I've been at Deerbrook for only a few months, and when I received my most recent heating bill, I about had a heart attack. I live in the smallest one-bedroom by myself, and am hardly ever home. My electric bill was higher than that of my parents, who live in a 2,000 square foot home! The only thing I can think of is that the apartments are poorly insulated and because there are so many windows (7 in each apartment), alot of cold outside air gets in. I'm just curious to see if anyone else has had really high heating bills.
The office staff did mention that Duke has raised their rates by 17%, but holy crap! I will say that I have been impressed by the office and maintenance staff who have done everything they can to help.

User Responses
From: rooneydoodle	Date: 01/28/2009
Absolutely high and porr insulation. The front door of our unit has a gap the size of "Madonna" between the casing and the door. Are latest bill we just recieved was 200.00 for a 2 bedroom. Great staff though. All of my friends pay this much in heating bills for the 2000 sqft houses as well. I am getting used to it, my last few months are right around the corner, and hello to owning.
From: Arielemc	Date: 01/28/2009
Yes! My heating bills are outrageous too. My bill went up 80 dollars in one month. I'm also guessing it's because of poor insulation. I got a small heater to try to take some of the slack; we'll see if that helps.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/29/2009
I too had a heart attack when I opened up our bill. $250 for our two bedroom, and I'm still FREEZING in here! I love living here...but that will definitely make our stay a bit shorter than originally planned! I could heat a home for that amount of money!
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/29/2009
Hmm. Wow, thanks everyone for your responses. At least I know I'm not going crazy! I put plastic over my windows and had maintenance replace the weather stripping on my door- that helped a bit, but as far as those outside walls go, there's not much to be done. Just gotta pile on the layers and keep the thermostat low I guess!
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/30/2009
I lived at DeerBrook for 5 years before buying my first house last year. The heating bills were my only complaints for the complex! I budgeted accordingly every year because I enjoyed all the other amenities that I got for the price. I think they are starting to show their age. I used that plastic wrap stuff on windows, space heaters and heated blankets. It was still high. I can only imagine what it's like now. I pay a lot less to heat a 1500 sq ft home even with rate increases.
From: asldaisy	Date: 02/26/2009
My bill was the same for the larger one bedroom. I have started unplugging things that don't need plugged in during the day which has helped. Take a look at his website (http://standby.lbl.gov/summary-table.html). The gap in the front door was replaced by maintenance and that has helped as well. During the month of January, Duke bills for 35 days which leads to higher bills as well. Just some things to think about - it helps.
From: venice57	Date: 04/30/2009
I live in the smaller one bedroom and ended up with a bill of $212 one month - and I was so cold! I ended up turning the thermostat down to 62 and shivering all winter, since I couldn't afford to pay to keep my apartment warm. I really like my apartment - it's my favorite out of the many I lived in - but I will be leaving at the end of my lease because of this.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates