Are Ryan Homes Really Energy Efficient?

The answer is definitely yes.  After months of trying to sort out our electric bill with Pepco, we finally got an updated bill last night.  It came to about $115 per month and this was for the summer months with the AC running nonstop.  I am extremely pleased with this since we used to pay this amount for a our little 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment!  For those of you trying to budget your utility costs for a Strauss townhome, here's how our costs break down:

1. Pepco: about $115 per month
2. Washington Gas (gas oven, no gas dryer): $15-$20 per month
3. WSSC (water): unknown (paid every 3 months)

Sometimes with a new construction homes the utility companies take longer to get your bill sorted out. 

WSSC is still working to put us on their meter reading schedule since we're a new construction home. The latest we heard was that we should have a water bill by the end of the month. 

Pepco was sending us bills with estimated readings based on when Ryan Homes was building the house and using electricity 24/7.  They claimed they couldn't read our meter but every time we called they were able to pull our meter reading and see that our bill was wrong. It took months for them to "investigate" our situation but eventually they sorted it out and got us an accurate bill.  Our neighbors in the block didn't have any problems with Pepco, so hopefully our situation was just unique. 

Washington Gas never had any issues getting us our bills and they were always accurate.  At this point they're our favorite utility company :)

For everyone building I hope this helps you budget for your monthly expenses and good luck dealing with your utility companies!