Average Electric and Water bill Denver, Co (Fort Collins, Arvada: appliances, house)

[formercalifornian]

Our combined bill for gas and electric averages about $100/month, and water is about $20/month for an 1800 sq. ft. house with four people.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Our combined bill for gas and electric averages about $100/month, and water is about $20/month for an 1800 sq. ft. house with four people.

Wow. Well done, you. Secrets, please. One day, I'd love to "wrap" our unfinished basement and replace our windows, but I doubt even then our bills would be as cheap as yours. Do you have grass? I loved our xeriscape that we had in Arizona and would happily replace our front yard grass with xeriscape but the HOA says that's a no-no.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

. . . Do you have grass? I loved our xeriscape that we had in Arizona and would happily replace our front yard grass with xeriscape but the HOA says that's a no-no.

FYI, Colorado law does not allow an HOA to require grass or prohibit xeriscaping. After the drought and water restrictions of 2002, it became clear that action was needed. In 2005, the Colorado legislature enacted Section 37-60-126(11)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes. It provides that:

Any section of a restrictive covenant that prohibits or limits xeriscape, prohibits or limits the installation or use of drought-tolerant vegetative landscapes, or requires cultivated vegetation to consist exclusively or primarily of turf grass is hereby declared contrary to public policy and, on that basis, that section of the covenant shall be unenforceable.

A "restrictive covenant" in the statute is defined as

any covenant, restriction, bylaw, executive board policy or practice, or condition applicable to real property for the purpose of controlling land use, but does not include any covenant, restriction, or condition imposed on such real property by any governmental entity.

So talk to your HOA.

[formercalifornian]

Hmmm. Good question. I'm not sure I have any secrets, and I don't do anything crazy, like turn off the water heater for most of the day or make everyone take Navy showers, but here's a description of our household.

We have a very small yard and drought-tolerant grass. We use our sprinkler system very sparingly. I capture water from the roof in a rain barrel for irrigating our vegetable garden, and I capture the warm-up water from the shower on the potted plants.

Our power bill is low in the summer because we do not have air conditioning. We have only one electric garage door opener, and we've trained ourselves to use it only for pulling the car in and out. Right after we moved in, we increased our roof vents and insulated our garage walls to keep the upstairs bedrooms cooler in the heat of summer. We also checked all our outlets to make sure that none were "leaking" electricity.

Our dryer runs on natural gas, and we have a low water-usage, front-load washer. We do not have any extra appliances, like a freezer or microwave, just the basic range, fridge, and dishwasher, which we use sparingly. We have our computer on a power strip, which we turn off at night, and we do not have a television.

That's all I can think of right now.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by suzco

FYI, Colorado law does not allow an HOA to require grass or prohibit xeriscaping. After the drought and water restrictions of 2002, it became clear that action was needed. In 2005, the Colorado legislature enacted Section 37-60-126(11)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes. It provides that:


A "restrictive covenant" in the statute is defined as

So talk to your HOA.

Funny that you would say that because we just got our semi-annual HOA newsletter and in there was an article written about that very same law you mentioned and how our HOA still says we can't do it. They listed a bunch of rules and bylaws and even used the fact we're in unincorporated Arapahoe County as another reason. Our HOA included in the newsletter the rules about grass (must be front and back and HEALTHY (meaning "not dead" I presume)) and also the rule that everyone must have at least TWO trees in their front yard.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

Funny that you would say that because we just got our semi-annual HOA newsletter and in there was an article written about that very same law you mentioned and how our HOA still says we can't do it. They listed a bunch of rules and bylaws and even used the fact we're in unincorporated Arapahoe County as another reason. Our HOA included in the newsletter the rules about grass (must be front and back and HEALTHY (meaning "not dead" I presume)) and also the rule that everyone must have at least TWO trees in their front yard.

So if you would really like to have xeriscaping, perhaps you should attend an HOA meeting and start to make noise.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Hmmm. Good question. I'm not sure I have any secrets, and I don't do anything crazy, like turn off the water heater for most of the day or make everyone take Navy showers, but here's a description of our household.

We have a very small yard and drought-tolerant grass. We use our sprinkler system very sparingly. I capture water from the roof in a rain barrel for irrigating our vegetable garden, and I capture the warm-up water from the shower on the potted plants.

Our power bill is low in the summer because we do not have air conditioning. We have only one electric garage door opener, and we've trained ourselves to use it only for pulling the car in and out. Right after we moved in, we increased our roof vents and insulated our garage walls to keep the upstairs bedrooms cooler in the heat of summer. We also checked all our outlets to make sure that none were "leaking" electricity.

Our dryer runs on natural gas, and we have a low water-usage, front-load washer. We do not have any extra appliances, like a freezer or microwave, just the basic range, fridge, and dishwasher, which we use sparingly. We have our computer on a power strip, which we turn off at night, and we do not have a television.

That's all I can think of right now.

Wow. Again, well done you. We don't have a lot of appliances either but our HOA said specifically we weren't allowed to "collect" rainwater.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

Wow. Again, well done you. We don't have a lot of appliances either but our HOA said specifically we weren't allowed to "collect" rainwater.

Once again, there is Colorado law that controls this. The HOA does not. In this instance, the HOA is right though. With some very few exceptions, Colorado water rights laws prohibit collecting rainwater.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by suzco

Once again, there is Colorado law that controls this. The HOA does not. In this instance, the HOA is right though. With some very few exceptions, Colorado water rights laws prohibit collecting rainwater.

I thought they just changed the law recently to allow rain barrels.

I love HOAs that think they're above state law. But what are you going to do? Say you rip out your lawn. The HOA makes your life a nightmare and you wind up spending thousands of dollars either defending yourself or suing them.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by suzco

FYI, Colorado law does not allow an HOA to require grass or prohibit xeriscaping. After the drought and water restrictions of 2002, it became clear that action was needed. In 2005, the Colorado legislature enacted Section 37-60-126(11)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes. It provides that:


A "restrictive covenant" in the statute is defined as

So talk to your HOA.

I didn't know that Colorado had a statewide law that covered this. That's great news.