Average cost for utilities in a house

[kfm]

Hi,

What are you guys paying for the average cost of your utilities in your house?
That would include heating, electricity and water.
I know it depends on the size of the house, but I am looking at buying a place and have considered a town home but some of them do have maintenance fees which I think are way over priced.

Thanks

 

[dj1470]

approx. $200-250 depending on the season (air conditioning vs. heating) but I do not live in Toronto.
I imagine it would cost more in a metro area.

 

[blackrock13]

Hi,

What are you guys paying for the average cost of your utilities in your house?
That would include heating, electricity and water.
I know it depends on the size of the house, but I am looking at buying a place and have considered a town home but some of them do have maintenance fees which I think are way over priced.

Thanks

To start, if you can buy a freehold townhouse, no maintenance fees and money in you pocket. Providing you don't use electric heat and they are still being built, you're looking at 200-350 a months, but you're right, too many variable. Are you single, with someone, a family, and now a night owl with the new f**king rates.

 

[hamermill]

Not as much as what it costs in New York - the rates there are what we should be paying.

We are all paying for sins of our fathers - years decades of low rates have not encouraged us to conserve or care.

Apartment renters don't care because they think the rent they pay allows them to leave lights on 24/7 - when they are not home, crank up the A/C and open the windows, open the windows in the winter and plug in a space heater

 

[james t kirk]

Old house in High Park area of Toronto.

Electricity: Varies from $200 every 2 months to $350 every 2 months (more in winter due to space heater - old house)

Gas: Summer ~ $25.00 a month. Winter maxes out ~ $300 to $350 a month (January Feb March) This year was much less. Biggest Gas bill was about $240. I'm not on equal billing. I bite the bullet in the winter and enjoy the savings in the summer.

Water: Seems to be about $150 every 3 months or 4 months, Bit of a mystery how often they bill me and rates have gone WAY up.

Land Line: $70.00 a month

Internet: $66.00 a month.

Cable: $65.00 a month

Garbage Bin: $139.00 a year (expect that to go up by 10 bucks a year here and 20 bucks a year there)

 

[hesitant]

approx. $200-250 depending on the season (air conditioning vs. heating) but I do not live in Toronto.
I imagine it would cost more in a metro area.

dj1470 has the best average costs, provided the home has nataural gas. $200 a month is a good ball park for urban/suburban homes 1950-1980 vintage. Newer homes tend to vary much more due to occupancy... lower heatng and ac demand but much higher electrical demand, every kid has computer, TV, game boxes etc none of which never get switched off.

In fact rural areas cost much more due to electric, oil or propane heating... ouch.

Most of the condo fees for townhouses are unrelated to utility costs, since you typically only pay common water and sewer fees, and the community lighting fees... Most townhouse condos you pay your own heating & water heating and electricty...

Freehold condos in my experience are generally lower quality in comparison.

Your best bet is to buy a new home which are much more efficient, and then control your own electrical costs by using energy efficient appliances and lighting, and avoiding using electricity at peak times, since new time of use fess are being imposed everywhere in Ontario...

Most utility companies let you review your usage and billing to plan load shifting... laundry and dishwashing off peak etc... also dont forget to purchase and USE a set back thermostat

 

[blackrock13]

dj1470 has the best average costs, provided the home has nataural gas. $200 a month is a good ball park for urban/suburban homes 1950-1980 vintage. Newer homes tend to vary much more due to occupancy... lower heatng and ac demand but much higher electrical demand, every kid has computer, TV, game boxes etc none of which never get switched off.

Freehold condos in my experience are generally lower quality in comparison.

Your best bet is to buy a new home which are much more efficient, and then control your own electrical costs by using energy efficient appliances and lighting, and avoiding using electricity at peak times, since new time of use fess are being imposed everywhere in Ontario...

Most utility companies let you review your usage and billing to plan load shifting... laundry and dishwashing off peak etc... also dont forget to purchase and USE a set back thermostat

You might be confusing Freehold with Co-op, a different animal all together, I'm not sure $750 G townhouses would be low quality and they're a lot of those around.

 

[JohnHenry]

dj

In fact rural areas cost much more due to electric, oil or propane heating... ouch.

t

New 1200sq ft home. Electric heat. Hydro bill 300 per month Dec-Feb, 140 per month April to November.
Don't need air conditioning. Taxes 1600 per year. Well 8000 one time cost. Septic tank 4500.
The only real lack is high speed internet, and only one telephone line is available.

