4500bht Power Bill ..ouch

[happyaussie]

This. months power bill was more than double last month at 4500bht. And we have done nothing differently. I run one A/C at night, one fridge, a little lighting, no TV, one fan and charge computer. I will take it up with the PEA and see what they say. Something tells me there will be a shrug and pay up.

Our 2nd house next door is 800bht. everything same except no so much A/C use. 

Has there been any increases? We're semi isolated so no chance of someone pinching our power, I think.

Look forward to your advice.

 

[dimitriv]

So the 45000 Baht in the subject was just clickbait?

 

[SteveK]

Mine goes up and down like crazy, 600-2000 a month. 2 big fridges, a laptop, desktop, one a/c unit a few fans, a microwave and washing machine. The bills seem to bear very little resemblance to my perceived used of electric. A few months back we had our most expensive bill and that month we hardly used the a/c at all. 

[johng]

Check the fridge  it could be running full time  if the control panel went wrong  or the door seals are bad or too much stuffed in the ice box forcing the door slightly open.

Also check the aircon  if its very dirty or someone set the temp down to 19 degrees it will use a lot of power.

[2 is 1]

Almost never use AC reason electric bill is ok! And most of time take cold shower also. Last one in town house 365 bth and farm house 550 bth!

Have all normal electric machines! Farm home always live 3 people, town house just wife and me!

Like johng say about fridge! Melt that also if full of ice! Take much power!

Edited September 3, 2020 by 2 is 1

[SteveK]

1 minute ago, 2 is 1 said:

Almost never use AC reason electric bill is ok! And most of time take cold shower also. Last one in town house 365 bth and farm house 550 bth!

Have all normal electric machines! Farm home always live 3 people, town house just wife and me!

Wow! That's good news! What other appliances do you use! 

[RichardColeman]

Our bills - and we only ever really use air con in one bedroom for about 30 minutes a day - is usually about 800-1200 a month. Wife washes by hand, cook by gas, etc. Think if it went to 4500 a month my wife would be nagging the entire electric company until they sent out 100 electricians from the power company.  Thai wives sometimes have great stored up anger waiting to be released on the unsuspecting 

[2 is 1]

5 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Wow! That's good news! What other appliances do you use! 

LOL not live in forest if that what you mean!????

Normal lol have 2 laptop, sellphones,fridge, microwave,fans, washing machine....kettle ,rice cooker....etc.

Normaly cook in outside kitchen whit gas. Chance gas bottle every 2 months! 360 bth bottle.

Edited September 3, 2020 by 2 is 1

[robblok]

For me 4500 would be a low bill, but i work from home 3 big screens powerful computer ect. Aircon on 24/7, big fridge. 

 

Really depends what appliances you have.

 

I just moved to a new home with even bigger aircons and a pool, thank god the GF her company is paying. So no more electricity (or housing payments) for me. 

[steven100]

OP ;  turn everything off and it will be less next month

[ThailandRyan]

I think the electric companies have stopped there Covid discounts as well.  Bills for my Condo for March, April, May and June were the same as the March bill at 5300 Baht.  July's bill and Augusts bill however were each 4600 Baht, and we were gone for 2 weeks each month with the only thing running while we were gone were the 2 wine refrigerators.  Cant say the electricity bills are going up as the same usage was shown each month at an average of 1500 units.  The last 2 months were only 1050 units and the bill was less than of what my normal bill of around 7700 baht with the reduced usage of being gone, and of course the 3 months of discounts.

[AlfHuy]

35 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Mine goes up and down like crazy, 600-2000 a month. 2 big fridges, a laptop, desktop, one a/c unit a few fans, a microwave and washing machine. The bills seem to bear very little resemblance to my perceived used of electric. A few months back we had our most expensive bill and that month we hardly used the a/c at all. 

Easy to save.

Get rid of one of those fridges.

Let the wife do the washing by hand.

Spend more time at air-conditioned shopping mall.

