Huge electricity bills in April? PEA explain why you're at fault not them!

[Gandtee]

28 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

He means an additional, external fan such as a ceiling fan or a floor-standing, oscillating fan. They help move the air faster.

 

I turn on the 10 kbtu bedroom aircon at 6 p.m. set on humidity removal mode at 19 degrees for an hour and then onto regular cooling at 25 degrees after that. At the same time, I put the ceiling fan and floor fan on high speed. By 9 p.m. the bedroom is cool and dry and I drop the fans to lowest speed. Around midnight, the aircon turns off, leaving only the fans on and the room stays cool enough until I wake up around 5 a.m. If I want a longer lie-in, I will set the aircon to turn off a couple of hours later.

Air con? In over thirty years I've never had it. Fans strategically placed do the trick.

[LammyTS1]

March 387 units = 113 baht 

April 617 units = 2617 baht 

 

I obviously received the govt discount in March, but i can’t see anywhere on my bill that displays the unit charge, or shows a government discount. 

[Autonuaq]

 

6 hours ago, Paulbuick1 said:

Empty freezer is an energy waster

If your extra freezer sits empty most of the winter, it’s using more energy than it does during the summer when it’s full of ice cream.

A full freezer uses less energy than an empty one because the already-frozen food in it keeps the unit’s temperature low.

A tip: Pack your empty or half-full freezer with water-filled plastic milk cartons or two-liter bottles. This will keep your freezer running efficiently.

The water-filled containers—filled to four inches from the top—will ease the strain on the freezer’s motor and keep food cold longer during a power outage. And you can drink the water in an emergency.

 

put the freeze on a cold wall area  as well put in it the ice packs that store the cold. this reduces a lot of energy usage. Beside the other tips to fill up the cooler part with water bottle and milk packs because they keep it longer cool.  

 

the ice pack you have in slim version and they can reduce energy usage easy.

 

also you can isolate the top and the side walls extra if you feel the need for it. and  be sure you have on the top en bottom enough space to let the air flow. this wil reduce the cost also.

[lavender19]

7 hours ago, johng said:

 

I thought the "conventional wisdom"  was to keep the fridge stuffed with as much as possible as it reduces the amount of new air having to be cooled each time the door is opened...obviously  it does take energy to cool the food down  but once cooled it will also act as a reverse heat sink keeping the inside cool.

Thats how a freezer works. Not a fridge. The air needs to circulate in a fridge 

[phuketcouple]

44 minutes ago, johng said:

There is a leak somewhere  (toilets constantly running)  and/or  someone is "borrowing" the water to fill their swimming pool/ water truck.

3rd option the person reading the water meter wrote it down wrong.

Thanks for the comment.
Obviously the water consumption is too high - I have already asked the pool service and the technicians at the resort to check any leaks.

But I am particularly interested in the price of THB 50 / m3 water.

Is this 'normal' on Phuket? 
 

[bikerlou47]

You think that PEA would remind everyone about off peak hours!

[Golden Triangle]

We keep all our bills, January we used 268 units, total bill including an FT rebate of 41.06 = 1051.38 Baht that = £23.82*

 

February, 262 units, FT discount 40.14 = 1025.27 Baht 

 

March, 373 units, FT discount 45.04 = 1164.58 Baht

 

April, 422 units, FT discount 64.65 = 1726.53 Baht that = £39.11*

 

 

* = XE.com exchange rates as of this morning

 

My monthly direct debit to my supplier in the UK was £52.00 every month, so this is cheap as chips, thanks.

[Chongalulu]

"fridges were packed with food making them need more electricity to keep it all cool. "

In that statement alone it exposes the poor IQ of so many officials. The Thai Thick gene ???? 

[Bradmeister]

What works for government also works for large, evil and greedy corporations... 

 

Deny, fabricate, and blame others....

 

Works everytime

 

This has been one of the coldest winter's and coolest summer I can remember.... 

[RocketDog]

At the risk of stating the obvious, insulation will pay for itself pretty quickly. Its benefit goes beyond cost savings; the 'feel' of the room improves dramatically as stratification of room air decreases. The difference is readily palpable. We now keep all the windows in the house closed year-round, minimizing dust, noise, and pollution significantly. 

 

If you own the dwelling it's probably the single best investment one can make. 

 

I had two crisscrossed layers of R25 fiberglass insulation installed for the entire house and couldn't be happier with the result. My house has 5 aircon units. Now running a single large unit in the main room cools the entire house. At night we turn it off and run just the one in the bedroom. About 6-7 months/year we don't need aircon at all in the Huahin area. A single room cools down in minutes. 

 

No batteries, no replacement, no maintenance, just increased comfort for the life of the house. 

[tinca tinca]

8 hours ago, johng said:

 

I thought the "conventional wisdom"  was to keep the fridge stuffed with as much as possible as it reduces the amount of new air having to be cooled each time the door is opened...obviously  it does take energy to cool the food down  but once cooled it will also act as a reverse heat sink keeping the inside cool.

this is a THAI explanation !!!!

[johng]

47 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

My monthly direct debit to my supplier in the UK was £52.00 every month, so this is cheap as chips

Yes but how many units KWH's  did you use in the UK ?   I would expect the UK price is more expensive but maybe there are fewer power cuts..I had computer up times counted in years  without needing a UPS  I think my record here is about 30 days.

