Splitting Electric Bill, how to, how much and what is needed?

[kekalot]

alright, long story short the owner here keeps creeping up the price of rent based on "help me with electric" to  the point where she is now charging me 2500 baht or so ABOVE the price of the rent that was including electricity 8 years ago

 

very little usage to be honest, i got 2 computers  (use only one at a time), a laptop which the screen is off 99% of the time and my monitors turn off after 5 minutes of no use.

other than that, a standing fan I run practically 24/7 and a fridge who has a 5 star listing.. I don't use aircon and I don't use the hot water in the bathroom.

 

tired of getting the screw slowly turned on me for something I know I am not using that much, when i lived in another house about 4 years ago I never seen an electric bill over 500 baht.

so i'm quite a bit skeptical to be charged 2500 extra over the original price that included electric in the deal.

 

anyways, there is a meter upstairs that was added at some point and I assume it was connected to the grid somehow to split the usage but it now looks like this:

 

 

now, this breaker is still in service but the brown and blue cable I assume is what were connected right below it to allow the meter to work, this is at the 4th floor of the place so.. PEA people were probably not coming upstairs when it was in service.

 

breaker controls my 4 sockets upstairs and the shower heater. if i turn it off there is no electric whatsoever but the meter does not turn as it's not connected.

what do i need to make this MY meter so I can pay my own damn electricity and finally show her she has been charging me for nothing?

how much would you think I am looking at spending to get this floor on its own account?

 

I plan on getting her to reduce the price to the base price it was 8 years ago and pay my own damn bill, even if the bill is "somehow" 2500 baht I will pay it and she can <deleted>

 

I suppose there needs to be a meter/reader installed downstairs so they can read it?

or is that somehow a meter that only proves to the owner how much i used (kinda like in the condos)?

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by kekalot
can't type apparently

[Crossy]

If the meter is still functional it's easy enough to put it back in circuit.

 

Do you have a multimeter or neon-screwdriver?

• Check which end of "your" breaker is the outgoing side (turns off with the breaker off).
• With it off remove the wires from that end and insert them into the free terminals on the meter. Is the cover available? It will tell you which side is L and which is N.
• Connect the two wires that go nowhere to the vacated terminals on the breaker (You may need to use longer wires).
• Turn on.

Run your shower to check the meter actually works.

Read the meter.

QED

 

Or just ask the landlady to get it put back in circuit and agree a price per unit for energy used.

[FritsSikkink]

33 minutes ago, Crossy said:

If the meter is still functional it's easy enough to put it back in circuit.

 

Do you have a multimeter or neon-screwdriver?

• Check which end of "your" breaker is the outgoing side (turns off with the breaker off).
• With it off remove the wires from that end and insert them into the free terminals on the meter. Is the cover available? It will tell you which side is L and which is N.
• Connect the two wires that go nowhere to the vacated terminals on the breaker (You may need to use longer wires).
• Turn on.

Run your shower to check the meter actually works.

Read the meter.

QED

 

Or just ask the landlady to get it put back in circuit and agree a price per unit for energy used.

Think the first part is not allowed to do by somebody who rents a house, better to do the latter.

[Crossy]

Just now, FritsSikkink said:

Think the first part is not allowed to do by somebody who rents a house, better to do the latter.

 

Yeah, I agree, but if he gets the go from the landlady it's easy enough to do. It's not an MEA/PEA meter so no legal issues (other than with the landlady).

  

[KhunLA]

2500 ... yikes.  We abuse the AC (1 room 24/7 almost), and bill this month just passed 2500.  Past 5 yrs usually less.  2500ish being the high end, I think.

 

Time to move, put that 2500 toward rent. With your usage, should be 1000 +/-.  We got electric appliances, we use almost every day; AC, coffee machine grinder, 2 frigs, over, toaster oven, stand mixer, blender, induction cooker, dehydrator, air filters.  65in TV (16 hrs a day), 2 computer, hair dryer.

 

We make most things from scratch, food wise, so kitchen appliances used almost daily.  E-motorcycle every 3rd day ????.  Do use the hot water heater, low setting.  Washing machine.

[TheFishman1]

I rent a two-story house and a few nights if it’s hot I turn on the AC in my bedroom and set it to turn off three or four hours after that last month for the whole house my electric bill was 480bht

[BritManToo]

Just move.

Should be plenty of better properties cheaper at the moment.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, kekalot said:

I plan on getting her to reduce the price to the base price it was 8 years ago and pay my own damn bill, even if the bill is "somehow" 2500 baht I will pay it and she can <deleted>

For information. My February usage was 524 units and cost 2,286, we have 2 showers, 1 freezer, 3 fridges, 50w of lights that are on 19:00 to 05:30, another 70w of lights that are on 19:00 to 12:00 + power tools indoor lights etc. so I can guarantee you are being fleeced. I doubt that you usage is even 1,000 per month 

[KannikaP]

54 minutes ago, TheFishman1 said:

I rent a two-story house and a few nights if it’s hot I turn on the AC in my bedroom and set it to turn off three or four hours after that last month for the whole house my electric bill was 480bht

That is 120 units @ Bht 4 Bht = 4 units per day. An a/c takes more than that for 4 hours.

No fridge, lights, TV, PC,?

