If you’re a Selling Sunset fan, you’re already familiar with the ultra-luxurious homes featured on the show.
Ranging from sprawling mansions to posh penthouses and million-dollar bachelor pads built into LA’s pricey hills, the reality series features some of the most desirable properties in California. They’re also some of the priciest!
But it’s easy to look at the homes on the show and forget that those mansions continue to cost money after the ink dries on the deed. So today, we thought we’d take a look at a more down-to-earth aspect of these luxe properties: their electricity bills.
Even the Oppenheim Group’s deep-pocketed clients have to pay their dues. And, according to recent research, the electric bills for these huge mansions tend to be 10 times higher than what the rest of us pay!
Like Fancy Pants Homes’ content? Be sure to follow us on Google News
Close to $1,500 / month for electricity
The homes Oppenheim Group sells are considerably larger than your average home, so, naturally, they rack up bills to match.
While the average U.S. home is around 2,014 square feet, Oppenheim Group listings often span over 11,000 square feet, meaning that they’re about 5 times larger than your regular home. But their energy bills are nearly 10 times higher!
Recent research conducted by the home energy experts at SolarReviews found that the average electric bill for the most recently sold O Group listings is about $1,483 per month.
That’s almost 10 times higher than the average American’s electric bill of $154.
What’s driving up the costs?
While an infinity pool or a movie theater are nice, they don’t just increase the upfront cost of the house but the long-term costs of ownership as well.
And we wanted to see exactly what the biggest culprits are. So we sat down with SolarReviews‘ home energy expert, Catherine Lane, who shed some light on how upscale amenities affect the overall costs for these million-dollar homes.
HVACs
“The biggest factor is cooling,” Catherine tells us. “These homes are in California, so the HVAC system works hard to keep them cool, especially with their large, modern windows.”
Pools and hot tubs
“Water heaters also contribute to the bill, especially in homes that have multiple bathrooms,” Catherine added. “Pool pumps can use a lot of energy, as can jacuzzis.”
Appliances
Remember how we said the average O Group listing has about 11,000 square feet of living space? Imagine all the appliances needed to furnish all this generous square footage.
Not to mention, many homes have multiple kitchens — and double up on common appliances — which also adds to the bill.
Lighting
And then there’s the lighting, especially in houses with lots of outdoor features — which tend to be automated to light up at set times in the evening, and only turn off the following morning.
Upscale amenities
You’d be hard-pressed to find a Selling Sunset-featured mansion without at least one luxe amenity like a temperature-controlled wine cellar, game room, or a cinema-quality home theater. Unsurprisingly, all these nifty features add to the bill.
Charging for electric cars
A recent newcomer on the list of energy-consuming amenities are charging stations for electric cars, which “can also bump up electricity usage, although electric cars are still cheaper to run than gas,” Catherine adds.
Other interesting findings
Catherine and her team also found that adding solar panels to some of the larger houses sold by the Oppenheim Group could power over 8 average California homes. You can read their findings here.
As for the cost of adding solar panels to these sprawling homes? Turns out, that would cost less than 1% of the listing price of many of these homes, but the payout would be more than worth it, as solar panels can increase the value of California homes by 5.4%.
Methodology
Research for this story was conducted with data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which tracks average electric usage per household in every state and was cross-referenced with data on the average home size in each state. It was later applied to the most recent Oppenheim Group listings.
More stories
All the houses featured in Season 7 of ‘Selling Sunset’ and what happened to them
What happened to Jason Oppenheim’s penthouses from Season 6 of ‘Selling Sunset’?
Bling Empire’s Kane Lim Lists $1,888M House with Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause
