Utility Bills 101: Average Expenses And Getting Savings On Monthly Bills

Saving Money Wherever You Can

Whether you rent or own, you’re going to have some kind of utility bill every month. Oftentimes these charges include electricity, heating, and garbage control. That is to say: if you’ve got a trashcan you take to the curb every morning, it’s going to come at a monthly cost.

All these expenses will differ per region. Going to sites like TexasElectricityPlans.com can help give you an idea of specific costs as pertain to varying utilities in a specific area. Additionally, such sites can help you identify areas of spending which are higher than necessary, allowing you to help cut costs every month.

For example, sometimes you’re in a hot area where comfort virtually requires continuous usage of AC. Texas is notorious for this. The thermometer regularly has mercury that tops 100 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. Not only can this be uncomfortable, it can be dangerous. Without the right sort of AC, you could be in real trouble. Installing more efficient AC will reduce your energy usage, but this may not be ideal for all homeowners.

If you open windows at night, then close them—and the blinds—at the right time in the morning, you can keep ambient interior temperatures ten to twenty degrees lower than the outside without even using AC. Using a fan with a wet towel draped over it can circulate cooler air and have a smaller utility footprint than full-on AC. Less electricity is necessary. Still, there are better ways. Following, we’ll examine some strategies and average monthly utility costs.

What To Expect

Generally, you should expect utility bills for a single person who is conscientious about electricity usage to be around $50 a month depending on region. The national average, according to EyeOnHousing.org, was $110.21 for electricity alone in 2013. That number is an aggregated sum combining single and multi-person households.

If you’re paying $200 a month, and you’re the only person in a property, you’re doing something wrong; or at the very least out of balance. But even a family of five can get that bill under $100 a month with a little conscientious planning. For one thing, control the atmosphere of your home, as summarized earlier.

Open windows at night, let it get cool inside. Wake up early and close them (as well as the blinds) to retain that cool; you’ll be able to reduce AC usage substantially. Additionally, look into solar energy for increased savings, and even property value expansion. A solar array that includes a 5 kWh system increases the value of a property more than $29,000 in California.

Cost-Deferral Strategies Pertaining To Technology

Texas doesn’t have the same laws, but you can expect property value enhancement to at least be greater than the cost of installing such panels. You can find 100-Watt panels for under $100 now, though you should expect a qualitative one that lasts ten years to be about that much. Additional cables, surge controllers, and energy sinks (batteries) will add around $25 per panel.

Fifty panels in a system will accordingly cost you about $6,250 if you install them yourself. However, such a system should provide more than ample energy for a household to totally shrug a given utility bill. If you were paying $100 a month, that’s $1,200 a year. Within six years, your solar panels have paid for themselves in terms of deferred expenses.

From there, your panels profit you $1,200 a year, for earnings of at least $4,800 on a 5 kWh system at the end of ten years’ time. Many of the panels will remain usable at the end of that time, so you’ll only have to sub out a few.

Essentially, properly-applied solar that funnels energy to a battery array will pay for itself given time, increase property value, and substantially reduce your utility bill. Coupled with a conscientious approach to atmospheric control, you can definitely reduce recurring utility expenses.