Whats Your Average Electric Bill?

[wintermute]

My electricity bill runs around 1500-1700 baht a month. I have AC on at night, a computer that uses about 300watts which is always on, fridge, and that's about it. I find that this is about average for the places i've lived.

[t.s]

My electricity bill runs around 1500-1700 baht a month. I have AC on at night, a computer that uses about 300watts which is always on, fridge, and that's about it. I find that this is about average for the places i've lived.

I think for this conversation to have any real meaning you should describe where you are living.

I have a decent sized 2 story 2 br house say 160 sqm. and high ceilings. I also have halogen downlights all over the yard and keep the area lit all night due to the recent influx of construction workers who seem to prefer to do their "shopping" in the dark.

lighting inside is also halogen. i have removed all flourescents. 1 pot is 50 watts. there are about 20 throughout the int/ext

i also have a fish tank that pushes 200+ watts in light alone for 11 hours per day.

tv, computer, real sized fridge, stereo, dvd, wireless, 500gig SAN etc... it all sucks power, especially when the outddor lights accidentally stay on all day.

a 50 sqm apartment is certainly going to cost less.

[too true]

3 bdrm house, fridge, fans, tv, dvd, computer, washing machine, hot shower thing, 4 people, no air con - never more than 500/month.

[Donnyboy]

I'm paying 3 baht/unit but this is a 166 sq mtr unit if that means anything

I pay 18 baht/unit . Average bill 1200 baht. Only running AC for 30 minutes in the sleeping room before going to bed. I know, it's totally ridculous. Fan 24/7.

why do the hel_l you put up with that? Is the rent cheap or the landlady does extra things for you

[Naam]

I pay about 500 a month average, only a small place though, 2 fans, fish tank, fridge, cooking, computer etc. Telly is only ever on for a few hours a day though during the week and I use aircon at night for a few hours if it's really hot but never during the day.

your meter is broken!

[bkkmadness]

I pay about 500 a month average, only a small place though, 2 fans, fish tank, fridge, cooking, computer etc. Telly is only ever on for a few hours a day though during the week and I use aircon at night for a few hours if it's really hot but never during the day.

your meter is broken!

Why? It seems about the right cost to me. I say average, some months it's down as much as 300 and some months if been using a bit of extra aircon it goes up to 600 but I would say about 500 a month is a good average.

[Naam]

Holy mother of Jesus and all the donkeys! You guys have TOO much money or don't know how to spend it.

Invest in large free standing fans and mozzie screens and watch your bills go south like Newtons apple.

My electrickery bills are a fraction of yours and we never suffer from the nose and throat complaints of air-con addicts.

Turn EVERYTHING off when not in use and you will save a bundle and thats before we get into the global warming debate. I even unplug my phone charger when not in use.

i did not settle in Thailand saving approximately 120,000 dollars per year on income tax and then have the sweat running down my back to save 100 or 200 dollars a month on "electrickery".

chacun à son goût!

[dave111223]

Anywhere between 6 and 9 thousand baht. Cookers, A/C's (although ceiling fans at night), computer, two tellys, big fridge, microwave, DVD players, floor lamps. I did start to unplug all the stuff that wasn't used - the phone and camera charger and turn the telly off at night rather than use standby. It did make a difference, that and only boiling the minimum amount of water in the kettle rather than fill it up.

How did you manage to spend upto 9,000 baht per month??

Did you forget to mention the copious amounts of Marijuana being grown in your basement under hundreds of grow lamps ?

[Old Man River]

Anywhere between 6 and 9 thousand baht. Cookers, A/C's (although ceiling fans at night), computer, two tellys, big fridge, microwave, DVD players, floor lamps. I did start to unplug all the stuff that wasn't used - the phone and camera charger and turn the telly off at night rather than use standby. It did make a difference, that and only boiling the minimum amount of water in the kettle rather than fill it up.

How did you manage to spend upto 9,000 baht per month??

It's easy to do. All you need is kids running from room to room turning everything on.

[Crow Boy]

3 bdrm house, fridge, fans, tv, DVD, computer, washing machine, hot shower thing, 4 people, no air con - never more than 500/month.

I think this is the salient point

My house is three bedroom, 1 storey, during the day if my wife is home she has the fans running in the main room with the doors at both sides open. The A/C is only run at night if it is too hot to sleep. Over the next months as it gets hotter up here in the North we will have the A/C on each night so the electricity bill will be higher.

Halogen lights and A/C are very power hungry and if you have halogens inside the house they are very inefficient as light sources giving off a lot of heat which needs the A/C to combat. I use fleuro lights and only have bulbs in the bathrooms which are "normally" on for short durations only

[Gary A]

During the hot season (NOW) I run a bedroom air conditioner at night, a LARGE refrigerator, a small one and a water pump. I have my computer on probably 9 hours a day and we also have a fish aquarium. If the bill is even near 900 per month my wife follows me around shutting things off.

