Huge jump in electricity bills!

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, ronaldo0 said:

there is only one air con in the house and it has been on practically the same amount of time as last month , so there is no way twice the electric units have been used

You realise even if you have the AC on the exact same time and temperature from one month to another it will cost more if temperature and humidity is higher?

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, darrenr said:

Moving to Thailand to live , stay in a 1 bedroom 45sqm condo, if I run the air con 12-16 hrs a day how much approx do you think my bill will be ? They charge 9baht per unit ( I assume a unit is kw)?

 

water they charge 50 baht  per unit ( assume that 1 unit =1 Kl or 1000 litres ?

 

many thanks

8+ baht a unit is too expensive, guesthouses do that. Also the Maxx places charge more plus add on cleaning charges, I wouldn't stay there again. Find a condo with govt rate about 3.5 baht a unit

[BritManToo]

Just got this months bill, up from 400bht to 846bht.

Holy rising prices!

[Sheryl]

I am amazed at how low the bills are that some people are reporting. Starting to think maybe I should accelerate planned replacement of very old air conditioners.

 

For the last 2 years my bills have ranged from slightly under 2,000 baht in times when weather was cool enough that not using a/c but not so hot as to be using huge amounts of water on the garden (water pump usage), to over 7,000 at height of the hot season with a/c on all the time etc.

 

Granted I have 2 households on the meter and my house is very large (2 story, about 250 sq meter on each floor. The other house is small and no a/c, but 3 people and its own large vegetable garden so using the water pump a lot). Can anyone with similarly large  house comment?

 

My a/c units are very, very old and maximum bill used to be more like 5,000. They (the a/cs) work but have become very noisy and as I recall, last time I replaced my a/cs the bills came way down.

 

From what I can tell, a/cs and water pump are the main things affected my usage. I do not have dishwasher or washing machine.

 

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I am amazed at how low the bills are that some people are reporting. Starting to think maybe I should accelerate planned replacement of very old air conditioners.

 

For the last 2 years my bills have ranged from slightly under 2,000 baht in times when weather was cool enough that not using a/c but not so hot as to be using huge amounts of water on the garden (water pump usage), to over 7,000 at height of the hot season with a/c on all the time etc.

 

Granted I have 2 households on the meter and my house is very large (2 story, about 250 sq meter on each floor. The other house is small and no a/c, but 3 people and its own large vegetable garden so using the water pump a lot). Can anyone with similarly large  house comment?

 

My a/c units are very, very old and maximum bill used to be more like 5,000. They (the a/cs) work but have become very noisy and as I recall, last time I replaced my a/cs the bills came way down.

 

From what I can tell, a/cs and water pump are the main things affected my usage. I do not have dishwasher or washing machine.

 

 

 

 

A friend put new inverter ACs in and has it on all night and his elec bill halved

Edited April 26, 2021 by scubascuba3

[Johnny Mac]

35 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Just got this months bill, up from 400bht to 846bht.

Holy rising prices!

 

You can make up your big loss by cutting back on mama's noodles for your dinner!

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, darrenr said:

Moving to Thailand to live , stay in a 1 bedroom 45sqm condo, if I run the air con 12-16 hrs a day how much approx do you think my bill will be ? They charge 9baht per unit ( I assume a unit is kw)?

 

water they charge 50 baht  per unit ( assume that 1 unit =1 Kl or 1000 litres ?

 

many thanks

9Bt per unit?? You are getting done. The government charge is about half that. Who is "they"?

[Crossy]

9 hours ago, darrenr said:

Moving to Thailand to live , stay in a 1 bedroom 45sqm condo, if I run the air con 12-16 hrs a day how much approx do you think my bill will be ? They charge 9baht per unit ( I assume a unit is kw)?

 

 

You should have something like 2 x 12,000 BTU A/C units. Assuming you run one at a time and don't have a pet Polar Bear they will suck about 0.4 kWh per hour 24/7/365, so 9.6 kWh per day.

 

So at 9 Baht a kWh (illegal rip off) that's 86 Baht per day or 2,500 Baht per month.

[ronaldo0]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

You realise even if you have the AC on the exact same time and temperature from one month to another it will cost more if temperature and humidity is higher?

Fine but the temperature has dropped as it was 38c several days last month and this month is averaging 35c . Plus the unit is actually bigger than needs to be for the room size .

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

A friend put new inverter ACs in and has it on all night and his elec bill halved

What brand?

[scubascuba3]

22 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

What brand?

