How to save money on your electricity bill during hot season in Thailand

[cauldlad]

1 minute ago, internationalism said:

that because the title of this thread is about saving money and electricity. 

In europe comfortable temperature for male is 18C, for female 20C. In thailand it's higher.

The majority of thai population don't have aircon.

When I go on holidays I try to chose fan rooms, they are minimum 100b cheaper.

Say, running air con, as well as buying, maintaining, replacing air con costs 50b per day (that for 10h use) which makes 18k per year. That is a monthly wage. 

Running fan is about 10x cheaper

How are you saving money when the air con is still being used ?

I have never done it myself but setting the air con to 31c  does it really cool things down?

Serious question.

[chilly07]

22 hours ago, Crossy said:

We only run A/C at night and at 28C.

 

Unfortunately we appear to have the grandkids over again next week, they are rather less frugal ???? 

 

 

 

Too right! Our bills have halved now the kids have left home!¹

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, cauldlad said:

I do not understand people who set the Air Con to 28 29 30 31 !!

If you do that you are wasting electricity imo.

Mine gets set at 16 before we go to bed although I do admit my Thai wife has her blanket ready!!

Just now, and this is a really hot day, my AC is at 26 and airflow at Low, and it is lovely and cool.

[huangnon]

Fitted solar cells to the roof a couple of years ago which have paid for themselves already.

[NoshowJones]

21 hours ago, n00dle said:

 

My highest electricity bill in this house was 8k. That was 3 ac runnining around 12 hours a day each.

 

Generally its around 1400.  It doesnt make a big difference, but it adds up, especially when im indifferent generally and it has to be crazy hot before I bother.  

There are 5 people living in my house with 3 ACs two freezers, a fridge, and the monthly bill is around 3000Baht.

There are solar panels though.

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, huangnon said:

Fitted solar cells to the roof a couple of years ago which have paid for themselves already.

Two year pay back is very good........well worth the investment .

[Golden Triangle]

We never have any A/C on during the day, all doors and windows open ( fly screens shut ) and the A/C in the bedroom is set at 27 all year round, the one in the lounge is also set at 27 but only on for maybe 2 hours max while we have dinner. ????

[bermondburi]

5 hours ago, VYCM said:

I spend most of the day in my cool shady pool with my Esky (full of beer) at hand and a couple of lady friends.

 

Electricity bills and the hot seasons do not bother me.

 

Hope you can turn that shower thing off. The noise would drive me mad during in there. Apart from that, looks lovely.????????

[John Drake]

2 hours ago, cauldlad said:

How are you saving money when the air con is still being used ?

I have never done it myself but setting the air con to 31c  does it really cool things down?

Serious question.

 

Yes, it does, if you run a fan along with it. It even gets chilly.

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, VYCM said:

I spend most of the day in my cool shady pool with my Esky (full of beer) at hand and a couple of lady friends.

 

Electricity bills and the hot seasons do not bother me.

 

Great idea that. I was hoping there were ladies

Edited April 2, 2021 by scubascuba3

[KannikaP]

On 4/1/2021 at 2:51 PM, Crossy said:

We only run A/C at night and at 28C.

 

Unfortunately we appear to have the grandkids over again next week, they are rather less frugal ???? 

 

 

 

And when said grandkids go back to their own parents' home, do they have air con?

[Crossy]

11 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

And when said grandkids go back to their own parents' home, do they have air con?

 

They do, but the temperature settings are under the control of mum and dad ????

 

[KannikaP]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

Yes, it does, if you run a fan along with it. It even gets chilly.

A fan will only cool parts of your body exposed to the airflow, due to latent heat of evaporation.

If the outside temperature is less than 31, you may as well open the window instead of burning electricity to make it 31.

[metisdead]

Some offensive posts and replies have been removed. 

[natway09]

A little extra time when selecting a condo is very important.

I would never buy or stay long term without a balcony & check for crosswind breeze.

Never use aircon in lounge (not needed) but sleep with air on 28 (mainly for dehumidifying)

 

[Surelynot]

1 minute ago, natway09 said:

A little extra time when selecting a condo is very important.

I would never buy or stay long term without a balcony & check for crosswind breeze.

Never use aircon in lounge (not needed) but sleep with air on 28 (mainly for dehumidifying)

 

Agree.........I would seriously see if you can rent before buying....at least a month......(never buy anyway....that is just mental).......we did 30 days AirBnB before renting for a year.

[Cricky]

7 hours ago, cauldlad said:

I do not understand people who set the Air Con to 28 29 30 31 !!

If you do that you are wasting electricity imo.

Mine gets set at 16 before we go to bed

Your AC removes the humidity, 28degress is quite comfortable. The AC removes the water in the air, this is why when the drain is blocked youll end up with a puddle in your room.

Its the Humidity that makes comfort factor unbearable.

 

Turning your AC down to 16 is wasting precious energy.

