How Can You Find Out What the Electric Bill Is on a Home That Is for Rent?

Electricity bills can vary widely based upon the type of heat used, square footage, age of home, quality of windows, amount of time lights are left on, types of light bulbs, appliance usage and other factors. While you can obtain the average cost of the electricity bills for a rental home, take into consideration that you do not know how the renters used the electricity when you are reviewing the averages..

• 1

  Ask the landlord to provide you with previous bills. If the owner did not live in the home prior to renting but had a previous renter, ask if she can contact the previous renter to obtain the bills.

• 2

  Contact your local electric company. Tell the agent you are looking to rent a home and want to find out the previous years average bills. Provide the agent with the address of the rental home. The agent can see the previous bills and can give you the amounts per month. Write the information down. Include the month as well as the amount billed. If the company cannot provide you with exact billed amounts, ask for the average bill for a house of similar size. For example, if you are renting a 4000 square foot home, ask the average cost for a home of that size.

• 3

  Review the information closely. If you are using electric heat and live in a cold climate, don't just look at summer bills -- ask for bills in all seasons to get a better feeling of what the average cost is year round. Keep in mind that the bills are a reflection of how the previous tenant used electricity. If lights were kept on all day, the bills could be higher. If lights were used at a minimum and your family has lights on all day, your bill may be higher.