I'm pretty confident he said Daiken, I'm double checking with him if he says another brand I'll reply again

[Sheryl]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm pretty confident he said Daiken, I'm double checking with him if he says another brand I'll reply again

Thanks, appreciate it. Daikin (non-invertor) is what I currently have and would like to stick with that brand.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

I am amazed at how low the bills are that some people are reporting. Starting to think maybe I should accelerate planned replacement of very old air conditioners.

 

For the last 2 years my bills have ranged from slightly under 2,000 baht in times when weather was cool enough that not using a/c but not so hot as to be using huge amounts of water on the garden (water pump usage), to over 7,000 at height of the hot season with a/c on all the time etc.

 

Granted I have 2 households on the meter and my house is very large (2 story, about 250 sq meter on each floor. The other house is small and no a/c, but 3 people and its own large vegetable garden so using the water pump a lot). Can anyone with similarly large  house comment?

 

My a/c units are very, very old and maximum bill used to be more like 5,000. They (the a/cs) work but have become very noisy and as I recall, last time I replaced my a/cs the bills came way down.

 

From what I can tell, a/cs and water pump are the main things affected my usage. I do not have dishwasher or washing machine.

 

 

 

 

 

I live in a two story house about the same size....seven A/Cs but only one runs 24/7 and another A/C  around 12 hours nightly/7 days a weeks.   The other five A/C I run very little.   

 

Several years ago in Jan 2018 I replaced the 18K BTU York regular A/C that ran 24/7 (because it broke bad after running 24/7 for a decade) with a 23K BTU Mitsubishi invertor A/C that continues to run 24/7.   Temperature setting used on the A/Cs is 26C.

 

Swapping our that regular A/C with the inverter A/C lowered my monthly electric bill by 1/3...and after only 15 months paid for itself thru monthly electric bill cost savings.   See below summary post in a 2018/2019 thread on swapping out my regular A/C for an inverter A/C.

 

 

[Sheryl]

4 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

I live in a two story house about the same size....seven A/Cs but only one runs 24/7 and another A/C  around 12 hours nightly/7 days a weeks.   The other five A/C I run very little.   

 

Several years ago in Jan 2018 I replaced the 18K BTU York regular A/C that ran 24/7 (because it broke bad after running 24/7 for a decade) with a 23K BTU Mitsubishi invertor A/C that continues to run 24/7.   Temperature setting used on the A/Cs is 26C.

 

Swapping our that regular A/C with the inverter A/C lowered my monthly electric bill by 1/3...and after only 15 months paid for itself thru monthly electric bill cost savings.   See below summary post in a 2018/2019 thread on swapping out my regular A/C for an inverter A/C.

 

 

Greta, thanks. Looks like replacement with invertor is the way to go.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Johnny Mac said:

You can make up your big loss by cutting back on mama's noodles for your dinner!

Lucky for me the misses pays the electricity bill, and I pay the water bill.

[Pib]

58 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Greta, thanks. Looks like replacement with invertor is the way to go.

Yea...replacing with an inverter A/C will definitely lower your monthly electric bill assuming you don't grossly undersize the A/C required.    Under-sizing an inverter A/C will just make it run at full cooling power all the time which means it's drawing max power all the time which means no electric savings.   

 

So, if you current non-inverter A/C adequately cools the area then an inverter A/C of equal or little bigger BTU size should save you at least 30%.   Everyone will get a different amount of savings depending on numerous factors like how inefficient was the A/C replaced, size of the A/Cs, size of area cooled, number of hours run per day, lots of windows in the area cooled or few windows, how the sun shines on the area being cooled/building,  temperature setting used, etc...etc....etc.  

 

Additionally, there is not a big price different between inverter and non-inverter A/C now days....but 10-15 years ago when my home A/Cs were installed the price difference was BIG and inverters also had a reputation of being really expensive to repair when they broke---not so much now days due to reliability improvements over the last decade.  

 

I still haven't got around to replacing my master bedroom 20K BTU non-inverter A/C I talked about in my post since it continues to operate OK....got some minor issues....but overall still operating good....plus, it would take me around 2.5 years to recover the cost of a new inverter A/C.   But I have been seriously thinking about it lately....I just may pull the trigger this year and replace it with an inverter.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Pib

[Sheryl]

Thanks. Guess this is what I have to do. I was hoping to delay replacing the A/Cs another year since bought a car this year but with electric bills >7,000 (A/cs are more than 15 years old and making increased noise) I guess it is time.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

[snark]Congratulations you are correct [/snark] but it is 4 Baht not 50 Baht in our area. 50 is way over priced

In normal times we pay 2 baht per cu/m, but at this time they are pumping from a borehole so it is 5 baht per cu/m.

 

It s still cheaper than giving the fire truck crew a tip to get an extra 3 cu/m.

[Johnny Mac]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Lucky for me the misses pays the electricity bill, and I pay the water bill.