[unblocktheplanet]

Honest question: Does the aircon temp use more electric units? We bought new 18k BTU Carriers a year ago. They cooled our bedrooms down comfortably at 26°. Now, we can barely get cool at 17° & with two fans running. Max 2-3 hours every evening, sleep with fans. TIA for any advice on this.

[cauldlad]

2 hours ago, VYCM said:

Your AC removes the humidity, 28degress is quite comfortable. The AC removes the water in the air, this is why when the drain is blocked youll end up with a puddle in your room.

Its the Humidity that makes comfort factor unbearable.

 

Turning your AC down to 16 is wasting precious energy.

I do not disagree with what you are saying but 28 degrees is definitely not comfortable for me, each to their own.

BTW the 16 degress goes on for 30 minutes in the bedroom before we go to bed.

I do not think I am using that much precious energy?

[tifino]

On 4/1/2021 at 7:23 PM, clivebaxter said:

Take the batteries out of the AC remote and tell the Mrs it's broken ????

 kids theses days are fox-smart enough to get a Remote App on their iPads... 

[connda]

Turn off your A/Cs and spend your days lounging in the local malls?
Big C from 11 to 2 pm as the beer bars are open.

[KannikaP]

22 minutes ago, cauldlad said:

I do not disagree with what you are saying but 28 degrees is definitely not comfortable for me, each to their own.

BTW the 16 degress goes on for 30 minutes in the bedroom before we go to bed.

I do not think I am using that much precious energy?

I doubt whether an air con unit can reduce the temperature of a room down to 16 in 30 minutes.

If you set it on say 16, it will carry on until the ambient room temperature is 16, then it will shut off until the room warms up a bit, and kick in again.

I knew a guy who had his aircon on 16 because it made it feel like he was home in Manchester, and he slept under a 13 TOG duvet!

[ThailandRyan]

Now I see why the malls and coffe shops are full of people all day sitting on their laptops or phones.  Thus saving power while using the free cool air and also plugging in their phones and laptops to charge on another person's dime.

[cauldlad]

17 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I doubt whether an air con unit can reduce the temperature of a room down to 16 in 30 minutes.

If you set it on say 16, it will carry on until the ambient room temperature is 16, then it will shut off until the room warms up a bit, and kick in again.

I knew a guy who had his aircon on 16 because it made it feel like he was home in Manchester, and he slept under a 13 TOG duvet!

Have you not got anything else to worry aboyt??

BTw no blanket or duvet.

And the plus is, much cooler than 28 degrees which suits me fine.

Sleep well.

,

 

 

[rickudon]

Our bill may hit 4,000 baht this month. Need the AC on from about 2 p.m as the walls heat up, the fan is ok at 32 Centigrade but without AC it can get to 35-37 Centigrade by 4 p.m. If we run most of the evening it eventually sucks enough heat out to turn off at night sometimes. We set to 27-28 Centigrade.

 

AC is only part of the bill. With typically 5 people in the house, 2 fridge freezers and 2 refrigerated cabinets in the shop, the bill is never low! 

[scubascuba3]

9 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Honest question: Does the aircon temp use more electric units? We bought new 18k BTU Carriers a year ago. They cooled our bedrooms down comfortably at 26°. Now, we can barely get cool at 17° & with two fans running. Max 2-3 hours every evening, sleep with fans. TIA for any advice on this.

Either they aren't powerful enough or need servicing, usually 500 baht

[daveAustin]

On 4/1/2021 at 8:51 AM, Crossy said:

We only run A/C at night and at 28C.

 

Unfortunately we appear to have the grandkids over again next week, they are rather less frugal ???? 

Me too, 28. Can't set a temp lock?

Hardline approach: tell em a second class warm room is better than a first class tent. lol

Edited April 2, 2021 by daveAustin

[lemonjelly]

10 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Honest question: Does the aircon temp use more electric units? We bought new 18k BTU Carriers a year ago. They cooled our bedrooms down comfortably at 26°. Now, we can barely get cool at 17° & with two fans running. Max 2-3 hours every evening, sleep with fans. TIA for any advice on this.

Have you been keeping the filters clean? If not, remove them and give them a blast with the bum gun from the inside facing surface of the filter. I do this every month, keeps ac running efficiently 

[Aforek]

8 hours ago, rickudon said:

..., the fan is ok at 32 Centigrade but without AC it can get to 35-37 Centigrade by 4 p.m.

Only fans in my house, except the room where  my computer is: it's on second floor, full south, and in the afternoon, it's 40 C degrees, fan is not enough 

[KannikaP]

13 hours ago, cauldlad said:

Have you not got anything else to worry aboyt??

BTw no blanket or duvet.

And the plus is, much cooler than 28 degrees which suits me fine.

Sleep well.

,

 

 

Nope, this is my main worry in life.   LOL

 

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by metisdead
Trolling image removed.