electric bill

[HuaHin0007]

Hello Dear Thai Visa members 

 

First i apologize for my english, it's not my native language. I try my best without using a translator.

 

I partly live in thailand for a while, IN and OUT for almost 10 years. (3 months here, 3 months in Europe)

 

We ( my Thai wife and i) rented a beautiful villa in Hua Hin suburb. The agency sent me the electric bill for the month and i was requested to pay 14.000 THB

 

I m a little bit shock by the amount of this invoice.

 

I use to rent villas since 2012, so i m aware about the cost of the electric here, and the maximum i ever got was 7000 Thb, but we were 6 people / 3 bed rooms in the same house. (with pool, 3 aircon Units running all day all night, and my team of Friends were not very careful to save electric..)

 

I don't like very cold so i setup at 25-26°C minimum. I have hard time to believe i spent so much money in electric...

 

I suspect a scam, but it's hard to know where does it come from... The villa is located in a compound, and i was told that there is one bill for all the villas (around 30) and then the compound management team use meters to divide the main bill between houses and charge each of them. 

 

The whole situation seems strange, the woman of the real estate agency first show me her bill on a small stick note (like restaurant style) then took it back when i started to complain and said she will "check with the owner"... I could add she earlier told me by message to prepare "about 10000 THB in cash to cover the electric bill"

 

She then bring me to the The management staff of the compound who doesn't seems really surprised by the amount of this invoice. She quietly explain me it was similar for other villas around...

 

They showed me the records of electric bills of the villa, and the previous month was 6000 but i was told nobody stayed at the villa, then they suddently remember guests stayed few days in the villa.

 

nothing seems clear to explain the expenses of the previous month... 

 

My opinion is there were nobody for some time because the roof was full of pigeons and the house looked empty and dusty when we check in 
 

I will need to check their metric (the picture when i check in compare with the one when i check out), to be sure their calculations are right, but if they are, which options do i have ? 

 

 

If anybody met this situation before, i would be happy to hear some advises.

 

Thanks and good (hot) afternoon 

[MJCM]

Do you know where the Electric Meter is ???

 

If so, Check the Meter and for now check it in the morning and in the evening then you will see the average usage is in one day !

 

When the bill comes compare the reading with Meter and see if it is correct.

 

Also, TURN off all appliances and check if the meter is still running !!

 

There is also the possibility that you are not charged the official government rate which is around 4.5 THB per Unit !!

 

You can check here what the price approx should be: (Click the English Flag to change to English) https://www.pea.co.th/webapplications/EstimateBill/index.html#

[HuaHin0007]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

 

If so, Check the Meter and for now check it in the morning and in the evening then you will see the average usage is in one day !

 

When the bill comes compare the reading with Meter and see if it is correct.

 

Also, TURN off all appliances and check if the meter is still running !!

 

There is also the possibility that you are not charged the official government rate which is around 4.5 THB per Unit !!

 

You can check here what the price approx should be: (Click the Englis

Two very good tips here : 

 

1- i will use the breaker to check if the meter still run

2- i will check in one day how much consumption 

 

thanks ????

[rodknock]

unless you are billed direct from the electric company, good luck you are at there mercy. what does it say in your lease?

[BritManToo]

Ask the price per unit, read the meter when you move in, read it again every month.

You must be the only person in the world not doing this.

Edited May 1, 2019 by BritManToo

[HuaHin0007]

It's not clear, there are only two lines about it.

 

Here they are (no name or any personal datas in this picture)

 

 

614223065_IMG_3355(1).HEIC

Edited May 1, 2019 by HuaHin0007

[Kwasaki]

17 minutes ago, HuaHin0007 said:

1.... I suspect a scam but it's hard to know where does it come from.

2....The woman of the real estate agency first show me her bill on a small stick note (like restaurant style)

1. Your right, not hard to know a scam. 

2. Is your scammer I suspect.

[HuaHin0007]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Ask the price per unit, read the meter when you move in, read it again every month.

You must be the only person in the world not doing this.

I have the picture of the meter when i check in. 

 

The agent told me (orally) it was the government price. In fact i understood the electric bill would be sent by the public company of electricity.  