She certainly won the lottery meeting you.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

A friend put new inverter ACs in and has it on all night and his elec bill halved

That’s normal, specially if the ACs are over about 8 years old

[darrenr]

So the going rate for water is 5 baht per cubic metre ? Maybe Maxx central and Maxx city in Pattaya their website says 50 baht per cubic metre must be a typo ?

[Susco]

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

9 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

A friend put new inverter ACs in and has it on all night and his elec bill halved

What brand?

 

I think the clue was in the word inverter, not so much in the brand.

 

Inverter aircons consume considerably less power, though not sure if it will make much difference if in a poorly insulated building.

 

Reading Scuba's next post, Daikin are the most expensive brand, and considered the best, but other renowned brands may save you the same, and some extra on the purchase price.

[expatjustice]

Thermal insulation is the word. 

 

Many people replace their AC units frequently for new ones that promise less consumption, and sure they do indeed have lower consumption BUT they neglect the thermal isolation of their homes. And they lose a lot in that. 

 

Be careful with doors, windows, they must be properly isolated!

[gargamon]

2 hours ago, darrenr said:

So the going rate for water is 5 baht per cubic metre ? Maybe Maxx central and Maxx city in Pattaya their website says 50 baht per cubic metre must be a typo ?

Nope, no typo. They're just putting it in writing so when later(or now in your case) you find out how bad they are ripping you off, they can point to the website ...

[scubascuba3]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Thanks, appreciate it. Daikin (non-invertor) is what I currently have and would like to stick with that brand.

He's confirmed they are Carrier Xinverter owned by Daikin, longer warranty than Daikin at the time

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, darrenr said:

So the going rate for water is 5 baht per cubic metre ? Maybe Maxx central and Maxx city in Pattaya their website says 50 baht per cubic metre must be a typo ?

30-40 baht a unit is typical, my last place was 30, my condo is 40, 50 is too high, but like I said further up Maxx City add on a surprise cleaning bill, bigger than water and electric

[SomchaiCNX]

On 4/25/2021 at 12:08 PM, n00dle said:

 

Besides having a thai family, living here for over 20 years living and working amongst thais, and operating a few businesses and a construction project, I havent a clue.

 

But then i dont start sentences with open ended phrases like "most thais", or the "average thai".

 

I certainly dont make seemingly innocuous pronouncements which passive aggressively infer that thais are inherently stupid or lack the basic common sense to understand an ac unit uses more power than an led light.

Sorry but he has a point. Tv on, nobody around, microwave and water heater (cattle) on, nobody around. Lights on everywhere, nobody around. And list goes on and on. No insolation in the roof and walls, concrete in the garden to avoid maintenance, herbs and insects ????  black roof tiles, hardly any double or triple glazed windows etc etc. Just live here 30 years run a business and build + renovated a couple houses as well)

[n00dle]

4 hours ago, SomchaiCNX said:

Sorry but he has a point. Tv on, nobody around, microwave and water heater (cattle) on, nobody around. Lights on everywhere, nobody around. And list goes on and on. No insolation in the roof and walls, concrete in the garden to avoid maintenance, herbs and insects ????  black roof tiles, hardly any double or triple glazed windows etc etc. Just live here 30 years run a business and build + renovated a couple houses as well)

 

What do the absence of insulation and double glazing,  a concrete yard or black roofing tiles or any of that (especially in old houses) have to do with thais understanding the relative power consumption of different household appliances?

 

Thats right nothing.

 

And what the hell does leaving the microwave on mean?

 

Also, people leave their kettles and tvs on the world over. 

 

As for herbs and incense, ... just nevermimd.

 

Whatever are you on about?

 

[rickudon]

Our bill was 4.700, highest yet. We only have 2 air conditioners and usually only one used, on in April for about 16 hours a day.

 

But we have 4 fridges, 2 washing machines, 2 TVs and 3 or 4 fans running more than 12 hours a day, plus during recent renovations workmen using power tools as well. A family of 5 plus one or two day visitors.

 

For those who complain, in the UK my super well insulated house (a bit bigger than most) used to have energy bills of up to 150 GBP in winter and about 60 GBP in summer. So not much difference really.

[SomchaiCNX]

17 hours ago, n00dle said:

 

What do the absence of insulation and double glazing,  a concrete yard or black roofing tiles or any of that (especially in old houses) have to do with thais understanding the relative power consumption of different household appliances?

 

Thats right nothing.

 

And what the hell does leaving the microwave on mean?

 

Also, people leave their kettles and tvs on the world over. 

 

As for herbs and incense, ... just nevermimd.

 

Whatever are you on about?

 

No problem if you do not "want" to understand.