clutzuk

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone can advise me roughly how much my utility bills could be in LA? I am moving there to study and would like a rough idea how much bills would be monthly in a 2 bedroom place-especially electricity with the air con!

Thank you so much for your help-all input is welcome!

Hannah

Tone

Get yourself a Punka Wallah, cheaper in the long term.

jockf

I pay around about $70 a month for my utilitys. You need to see whats included with your rent as well. My gas is included so I dont pay for hot water so that keeps the cost down!!

woodsey

been in LA for almost a year, we live in a pretty big house but last year our electricity was outragous, from June to October, it was at least $250 a month, Septembers was $400 but I'm at home all day and we do have a pool filter on as well..we've just had a device fitted to our air conditioner that will turn it off for short periods of time during periods of heavy demand, the electricity company will give you a $200 a year discount for doing it, might be worth looking into..
Gas isn't too bad, avaerage about $60 a month so yours shouldn't be too bad, water is about $100 a month but again we have a pool and a fish pond to fill and 2 kids so yours should be much less..

Wintersong

Just a point - you don't actually have to use air con, even if it's installed in your house (Shock! Horror!). I don't turn it on at all unless it gets extremely hot inside the house (which, in this area of Ca is quite rare - and yes, I did spend the whole of last summer here). I open windows instead.

Not only do you save a lot of money on the bills but you also do your bit towards helping save the environment, with the added bonuses of a) lots of fresh air in your house, b) your skin doesn't dry out and c) you don't wake up with dry, itchy eyes every morning.

I guess it depends on where you are moving to - obviously a lot of places are a lot hotter than San Francisco Bay area, but my advice would be only use it when you absolutely have to.

ImHere

Which would be almost 24/7 down here.

Wintersong

Where are you?

ImHere

South Florida, about 40 miles north of Miami, the land that winter forgot....a Sub-tropical festival of heat, humidity, creepie-crawlies and Alligators. No AC means a stinking, sweating hell very quickly.

Wintersong

Lol, it was Florida I was thinking of when I said it depends where you're moving to.

I hate humidity

snowbunny

The date of construction of your apartment also will influence the bills as newer places will be more energy efficient. Avoid the top floor of a multi-storey apartment -- a middle storey is more ideal since it is less prone to break-in than a ground floor apartment.

In a place with low humidity, as LA has, you can use evaporative cooling and that may help, as will ceiling fans.

If your heat is all-electric as is common with newer apartments, that means that your heater, hot water and oven/range will all run on electricity -- this is less efficient than natural gas and will drive up your electrical bills.

evoal2003

Do you turn off the gas whilst turning the bacon over.??

Celtic_Angel

:scared: If you live in the South the A/C is a MUST have from about May til possibly days in October!!

It's the heat and the humidity that kills ya...it's expensive but unfortunately....worth every penny!!!!

Eskimo

you are making the huge assumption that the air outside is fresh - we live in LA

Wintersong

Do you take your life in your hands by eating the bacon over here?!!

Celtic_Angel

You get used to it