hi,

My GF and I moved into a 2 BR at AR in July.  We just got our first electric b ill and it was $234!  That is almost double what I used to pay.  We are pretty smart about what we do, but I can't help but think its this dang AC's.  We didn't run them all day, but at night when we got home and while we slept. 

Anyone have a good way of minimizing this bill?  Thanks

We're also in a 2BR in ARN and our most recent electric bills have been $200-$235, which is almost double from previous electric bills.  We moved in about a year ago, so we don't have comparison bills from last summer, but I think it's a mixture of the a/c unit and the rate increase.

But I'd still be interested to hear if anyone has other creative ways of minimizing the bill- besides the obvious of turning lights off (we do), turning off the a/c (we do this too) and checking all of our power sources (e.g. not leaving chargers on, not leaving computers on, etc.) 

It's unfortunate that we can't leave the windows open all the time but between the bugs and the Saturday night street noise, it's hard to sleep with the windows open all the time.  I also wish that Avalon had put in vertical blinds (rather than horizontal blinds) because you can't have the shades closed and the windows open without major noise.  I may just replace them myself first.

We received our first bill (for a 3 week period) for a 1BR and it was also around $230. We moved in about 2 weeks after taking posession of the apartment to discover that they had left every light on and the AC on the entire time! So this must be the maximum usage for a 1BR for 3 weeks.

I found the blinds don't do a good job of keeping the light out. We went and bought some dark curtains and a spring-loaded curtain rod. Keeping the curtains down during the day seems to keep the room significantly cooler by the end of the day. We don't use the AC very much, I can't sleep with it on at night, so we just sleep with a light bed sheet. I hope our next bill won't be so expensive.

Our bill was over $300 for a 1BR a month or so ago.  We ran the AC at times, but this is ridiculous.  I've never encountered a utility bill this high - and I assume the highly energy inefficient units are the culprits but I have to wonder how we're being metered.  I know this isn't an apples for apples comparison, but the way they meter water/sewage use is by dividing all usage by number of residents per apt, which I find to be unfair.  Are residents charged for common area electric use?  I have to assume no, right?