[Golden Triangle]

7 minutes ago, johng said:

Yes but how many units KWH's  did you use in the UK ?   I would expect the UK price is more expensive but maybe there are fewer power cuts..I had computer up times counted in years  without needing a UPS  I think my record here is about 30 days.

I really don't know johng, it was a brand new house, very small, 2 beds, ensuite shower, separate bathroom & toilet, the 2nd bedroom was no more than a box room, all electric, with god awful Economy 7 heating, the house was warm in the  morning, by the time I got home over 12 to 14 hours later the heaters were lukewarm, absolute sh!te. I was lucky to offload it prior to moving here 10 years ago.

[rondeelove1]

Phansa Matrathungkha does not understand the basics of a refridgerators  running costs........keep it full to REDUCE running costs... reduce the number of times you open the doors, if your freezer is empty fill it with old newspaper. It's simple the hotter the outside temperature the harder the fridge has to work to maintain a low temp. All fridges and freezers work on ambient temperatures ie in the room or any other location.

 

[ThaiFelix]

9 hours ago, colinneil said:

What he is saying is the complete opposite of what i have been lead to believe over the years, keep fridge /freezer as full as possible to conserve electric.

So in my opinion Phansa is talking nonsense.

Yes what you are saying is correct but not in Thailand......its same same but different like water runs up hill here and people should travel back to their home provinces during a pandemic!  TIT....its just the way it is.

[Rimmer]

A couple of off topic posts trying to hijack the topic have been removed

[keithkarmann]

9 hours ago, colinneil said:

What he is saying is the complete opposite of what i have been lead to believe over the years, keep fridge /freezer as full as possible to conserve electric.

So in my opinion Phansa is talking nonsense.

Why are you surprised?

[keithkarmann]

8 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Only in Thailand that I know of.

It was the same in Greece, if you were poor you did not use many units so to help the units were cheaper. If you were rich with plenty of aircons and swimming pools they made the units more expensive.

[samuiwonder]

My wife is from Mongolia, and during the Covid year and more they have been providing electric free of charge to help their citizens thru the economic difficulties.  Maybe THAT would be a solution!

[cliveshep]

I love home-made bread, and a friend here taught me how to make it. Two advantages - first it is of course close to a quarter the price of shop bought bread plus the weight of one of my large loaves is easily twice that of bought loaves that are mostly air, the 2nd advantage is that being retired actually doing something useful is good- so I spend half a day and bake 8 large loaves during that time every now and then. I do that a couple of times and put them in the freezer which helps to fill it up nicely. That and bags of ice - it is a  medium sized chest freezer so otherwise a bit big for two of us as we also have a side-by American freezer that dispenses ice and cold water. 

 

We subscribe to the reality that keeping both full is good and the side by side which is not the most efficient is generally -15 to -20C whereas the chest freezer goes to -25 to -27C left to itself a couple of days. 

 

But our electricity bill has gone over the last few months from 2000 - 2200 to a whopping 3100 today although to be fair we've had guests running over-night air-con in two extra rooms for 5 days, plus a time or 3 the large lounge unit has been running for over 10 hours. Plus where the chest freezer is located is bloody hot even with a through draft as the roof has no insulation above the ceiling. Praying for cooler weather!

[Mayhem11]

This all starts from the premise that the price of electricity in Thailand is extortionate. It isn’t compared to Australia.

[Nanaplaza666]

10 hours ago, colinneil said:

What he is saying is the complete opposite of what i have been lead to believe over the years, keep fridge /freezer as full as possible to conserve electric.

So in my opinion Phansa is talking nonsense.

Aren't they all .

[silent]

10 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Only in Thailand that I know of.

and Ontario, but they gouge everything and everybody https://www.oeb.ca/rates-and-your-bill/electricity-rates

[LongTimeLurker]

6 hours ago, johng said:

 

You'll be hot, sweaty and sticky  but save a few baht  per day ????

 

No, I'm cool as I have the windows open and get a cool breeze (yen sabai) blowing through. Sometimes I need a blanket to keep warm.

[Abmong]

So is this only happening in Pattaya or is it more widespread?. If it's only in Pattaya one wonders if it isn't a targetted hit on where a lot of Farange live...

[whaleboneman]

10 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

Why not just unplug it in the winter if you're not using it?

 

Saves even more electricity?

Cannot do. like ice cream all year.

[RobU]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

He noted that it was standard practice that the more electricity you use the higher the unit charge.

Good way of forcing people to save energy?

[Orinoco]

And this lot want a space program LOL .

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, KannikaP said:

No, think of it as off-peak is cheaper!

I actually think the Thai idea is fair enough...... 

[Damrongsak]

"...cleaning out unwanted food from fridges could lower bills by 5-10%. ..."

 

Cleaning out your house from unwanted people could reduce your bills by a lot more than that.

 

My 3 years in Thailand years ago, no refrigerator, no aircon, no hot water.  Third year I got a house that had bug screens, big upgrade (still no glass windows) .  I had a few light bulbs and a monaural cassette player until it was stolen. Life was cheap and good.  Sit on the porch in a pakama and stare back at the locals ...