[happyaussie]

33 minutes ago, johng said:

Check the fridge  it could be running full time  if the control panel went wrong  or the door seals are bad or too much stuffed in the ice box forcing the door slightly open.

Also check the aircon  if its very dirty or someone set the temp down to 19 degrees it will use a lot of power.

Great feedback, thank you.

[happyaussie]

37 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

So the 45000 Baht in the subject was just clickbait?

 

Oops sorry about that. Fat fingers.

[AlfHuy]

24 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

LOL not live in forest if that what you mean!????

Normal lol have 2 laptop, sellphones,fridge, microwave,fans, washing machine....kettle ,rice cooker....etc.

Normaly cook in outside kitchen whit gas. Chance gas bottle every 2 months! 360 bth bottle.

sellphones: how mut?

Is it an Apple and how mut you sell it for?

[2 is 1]

2 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

sellphones: how mut?

Is it an Apple and how mut you sell it for?

You 15? Yes im not from UK! How many other language you can type even little ? I can 7! Sorry not perfect!

[AlfHuy]

2 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

You 15? Yes im not from UK! How many other language you can type even little ? I can 7! Sorry not perfect!

5

not from UK either.

Edited September 3, 2020 by AlfHuy

[Seeall]

46 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Mine goes up and down like crazy, 600-2000 a month. 2 big fridges, a laptop, desktop, one a/c unit a few fans, a microwave and washing machine. The bills seem to bear very little resemblance to my perceived used of electric. A few months back we had our most expensive bill and that month we hardly used the a/c at all. 

We have a cactus under the meter I been meaning to remove, get the feeling that meter men just guess sometimes.... how about read it yourself and compare with the Bill ... thats a start getting the units  correct... the rest gets more involved and needs  an understanding.... 

[RichardColeman]

12 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

my normal bill of around 7700 baht

Your not some secret Bond villain hiding out in the open with some evil power absorbing lair under the house are you ? 

[AlfHuy]

Just now, RichardColeman said:

Your not some secret Bond villain hiding out in the open with some evil power absorbing lair under the house are you ? 

25 households connected to his meter.

[richard_smith237]

19 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

I think the electric companies have stopped there Covid discounts as well.  Bills for my Condo for March, April, May and June were the same as the March bill at 5300 Baht.  July's bill and Augusts bill however were each 4600 Baht, and we were gone for 2 weeks each month with the only thing running while we were gone were the 2 wine refrigerators.  Cant say the electricity bills are going up as the same usage was shown each month at an average of 1500 units.  The last 2 months were only 1050 units and the bill was less than of what my normal bill of around 7700 baht with the reduced usage of being gone, and of course the 3 months of discounts.

 

Our bill was dropped to around 2500-3000 baht for the Covid-19 discount and is now back to around 8000 baht per month. 

 

7 AC’s in our house. 

2 Bedroom AC’s on at night. 

2 AC’s on in large living room in day time

1 AC on in kitchen when cooking 

1 Oven - Wife bakes a lot

1 Washing Machine used 2-3 times per week.

1 Drier used 2-3 times per week

3 Fridges (inc wine fridge)

+ TV’s Laptop charging etc

 

Friends with similar sized housing have similar bills.

[Seeall]

18 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

sellphones: how mut?

Is it an Apple and how mut you sell it for?

a MUT refers to a dog of mixed breed.. and often not in a nice way....

[AlfHuy]

Just now, richard_smith237 said:

 

Our bill was dropped to around 2500-3000 baht for the Covid-19 discount and is now back to around 8000 baht per month. 

 

7 AC’s in our house. 

2 Bedroom AC’s on at night. 

2 AC’s on in large living room in day time

1 AC on in kitchen when cooking 

1 Oven - Wife bakes a lot

1 Washing Machine used 2-3 times per week.

1 Drier used 2-3 times per week

3 Fridges (inc wine fridge)

+ TV’s Laptop charging etc

 

Friends with similar sized housing have similar bills.

why you don't go for solar panels. You would get your investment back very quickly.

[Keyser Soze666]

A convo about electric bills?? All living the dream, eh.

