aptartment and ac q

yikes. does the bill really go up $50? i just don't know, i never had a to pay a lipa bill myself. she gets enough $$ from us as it is for our tiny apt i
d hate to over pay her for this.

We get charged the same amount too (top of cape apartment though.) But, believe me, it's a total rip off. We work all day too and certainly DO NOT use $50 worth every month. If you look on those energy star labels (we are looking to buy a new unit) even the big ones say that it costs approx. $72 PER YEAR to run it. It totally annoys me, but I can't live without it.

hmm...we threw out the energy star paper that said it only costs $37 annually to use, but we printed up one for a similar model (same 5700btu's) and its $42 for annual usage. that's $3.50 per month. we'll be using ours for a total of 2 1/2 months. we gave her and extra $15 in our check yesterday (we only installed it a week or so ago). we'll throw in the extra $15 a month and show her that paper and that would more than cover it. i think i'll fight her on this one bc she gets enough $$$ from us. thanks.
~lacey

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Posted by slwh2005

We get charged the same amount too (top of cape apartment though.) But, believe me, it's a total rip off. We work all day too and certainly DO NOT use $50 worth every month. If you look on those energy star labels (we are looking to buy a new unit) even the big ones say that it costs approx. $72 PER YEAR to run it. It totally annoys me, but I can't live without it.

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how can they claim it costs $72 a year? based on what usage? Some people live in hotter climates than others. Not mention some people leave their a/c on a lot and some not so much. I’m just curious how they came to that conclusion.

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Posted by dleeny

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Posted by slwh2005

We get charged the same amount too (top of cape apartment though.) But, believe me, it's a total rip off. We work all day too and certainly DO NOT use $50 worth every month. If you look on those energy star labels (we are looking to buy a new unit) even the big ones say that it costs approx. $72 PER YEAR to run it. It totally annoys me, but I can't live without it.

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how can they claim it costs $72 a year? based on what usage? Some people live in hotter climates than others. Not mention some people leave their a/c on a lot and some not so much. I’m just curious how they came to that conclusion.

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The tag from my old one that I bought in 1999 said:' Based on standard U.S. government tests. Energyguide: More efficient air conditioners cost less to operate. This model's estimated yearly operating cost is: $48. Based on a 1995 U.S. Government national average cost of 8.67 cents per kWh for electricity. Your actual operating cost will vary depending on your local utility rates and your use of the product.'

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Posted by lacey&mark

hmm...we threw out the energy star paper that said it only costs $37 annually to use, but we printed up one for a similar model (same 5700btu's) and its $42 for annual usage. that's $3.50 per month. we'll be using ours for a total of 2 1/2 months. we gave her and extra $15 in our check yesterday (we only installed it a week or so ago). we'll throw in the extra $15 a month and show her that paper and that would more than cover it. i think i'll fight her on this one bc she gets enough $$$ from us. thanks.
~lacey

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Good for you!! Maybe we'll show our landlord the tag from our new one when we buy it. But we'll probably just suck it up and pay him for two-three months.

in our last apartment, we had the second story. The landlord asked us for $35 a month extra to run the AC. Well, we only had a 3,000btu AC, that had to cool down the whole place. He complained that we had it on too much, so we decided to give him $50 a month for it. I thought it was rediculous, but I guess that's what is standard.

Luckily, in the apartment we rent now, we don't have to pay extra and they supplied 2 AC's for us. But we are paying $1255 for a 1 bedroom apartment!

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Good for you!! Maybe we'll show our landlord the tag from our new one when we buy it. But we'll probably just suck it up and pay him for two-three months.

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i don't want to suck it up, but i do hate confrontation. i just hate getting ripped off. she makes a lot off of us AND the couple across the hall, she doesn't need the extra cash. greedy landlords suck. ~lacey

Honestly, those energy star ratings are based on a national average not on whaat LIPA charges for power which is the most expensive rates in the nation. I handle my dad's bills as he is disabled and thankfully he is on LIPA's budget billing... his LIPA bill is $142 a month. Keep in mind that's average for the year. If he wasn't it would be much higher in the summer... definitely over $200. Instead that budget billing allows me to spread out the peak energy bills (summer) due to the Ac over the course of the year.

Trust me the landlord's bill might very well increase $50 just by your AC. AC also have to work much harder when they are on the second floor and or installed on a southern exposure.

It may be a ripofff. Actually I want to say that it ahs changed since there are new tenants on the 1st floor who pay the bill. As far as I know $50 of our rent goes to her every month toward our electric, etc.

I think that energy star rating is BS. In the summer our electric bills are like $100-200 higher (at my mom's house) than they are in the winter. So there's no way that an AC only costs $72 a year to run. More like $72 a month!


Also, even though the basement is the coolest part of the house, temperature wise, it's also, in our case the dampest and so even when it's not that hot, we have to run the AC. In the summer we have to run the AC at least a little bit every day to cut the dampness or else we'll be living in a swamp.

i don't think that is a rip off. my energy star thing says my AC will cost us around $70 a year to run, but my electric bill jumps about $100 a month from june to september. i keep mine on when i get home, about 5pm, until i leave in the morning, and on weekends. when it gets 80+, i leave it on for my cats. the funny thing is, when i didnt have cats in my old apt, the cost was about the same anyway.

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Posted by brooklynbridezilla

i don't think that is a rip off. my energy star thing says my AC will cost us around $70 a year to run, but my electric bill jumps about $100 a month from june to september. i keep mine on when i get home, about 5pm, until i leave in the morning, and on weekends. when it gets 80+, i leave it on for my cats. the funny thing is, when i didnt have cats in my old apt, the cost was about the same anyway.

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I have central air so I'm not sure if this will help explain.

We leave our thermostat at 74 degrees all summer. When I first moved in here (first time living with central air) I was told that if you turn the a/c off during the day when at work and then come home to an 88 degree apt., that you're actually using more electricity than if you leave it on all day. The a/c will have work 3 or 4x as hard to cool it off down from 88 (or even higher temps) to a livable temp. I hope that makes sense. I also confirmed this info with LIPA.

ETA: we're on LIPA's budget plan which means we pay the same rate all year so that we don't get slammed in the summer. our monthly LIPA bill is $70 a month (1 bedroom apt)