I also have a condo in Jomtien. It is 60 square meters and I put a high efficiency air conditioner in the bedroom. The main air conditioner is NOT very efficient and was seldom used. My bill there was about the same. Before when I rented the landlord charged me 5 baht per KWH and my bill was about 1,400 per month.

A friend of mine complained about his electric bill and I suggested he buy a new efficient air conditioner. His bill went from 5,000 per month to about 3,500. His air conditioner runs 24/7.

[elkangorito]

Domestic Lighting

[Luckydog]

Got a two bed town house with aircon available in three rooms.

When my wifes kids arn't here it comes to about 1350pm. Direct Billing.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

I kind of know what the poster meant when he said 'you have too much money to spend'...

In Lampang, I lived alone in a 3 bedroom house, never used a/c, just 3 standing fans. Only thing that was on 24/7 was the fridge (and to be honest, I could have turned it off at night and and only used it to cool down the Leo's during the day...), had a PC/TV/DVD etc.

Bill was never more than 150 bhat a month from the govt.

Kids and a family.... costly little so-and-so's.

C'est bien vrai - 'chacun a son gout'. We all owe it to everyone to try and educate the young about energy efficiency and to practice it in our lives...

(something like 75% of Thai lecky bills are taken up by a/c - better insulated buildings, the ability to use renewable energy sources combined with an educated and a public who 'son jai mark mark' would do wonders).

[Khonwan]

For water and electricity charge rates, see this link:

http://www.boi.go.th/english/how/utility_costs.asp

Rgds

Khonwan

Edit: Just noticed this link does not include PEA/MEA's Ft cost-of-fuel adjustment. As at February 2007, this is an additional 0.7342 baht per unit but this can change from month to month. VAT of 7% should be added to all figures.

There still seems to be a lot of confusion over bills. Perhaps my attached "Electricity Bill Calculator" can help. Simply input the number of units and the current Ft rate (both appear on your bill). Users of normal public grid services should read off the Low Voltage Supply column whilst consumers with their own transformer should read off the High Voltage Supply column. These rates apply throughout Thailand.

Rgds

Khonwan

Electricity_Bill_Calculator.xls

[mmushr00m]

IS there a way to check if the metre is reunning fast?

I live in a 35sqm studio. Tv only for a couple of hours a day, fan for about 4hrs, a fridge and a/c only during bedtime10pm-6am. It cost 16-1800 per month. I think thats abit high.

Location Makkassan, BKK.

[jeffrosner]

My wife is 9 months pregnant. The AC which is brand new runs 24 hours - last bill was almost 6000 baht. That is with 2 to 3 ac running and all my lights, television, computer, etc ..

Gas stove.

I'm thinking of buying a new ac for my office.

[Khonwan]

IS there a way to check if the metre is reunning fast?

I live in a 35sqm studio. Tv only for a couple of hours a day, fan for about 4hrs, a fridge and a/c only during bedtime10pm-6am. It cost 16-1800 per month. I think thats abit high.

Location Makkassan, BKK.

One way would be to turn off all appliances, check the meter reading, then turn a 1,000W vacuum cleaner (or similar constant power appliance) on for one hour, then take a meter reading again. The reading should increase by exactly one unit.

Rgds

Khonwan

[autonomous_unit]

I looked at our most recent bills, and it seems our Feb-Mar was around 2500 THB and Mar-Apr jumped to 3200 THB. I think the jump is due to the hot season A/C load and not any particular change in usage habits. The extra A/C seems to cost a lot more than the lack of water heating for showers would save.

This is our small two-story house in Nonthaburi with 2-4 adult occupants depending on the day, computers and internet gear running 24x7 and also air-conditioning running at 25C nearly 24x7 (bedroom(s) all night, home office during the day, living room a few hours per day) with relatively efficient inverter units but poor roof insulation. The units range from 10,000 BTU in the office and small bedrooms to 12,000 BTU in master bedroom and living room. We also have one 18,000 BTU unit that rarely gets used... it could turn our dining room into a meat locker if necessary, I think.

There is also a water pump, laundry with internal water heater, large refrigerator, and full kitchen with large exhaust hood, and an electric oven that gets used several hours per month. Almost all lights are 12W compact fluorescents with typically 2-6 indoor fixtures running 6 hours per day and 2 outdoor fixtures running 12 hours per day. I guess the television gets 2-12 hours of use per day depending on who is at the house, with UBC satellite receiver running 24x7 (I mention it because it always feels hot).