
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JB -
I am a big fan of the space heaters.
Good point about looking on the Home Fix-it section. Truth is, have had so much else to think about this past winter that, most unfortunately, the concern over the utility bills fell by the wayside. But that's a topic for another thread entirely. 
We have a fireplace, but have not used it in the nearly 6 years we've been here. For some reason, I had been told it would make matters worse.
Do you have central air? This old house does not. Alas..........
ess |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1926
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 11:54 pm: |
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As much as I love fireplaces, I find that a good fire in the fireplace does one thing only: it provides warmth to any birds near the top of the chimney. There's no better way for heat to escape and oil or gas to be wasted, than to fire up.
Of course, it's cozy, but it wastes heat. We've also learned to keep the flue closed in our house in SO when we're not using the fireplace. Keeps some of the heat in.
In our place in the country, we've closed up our fireplaces to accommodate wood and pellet stoves instead. They provide more even heat, more continuous heat, and don't let the heat escape up the flue.
That saves a bit of energy and costs each winter. |
jersey Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 460
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 12:26 am: |
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ess,
Of course we don't have central air. Would a man who uses four space heaters to heat a five bedroom house be so unfrugal?!
We have four window units.
J.B. |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1685
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 1:57 am: |
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JB,
My bad! What was I thinking? Or not thinking, as the case may be.
We only have two window units. This house is an inferno in the summertime. Are your window units effective? The one installed downstairs actually manages to keep the downstairs relatively cool.
Spring is the best time of year; no heat nor air conditioning required.
ess |
fiche
Citizen
Username: Fiche
Post Number: 117
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 8:21 am: |
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Approx $100 per month for homeowner's insurance.
$403 per month PSEG equal payment plan. Our usage went down slightly this year due to the installation of a digital thermostat that can adjust the temperature 4 times per day - down during the day when we are out and at night when we are asleep, up for a few hours in the morning and night...so I anticipate that our equal payment plan will be reduced slightly this coming year.
It is true, the fire in the fire place does not make it warmer, but it is so cozy you feel warmer. Plus, the cat loves it. |
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