 

The contract do not t specify it clearly. Yes it's my fault because i should have request them to edit it and make it clear

[MJCM]

9 minutes ago, HuaHin0007 said:

It's not clear, there are only two lines about it.

 

Here they are (no name or any personal datas in this picture)

IMG_3355.HEIC 1.14 MB · 5 downloads

That's just some contract blah blah ????

 

Can you post the bill ?? Did you Enter the meter readings from the bill with the link to the PEA I posted in post #2 ?? What was the result ??

[baansgr]

If two people is normally a bill of 7,000, its quite reasonable that six people with triple the normal air con usage 24/7 would amount to 14,000....check units used but dont be surprised if the bill is correct

[MJCM]

Just now, baansgr said:

If two people is normally a bill of 7,000, its quite reasonable that six people with triple the normal air con usage 24/7 would amount to 14,000....<snip>

You don't know that, maybe they have a Jacuzzi, pool pumps, wine cellar etc etc etc ????

[HuaHin0007]

yes, it looks this contract doesn't really answer the questions about electricity expenses. (Sad i signed it without double checking...)

 

Like i said on a message above, I do not have the bill yet (sticky note) The real estate agent took it back when i start to complain. She even didn t charge me...yet...(i have no doubts she will come back)

 

She said she will speak with the owner first... so i wait.

 

 

 

 

 

[MJCM]

1 minute ago, HuaHin0007 said:

yes, it looks this contract doesn't really answer the questions about electricity expenses. (Sad i signed it without double checking...)

 

Like i said on a message above, I do not have the bill yet (sticky note) The real estate agent took it back when i start to complain. She even didn t charge me...yet...(i have no doubts she will come back)

 

She said she will speak with the owner first... so i wait.

 

 

Oke but your task from now on, is when you wake up, check the electric meter, write down the Units (with the date) and in the evening do the same.

 

Keep doing it for a couple of days and then you easily can tell what you average usage in 1 day is.

 

Then Multiply the average usage by 31 and fill in that amount of Units in the link I posted in Post #2 (the PEA link)

[HuaHin0007]

2 minutes ago, baansgr said:

If two people is normally a bill of 7,000, its quite reasonable that six people with triple the normal air con usage 24/7 would amount to 14,000....check units used but dont be surprised if the bill is correct

In this house we are two people, my wife and me.

 

I took an exemple from my experience, in the past we rented an house with 6 people, and we had only 7000Thb

 

This time, two people : 14000THB 

 

there is a pool, and the aircon is designed for a big volume. Yes the house is big too. i setup at 26° usually.

 

 

 

 

[moontang]

I was staying at a friends big house at HH.  I read the meter just to see, as i didnt want to run up his bill.  I checked it four days later and it had used 420 units.  Fortunately, that was the meter for the pig next door.  I was using about 20 units per day..and he has a pool, too.  That was november..and it was damn hot there..breeze is only right by the gulf.  He told me he had rented to some russians and their bill was 7000 for a week, but they were marking it up some at the suggestion of his thai manager.  Electric, internet, and tm30 are very important...

[CGW]

12 minutes ago, HuaHin0007 said:

Yes the house is big too. i setup at 26° usually.

26° is a cool temp to try maintain for this time of year, especially if its a high BTU old AC unit & dependant on the hours run, I would guess the bill wouldn't be far off, though there are so many variables to consider. Put the AC to 28° you will not notice the difference after a day or so.

Edited May 1, 2019 by CGW

[Thongkorn]

Easy way , Turn off the Electric,  Say over Night or during the Day and take the reading, Switch it on 12 hours later or long if possible,Then If your meter has  moved, some one has tapped your electric. Not unheard of in Thailand

Edited May 1, 2019 by Thongkorn

[HuaHin0007]

5 minutes ago, CGW said:

26° is a cool temp to try maintain for this time of year, especially if its a high BTU old AC unit & dependant on the hours run, I would guess the bill wouldn't be far off, though there are so many variables to consider. Put the AC to 28° you will not notice the difference after a day or so.

 

I felt 26 was cool yes. Now, with this story, i don't open aircon anymore in the living room, only fans... I leave the aircon for the bed room and only the night

 

But that said, i requested opinions of people from the forum because the amount surprise me and i wanted to know if it happened to somebody to have such bad surprise. I never experienced it.