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Our bill was dropped to around 2500-3000 baht for the Covid-19 discount and is now back to around 8000 baht per month. 

 

7 AC’s in our house. 

2 Bedroom AC’s on at night. 

2 AC’s on in large living room in day time

1 AC on in kitchen when cooking 

1 Oven - Wife bakes a lot

1 Washing Machine used 2-3 times per week.

1 Drier used 2-3 times per week

3 Fridges (inc wine fridge)

+ TV’s Laptop charging etc

 

Friends with similar sized housing have similar bills.

I have to agree with you as well on that.  I spoke to my neighbor who has the other Penthouse and a few more SqM, there bill has averaged 9,000 baht a month before the discount, and now back up to the same amount.  They have a very similar layout as you indicate for your home.  Just glad my water bill stays between 200 and 300 each month.  We do have a dryer as well, so doing a load a day does increase the bill.  As much as I want to hang things outside, this time of year is not optimal, and sometimes you end up rewashing them because a rain storm rolled through or they smelled sour after hanging in the humid air.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Our bill was dropped to around 2500-3000 baht for the Covid-19 discount and is now back to around 8000 baht per month. 

 

7 AC’s in our house. 

2 Bedroom AC’s on at night. 

2 AC’s on in large living room in day time

1 AC on in kitchen when cooking 

1 Oven - Wife bakes a lot

1 Washing Machine used 2-3 times per week.

1 Drier used 2-3 times per week

3 Fridges (inc wine fridge)

+ TV’s Laptop charging etc

 

Friends with similar sized housing have similar bills.

why you don't go for solar panels. You would get your investment back very quickly.

 

A rather vague comment that....   How quickly ?

 

Other threads on this subject imply about 10 years to recover costs, by which time the cells themselves may need replacement incurring further costs. 

 

Cost of purchase, installation and available ‘roof’ space are key factors.

 

I’m not convinced solar panels in Thailand are an economically viable solution. Additionally, the MEA do no offer ‘buy back’ power options and would actually fine someone who ’trickle power back’ to turn back the meter in periods of low use. 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

A convo about electric bills?? All living the dream, eh.

Well nothing much else to discuss, as the government seems to have Covid under control, tourism is booming, the economy is topping the charts and families are able to buy there dream cars and homes.  But yeah a convo about power....

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

A convo about electric bills?? All living the dream, eh.

 

We could also cruise threads and make flookwitted comments - living the dream of an internet troll !!!! 

[Patriot]

Switch everything off and take a look at your meter. If it’s still spinning like a knife sharpener there maybe something wrong with your Breaker Panel. 
we had an intrusive ghekko a couple of years back that wreaked havoc behind ours. 
We got a sparkie in to fix and check for earths etc. 

Remember, what happens from the meter to the house is up to you !!!

Edited September 3, 2020 by Patriot

[AlfHuy]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

A rather vague comment that....   How quickly ?

 

Other threads on this subject imply about 10 years to recover costs, by which time the cells themselves may need replacement incurring further costs. 

 

Cost of purchase, installation and available ‘roof’ space are key factors.

 

I’m not convinced solar panels in Thailand are an economically viable solution. Additionally, the MEA do no offer ‘buy back’ power options and would actually fine someone who ’trickle power back’ to turn back the meter in periods of low use. 

 

 

I compare with the house I had in Europe.

Electric bill came to around 300 Euros a month.

We fitted an outdoor swimming pool and wanted to use it as often as possible (not ideal climate.Hence, heating the water. Estimated electric bill would jump from 300 to easily 450Euros a month (or more) That would bring the yearly electric bill to minimum 5400 Euros. We decided to fit solar panels/there is a maximum kw allowance per private household. We installed 25 panels and electric bill came down to zero. We even produced more then we needed, meter was turning back but would not get compensated for it. The cost inclusive fitting and all necessary documents came to 15,000 Euros. After 3 years, installation was paid for.  I even thought about, getting an EV as we produced more power than we needed.