Utility Bills

Newer buildings are more energy efficient. Some Condos save moeny by bulk purchase of utility costs. Rentals may do this, but if they are passing along the costs, they may not go through this extra step and simply contract with Con Ed.

printer, that doesn't seem nuts. I'm in an 1100 sqft 2BR condo - we pay about $100 in winter months, and most recent bill was just under $150. Your usage may be higher if you've got more square footage and more people in the apartment.

To me it's nuts (on the low side). I'm $100/120 regular months and A/C summer months $300/350 per month.
{Im in an 80's rental building with horribly inefficient units.}

not high. been considering a portable that would have to be more efficient than the tres old unit in our apt.

romary
I did that. I got one of those newer floor A/C's with a tube to the window for exhaust so I could keep the living room units off. Knocked $75 to $100 off my electric.
{Yep, that's right, before having my summer months $300/$350 I was actually at around $400 per month}

The by far most important thing for efficiency is keeping the units screens clean.

With A/C the answer will always be "your results may vary". People use them differently. Some want a temp in the 60's when they are home, some don't care. Some leave them on all day, others adjust the thermostat during that time, and others just shut them off.

Units vary in efficiency too. The large and expensive Friedrich's will use 20-30% less power for the same cooling than a smaller window unit. Bigger coils, bigger compressors and bigger fans mean the less energy is used to get the same result. You can tell by comparing the units amperage use/BTU against others (this is actually the EER).

You can also see if you can use a "split unit" type A/C. These are more expensive but have other benefits. First is that they have an external compressor/evaporator you can hang outside, so less noise. Second is they are much more efficient. Third is they can often handle 2-3 cooling units (long narrow fans with thermostats and often can oscillate). Finally, they will leave your window free and open.

In new buildings like Rushmore. The a/c has no compressor(which saves a ton of money). electric charges are fairly uniform winter or summer.

thanks for the feedback. i would expect to be on the high side given that we use the washer and dryer a lot, and my wife or the nanny is home with the little ones at points during the day so we need to use the A/C. I did buy brand new Friedrich's when we moved in a few yrs ago, and I'm pretty parsimonious about using the A/C when I'm home (combo of me being cheap and not liking A/C), so a higher base but less of a jump in the summer seems right. I guess I feel better and worse.

i think i'm on the low side, in a 2br prewar, no w/d and gas/electric is about $60 month. first summer in the apt though so we'll see how that goes.

For those of you with through-the-wall units, how much does a new (better? allegedly energy-efficient?) air conditioner affect your rates?

If your older A/C is in good working condition it may actually be more efficient than the regular cheaper units sold today. To keep the costs low, especially in an environment where copper prices have been skyrocketing, they use less copper and smaller coils, which makes them less efficient. In some cases the efficiency is the same (cheaper on materials but make up for it with technology) but they will run louder since one of the savings is smaller fans and compressors which have to work harder for the same cooling.