 

[hesitant]

You might be confusing Freehold with Co-op, a different animal all together, I'm not sure $750 Gs would be low quality and they're a lot of those around.

No I am not confsing freehold with coop... most freehold in the GTA/905 region are not 750K, now that doesnt mean there are not exceptions but the fact is condo towns in the GTA are usually better maintained, higher valued and in better areas than typical freeholds. Then we have the freehold in-fill townhomes that are sprouting up around Toronto in the nicer areas that are commanding much higher values, and that due to the small number of units and the choice of the developer have not been set up as condominiums.

FYI coops were mostly set up to manage low income properties where the funding to develop the property came from the province as part of a low income housing program. The programs required a non-profit board be set up to construct and manage the property. Most have a blended scheme with subsidized and market rate units. You cannot buy a coop unit but must rent them... the OP said he wished to purchase a TH not rent. Coops typically have long waiting lists for subsidized units...

On an interesting note, many coops were developed by unqualified boards who build the cheapest units they could. That means many units are poorly insulated, have high air leakage, and electric heating making them unaffordable due to the very high utility fees. I know of several coop boards that cannot keep low income families in their units due to the high utility fees...

 

[hesitant]

New 1200sq ft home. Electric heat. Hydro bill 300 per month Dec-Feb, 140 per month April to November.
Don't need air conditioning. Taxes 1600 per year. Well 8000 one time cost. Septic tank 4500.
The only real lack is high speed internet, and only one telephone line is available.

New homes using electric resistance heating have much more stringent building code requirements that include improved insulation levels... So the overall energy efficiency of your home is likely much better than the average home unless you have a heat pump. Heat pumps are much more efficient at heating therefore do not require improved building code measures.

Also, do you use electric baseboard, electric furnace, or heat pump & electric furnace?

 

[JohnHenry]

We have R40-50 in the ceiling and R27 in the walls, all the below grade structure is R15.
We have two 2000 watt wall insert fan heaters. The house faces due south, which I did by marking the tip of a shadow from a stake over a 4 hour period, rather than using a compass and getting magnetic north, and all the large windows are on the south side. We also live north of Orillia.

 

[hesitant]

We have R40-50 in the ceiling and R27 in the walls, all the below grade structure is R15.
We have two 2000 watt wall insert fan heaters. The house faces due south, which I did by marking the tip of a shadow from a stake over a 4 hour period, rather than using a compass and getting magnetic north, and all the large windows are on the south side. We also live north of Orillia.

Ah so, yours is not anywhere near the typical home, so your costs are not really helpful for the OP... but it sounds like you have a very nice place.

Check your inbox in a few minutes...

 

[james t kirk]

I'm not a big believer in hermetically sealed houses (Superinsulated, super air tight). I used to be, but not anymore. Now I'm a big believer that a few drafts are good for your health and damn the few extra bucks you spend heating the joint.

 

[hesitant]

I'm not a big believer in hermetically sealed houses (Superinsulated, super air tight). I used to be, but not anymore. Now I'm a big believer that a few drafts are good for your health and damn the few extra bucks you spend heating the joint.

Well I dont know how healthy those drafts are when the air causing the draft passes through the construction materials on its way into the home, picking up all sorts of contaminents, mould, insulation particles or minute particles of mice or bat feces. I guess you haven't seen too many old walls or attics ripped open...

Of course, super tight homes must have well designed and installed ventilation systems that are idiot proof so that even twits like Mike Holmes cannot mess them up...

 

[tool_man05]

I'm not a big believer in hermetically sealed houses (Superinsulated, super air tight). I used to be, but not anymore. Now I'm a big believer that a few drafts are good for your health and damn the few extra bucks you spend heating the joint.

Sounds like my place. lol

 

[james t kirk]

Well I dont know how healthy those drafts are when the air causing the draft passes through the construction materials on its way into the home, picking up all sorts of contaminents, mould, insulation particles or minute particles of mice or bat feces. I guess you haven't seen too many old walls or attics ripped open...

Of course, super tight homes must have well designed and installed ventilation systems that are idiot proof so that even twits like Mike Holmes cannot mess them up...

I've seen lots. In fact, I've forgotten more about construction than most people will ever know. (Not bragging, just stating a simple fact - I've been working in Construction and Engineering since I was 15 years old.)

You don't see moulds in old houses. The ones with with plaster walls and no insulation in the walls. You just don't because there is better ventilation (though not by design) and they are not built as tight as a drum, and mould doesn't like plaster (but it sure likes drywall) and moisture is not trapped, air gets exchanged (not stale). Same reason why Hot Water Heating is so vastly superior to Force Air. (Should call it forced sickness.)