 

As somebody said before there are plenty of factors that can rise up electric, but this time seems a lot. And it's not like i'm new in Thailand, i know when i use aircon in the living room during the day, i can expect a 5-6000Thb bill, but 14000 is almost 3 times this amount. 

 

The situation is also strange... no real invoice from the management of the compound, this girl who took back the bill like it's negotiable ect...

 

 

[CGW]

6 minutes ago, HuaHin0007 said:

As somebody said before there are plenty of factors that can rise up electric, but this time seems a lot. And it's not like i'm new in Thailand, i know when i use aircon in the living room during the day, i can expect a 5-6000Thb bill,

There are a lot of factors for sure, how many hours a day is the swimming pool pump running for starters, my bill for this month, house certainly not so big is 9,300 Baht, double what it was two months ago due to the weather, I run AC during the day at 28c, so you may be a bit off with 5-6,000 Baht for a month especially if it is a large house.

Agree it is a little strange the way you are not getting a "official" bill though.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, HuaHin0007 said:

We ( my Thai wife and i) rented a beautiful villa in Hua Hin suburb. The agency sent me the electric bill for the month and i was requested to pay 14.000 THB

 

I m a little bit shock by the amount of this invoice.

 

When you check your meter if the bill is genuine you should be using about 117 units per day

 

it is not too difficult to work back from your units consumed to a rough price

[musiclover]

 It is not that expensive.!

 

I live in a house with a swimming pool ......but I am the only occupant using Aircon.

 

My bill is 12,900 Baht this month ( up about 1400 this month) and that is only using one Aircon at a time.....

 

Deepfreezer and fridges also consume a lot

 

 I am a little surprised that your electricity bill is not even higher with all the occupants using it. 

[musiclover]

3 hours ago, CGW said:

There are a lot of factors for sure, how many hours a day is the swimming pool pump running for starters, my bill for this month, house certainly not so big is 9,300 Baht, double what it was two months ago due to the weather, I run AC during the day at 28c, so you may be a bit off with 5-6,000 Baht for a month especially if it is a large house.

Agree it is a little strange the way you are not getting a "official" bill though.

Yes agreed.. and mine is over 12,000 baht every month, with only using one Aircon at a time but using swimming pool.  But it is a substantial house.  14,000 baht does not sound expensive in the circumstances that you have quoted 

[HuaHin0007]

Hi, thanks for all your replies.

 

It helps me a lot. Some of you does not seem very surprised about the amount of this invoice and say it's not that expensive.  i maybe wrongly judge the electric consumption at this period of the year (heat) + the size of the house... 

 

Of course i will still follow advices of some members of the forum, and check if the meter run while the electric breaker is shut down. 

And i will request a more "official" bill from the management team or the agency.

 

I was angry against the real estate agent and it helps me to cool down... it hurts to pay such big bill, but it's much more "acceptable" than being scammed. 

 

I have to say Thailand is not as cheap as it use to be in the past.. about monthly budget, i, now, spend more money here for the basic needs (house, energy, car), than in Europe (i don't talk about social security / medical expenses, because i m still young)

 

The quality of life is still good, but the value for money downgrade year after year...i really feel it since 2016 i think.

 

 

[ukrules]

Mine went to just over 10,000 this month - that's the highest so far in this location. It's a regular sized town house with no pool but A/C in all the rooms and it's the hottest time of the year right now.

 

I set my AC to 25 all day (16 hours) in 2 rooms and at night I like to sleep in the cold so I set it to about 22 for 10 hours a day in the bedroom.

 

Then there's the fridges and freezers, I have several of these and I'm sure they eat up a good chunk of electricity as well.

 

If you're not setting your A/C to a low temperature and leaving it on all day and night then something is either wrong with your AC or the bill.

[balo]

I pay only on average 1400 baht....but it's a small condo and only one air con on at night. 

 

So thats 10 times lower than yours, just incredible. I suspect Hua Hin charge more  if it's not government prices. 

 

14000 baht  is more than I pay in rent here in Pattaya.