Hellobee Boards

We lived in an apartment like that and I can't remember quite what our bills were but it was fairly high for the small space. But we were on the ground level too.

I think Windows make a big difference too. Our new house has baseboard heating (oil) but old single panes windows and it always feels cold. We are going to replace the windows when we can but for now I feel like half our heat escapes.

We don't have electric baseboard but actually an even worse system (20+ year old electric ceiling panels...honestly whoever installed them was insane). We used those the first year and our electric bills in the winter got to $800+ (tiny townhouse, less than 1100 sf, with shared walls too). Over the next couple years, we gradually switched to using our fireplaces (gas) plus electric space heaters plus I switched electric suppliers to get a better rate...it basically cut our bill in half (last winter I think the highest was ~$300 for electric, although last winter was also noticeably warmer than the previous year). I hate that we are relying on space heaters though.

Today we had someone come in to give us a quote for mini splits. I am sick of our horrible heating situation.

I would not consider buying a house with baseboard heat, electric or otherwise. Most houses with baseboard heat do not have central air conditioning, and that is a must for me. We use the AC from May to September. I hate leaving windows open because it affects my allergies. Plus in the summer it takes way too long for it to get cool enough outside to make a difference inside.

We live in New England and have radiator (gas) heating - our electric bills are still $250-$300 in the coldest months because we have tons of older windows!

Our is baseboard but it's oil. We installed a wood burning stove insert that blows heat into the house, and that helps, but frankly our house is just cold in the winter months. We wear a lot of layers.

@looch: Did an owner put it in after the house was built? The house I grew up in had baseboard heating and my parents looked into getting AC and having all the ducts put it, but while it was possible it was extremely expensive.

@looch: It was probably cheaper to heat using the baseboards so they didn't bother. Fuel economies are always changing. It used to be that houses were built with electric everthing, because that was cheapest. Now around here it seems like everything is natural gas.

We've got solar, but it only takes care of about 50% of our usage.

I grew up with electric baseboards and it is very expensive! We have hot water natural gas baseboard heaters and love them

Our baseboard heaters are not electric. Our oil bill can get quite high on the winter, but we budget for that all year long. Our electric bill is very low in the fall/winter, so it all evens out.

We've had two apartments with electric heat. Each was about 1,100-1,200 sqft. Our heating bill was never more than $350 a month even two winters ago during the snow-apocalypse. The first one had really good windows (thank goodness because there were a ton of them). The second one, not the best but still ok. I second what other ladies have mentioned about double checking if the baseboard heaters are really electric and not on oil. My SIL had to pay several thousand dollars for oil two winters ago when it was really bad. Their house is about 2,500 sqft.

For everyone facing high heating bills, I definitely recommend looking into energy efficiency upgrades (retrofits) for your home. Lots of areas have programs that will help you and some have financing available. Try here to look up a contractor who will start you off with an energy audit (typically free): http://www.resnet.us/directory/search