Correct meter

[hocuspocus]

Can someone please tell me what electric supply we need for a new build house. The house is single storey 100 sq.meter and will have 3 air conditioners but no swimming pool. We have been told by someone local that 5 amp is not big enough and we should have 15 amp. Thanks in advance

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, hocuspocus said:

told by someone local that 5 amp is not big enough and we should have 15 amp

Without doing too much math: correct.

A 5 A meter (5/15, providing up to 15 A) is way too small if you intend to operate three ACs and some usual stuff in a 100 sqm house.

5 A (about 1.1 kW) wouldn't even big enough for a water heater/kettle (2 kW) to give you an idea.

 

Get a 15/45 meter!

 

[KhunBENQ]

Moved to the Electrical forum where the pros are.

[Crossy]

Yeah, a 15/45 single-phase supply will do most mid-sized farang homes.

 

To be sure list your big loads such as aircon and (particularly) water heaters and we can do a quick-and-dirty prospective load calculation.

 

Do you expect to be cooking by electric?

[bankruatsteve]

A 100 m2 home would be on the edge for 5/15 to 15/45 but the price difference is not significant so just go with the 15/45.  You could do all sorts of calculations, but that's what it will be.  

[Jdietz]

As long as the meter doesn't smoke there is no reason to replace it. If you have a 5/15 now it will happily run at a 100% overload forever

However with 3 ACs on and maybe some other household equipment it will run way over its calibration point (5A) so will most likely read high

If you are still in the install phase, opt for the 15/45. If the thing is there already, let 'er burn :)

 

[hocuspocus]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Yeah, a 15/45 single-phase supply will do most mid-sized farang homes.

 

To be sure list your big loads such as aircon and (particularly) water heaters and we can do a quick-and-dirty prospective load calculation.

 

Do you expect to be cooking by electric?

Thanks Crossy, The water will be heated by gas heater, there will be no electric oven apart from one of those round 1000 baht ovens with the fan on top. Most of the cooking will be on gas rings outside. There will be up to four aircons (but probably non of them will be more than 10000 btu) but the bedroom aircons will not be on at the same time as the living room aircons. When my Thai wife went in the PEA, she came out saying that we will be getting a 15 amp supply for between 4000-5000 baht (including insurance) but what she did not tell me it would be 15/45 amp.

[Crossy]

You are almost certainly getting a 15/45 supply if it's being described as "15 Amp" you will have a 50A incoming breaker.

 

With your only major loads being aircon and no electric water heating that will be just fine.

[JaiMaai]

How can you tell which meter you have?

Sent from my TA-1021 using Tapatalk

[Jdietz]

Markings on the meter, here's a 15/45 version:

 

[Yorkie]

To be on the safe side you could always get a 30(100) Amp supply.

[Yorkie]

I remember being at a Thai housewarming celebration many years ago. All the lights in the house were on (3 bedroom, one storey) and there must have been 20 external lights shining around the perimeter wall. The karaoke in the back garden took the 5(15)A supply over the top and the consumer unit switches were tripping virtually continuously.

[Crossy]

9 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

I remember being at a Thai housewarming celebration many years ago. All the lights in the house were on (3 bedroom, one storey) and there must have been 20 external lights shining around the perimeter wall. The karaoke in the back garden took the 5(15)A supply over the top and the consumer unit switches were tripping virtually continuously.

What usually happens when there's a big party (lights, sound system, dancing girls etc.) is the "party organiser" wires his temporary supply directly into the meter, often on the "wrong" side of said meter too (we wouldn't want to actually pay for the power would we?). Obviously completely illegal and more than somewhat hazardous, but TiT.

[impulse]

51 minutes ago, Crossy said:

What usually happens when there's a big party (lights, sound system, dancing girls etc.) is the "party organiser" wires his temporary supply directly into the meter

 

How many watts does it take to run one of them dancin' girls?

 

[Yorkie]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

How many watts does it take to run one of them dancin' girls?

 

 

There are times when I think the electric should be turned off completely.

 

http://freebeerforyorky.com/videonaam.html

[r136dg]

6 hours ago, impulse said:

How many watts does it take to run one of them dancin' girls?

 

Did you say Baht or Watts;-)

On a side note that wouldn't apply to most of us: My wife's rural old school parents have always been on a 5/15 meter & rarely pay for electricity (some kind of a subsidy for that meter & bills under 300 Baht).

I recently put in a hot shower for them & their bills are still under B300.

Puting in the shower was quite the project starting at the CU with a make believe ground, 60amp main & 32amp mcb's (I'll spare you the wiring). 

[JohnMc45]

Just for my clarification. A 15/45 is a 50 amp single phase supply? Reading posts I had been assuming 5/15, 15/45 and 30/100 where all three phase services.

[Jdietz]

15/45 is single phase, 15A nominal (calibrated), 45A max (though 50 won't hurt it) meter and incoming line.

 

If you're from the States, don't forget the voltage is double here, so the max wattage is 45*240 = 10,800 Watts (over 10KW)

 

[JohnMc45]

Ok,  Yes used to the North American 110-120v electrical system. 

[Yorkie]

18 hours ago, JohnMc45 said:

Just for my clarification. A 15/45 is a 50 amp single phase supply? Reading posts I had been assuming 5/15, 15/45 and 30/100 where all three phase services.

 

All single phase - this is my meter:

 

 

 

 

[kamalabob2]

The cost of installing new service for a PEA electric meter in Thailand should be posted at the PEA office. If you need to run electric service cables to your property from a great distance then be prepared to pay higher prices than on the sign. The deposit listed is refundable if you keep the receipt. You can clearly see the difference in single phase and 3 phase service. The first item is the deposit.