Contrast to modern homes where you have drywall, vapour barriers, house raps, spray foam, gaskets, and all kinds of crap made from every sort of chemical. I'm just not a big believer in that chemical soup. (I'm not a big believer in spray foams like Walltite by BASF for that very reason.)

I used to believe. Not anymore. I've seen too many "sick environment" homes where the place is too tight. I'll pay the extra few hundred bucks a year associated with heat loss to have dry walls and a healthier environment.

 

[Cycleguy007]

Strangely enough... my hydro bill has gone up since they installed a "smart meter"! I didn't even ask for it, just came home from work one day and it was there, along with a booklet telling me how wonderful it was...

Used to be about $425- $450 (incl. hydro and water) every 2 months, since the smart meter was installed last fall its over $500. Gas is usually around $90/ month in the winter and about half that in the summer... for a 3000 sq ft home built in 2001.

 

[hesitant]

I've seen lots. In fact, I've forgotten more about construction than most people will ever know. (Not bragging, just stating a simple fact - I've been working in Construction and Engineering since I was 15 years old.)

You don't see moulds in old houses. The ones with with plaster walls and no insulation in the walls. You just don't because there is better ventilation (though not by design) and they are not built as tight as a drum, and mould doesn't like plaster (but it sure likes drywall) and moisture is not trapped, air gets exchanged (not stale). Same reason why Hot Water Heating is so vastly superior to Force Air. (Should call it forced sickness.)

Contrast to modern homes where you have drywall, vapour barriers, house raps, spray foam, gaskets, and all kinds of crap made from every sort of chemical. I'm just not a big believer in that chemical soup. (I'm not a big believer in spray foams like Walltite by BASF for that very reason.)

I used to believe. Not anymore. I've seen too many "sick environment" homes where the place is too tight. I'll pay the extra few hundred bucks a year associated with heat loss to have dry walls and a healthier environment.

I beg to differ James but old houses were not better materials... the reason many old homes dont suffer mould damage is due to the vast amounts of air leakage and the relative nature of humidity.. that and solid brick lacks wood framing or insulation to feed mould growth... but they cost a ton to heat...

Old wood frame houses do in fact suffer major mould and rot but usually from exterior water leaks versus water vapour coming from the interior....

I have 25 years experience as a specialist in building science, with forensic examinations of hundreds of commcercial and residential structures as proof...

That said, modern structures done poorly can be a terrible health and safety risk... but then again, society cannot afford to live in the dark ages any longer. The construction industry has been basically unchanged for over 60 years, it is time to change.

 

[hesitant]

Strangely enough... my hydro bill has gone up since they installed a "smart meter"! I didn't even ask for it, just came home from work one day and it was there, along with a booklet telling me how wonderful it was...

Used to be about $425- $450 (incl. hydro and water) every 2 months, since the smart meter was installed last fall its over $500. Gas is usually around $90/ month in the winter and about half that in the summer... for a 3000 sq ft home built in 2001.

Of course cycleguy, since interval type smart meters now allow the utility to charge on a time of use basis. The fee is naturally higher when everyone wants to use electricity and lower when it isnt in demand...

Summer peak is typically 5:00 p.m. until after 8:30 p.m. and the rate is around 12 cents per kWh... part of the reason is we have to buy expensive imported power at much higher rates... produced by US coal fired plants... while overnight we have plenty of cheap nuclear power going to waste so the rate is about 3.5 cents.

Most consumers are now paying more... that is how the system was intended. The power authority wants you to shift your non essential usage to off peak times and therefore they have implemented an incentive for you to shift your usage patterns. Most people are too lazy to shift usage at the current rate of incentive/disincentives... I believe it will take 20 cents per kWh to see more load shifting occur...

do your laundry and dishwashing after 10 pm using timer features on your appliances and you will save...

 

[Moraff]

I used to believe. Not anymore. I've seen too many "sick environment" homes where the place is too tight. I'll pay the extra few hundred bucks a year associated with heat loss to have dry walls and a healthier environment.

Why not get the best of both worlds and have a tight house with a good HRV system put in? That way you get your nice (filtered) fresh air yet don't have wasteful drafts.

But without that HRV I definitely hear what you're saying. My dad built his house so tight that you have to crack a window to run the dryer or rangehood (no HRV).... couldn't wait for winter to be over so I could have my bedroom window open again.