[kekalot]

here's a copy of one of the latest bills, I was able to match the price on the calculator using the "Type" 1125 she had higher on the bill. so it's 3390.98 on calculator and 3391 on bill

close enough, I would think.

 

I should get that meter reconnected, take a picture every month and then use this calculator to calculate it and give her the money but..

a more fair way to do this would be to take the total, divide it by kW and then multiply it by mine since the fees change before 150kW and so on

 

I did some useless calculations, mostly dividing total by kW (I know it's not how it works) and it falls on 4.5 baht per kW, it's a much simpler way to calculate tho.

 

i can promise you that she will not like that idea because it will definitely not hit 2500 baht and she'd end up missing half of that from the total she is used to get. she might not like it, but it's only fair.

 

the below bill/calculation is for a 4 stories shophouse building, (4 bedrooms) she has a little restaurant/bar downstairs but its mostly 95% closed due to covid, a lot of those useless glass fridges keeping beer cold for months when there are no customers (2 big ones) then a freezer and another fridge full of rubbish (don't know what else to call it, its a mess),

 

I can definitely afford the 500 baht extra, but it's not exactly about the money. I've had 5 price hikes total of 500 baht per month each "for electric" by now, starting to be a bit frustrating.. I kind of told her no but then she went to complain to her sister who complained to her husband and he messaged me on FB about it.

 

 

 

 

 

[kekalot]

and I saw the replies saying to move, the place here is well situated etc. however, I can move but it's a bit more difficult cause i have dogs and I'm used to living here (been here for 8 years or so)

 

I have thought about it tho, so the ultimatum will likely be to pay her the 500 baht this month as she claims i used it last month (how can i prove it's not) but then offer to get this meter sorted and that I will pay the difference ONLY vs meter upstairs or I'm moving out.

 

then let's see how much money she saves when I left and no one else is renting rooms and her business is always closed.

 

tbh, I'm tempted to get a bunch of those smart plugs and to show her how much energy her glass fridges and dumb stuff really sucks out.

[DJ54]

Your right she’s overcharging you compared to what we pay 2 bedroom house ( 1 room AC 24/7 at 27c) and two one room units with shower/toilet. Nephews and Mama Papa.. @ 3,000.

 

Hopefully y’all can work out a reasonable amount that works for you both.. Good luck

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, kekalot said:

the below bill/calculation is for a 4 stories shophouse building, (4 bedrooms) she has a little restaurant/bar downstairs but its mostly 95% closed due to covid, a lot of those useless glass fridges keeping beer cold for months when there are no customers (2 big ones) then a freezer and another fridge full of rubbish (don't know what else to call it, its a mess),

It sounds to me that she is increasing the electricity bill to pay for her loss of business due to being mostly closed from Covid as you mention.

 

I hear landlord charge whatever they want when it comes to electricity as most properties are not separately metered, that said, our boys rent a room for 2,200 baht a month, plus about 150 standard for water and electricity is split with the other 8 rooms, about 300 baht a month.

[MrJ2U]

Has so she ever increased to the rent in 8 years?

 

You must like the place.  8 years renting in the same place.

 

Our electric Bill last month was 5000 baht. (Hot season coming in April).

 

*2 air-conditioniners 24 Celsius 12 hours a day.

 

*4 refrigerators.

 

*Large pool with pump and chlorinator 8 hours a day.

 

*3 TV's at least 8 hours a day.

 

*Lights on throughout the house.

 

I'll rent you the guest house by the pool if you contribute 2,500 a month towards electricity!

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, kekalot said:

here's a copy of one of the latest bills, I was able to match the price on the calculator using the "Type" 1125 she had higher on the bill. so it's 3390.98 on calculator and 3391 on bill

close enough, I would think.

It looks to me that rather than being actively trying to fleece you she just has no real concept of how little power you are actually using and has just seen her bill going up so blames it on you. 
 

So incompetent not evil. Of course that doesn’t really make any difference. Get the meter connected, use the PEA app and pay what it says rounded up to the nearest 10 or 100 Baht 

[kekalot]

40 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It looks to me that rather than being actively trying to fleece you she just has no real concept of how little power you are actually using and has just seen her bill going up so blames it on you. 
 

So incompetent not evil. Of course that doesn’t really make any difference. Get the meter connected, use the PEA app and pay what it says rounded up to the nearest 10 or 100 Baht 

I think it's a bit of both, she's trying to up the rent but this is a small 15x15ft room there's nothing to it, whatever they had in here (blinds, etc) was/is falling apart and I had to replace stuff myself so the value shouldn't be going up..

 

If my own bill came to 2500 baht (±555 kW @ 4.5 baht per kW) I wouldn't fight it and just pay it, it is what it is..

however, going from an all inclusive price and then once every 2 year or so being asked for 500 baht for electric rubs me the wrong way..

 

I'm limited by space here so I can't be buying any large appliances but she saw me walk in with a microwave 3 years ago and immediately said she should charge me more electric.. I mean i might have used that microwave for a total of 10 minutes in the last 3 years..

 

 

 

 

[snowgard]

I don't know how much you pay for the room, but on the facebook market are plenty of cheap rooms and houses.

If someone want charge me so much, I would change the room.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/category/apartments-for-rent

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by snowgard

[natway09]

Did I miss something here ?What does it say in your contract ?

[SAFETY FIRST]

7 hours ago, kekalot said:

but she saw me walk in with a microwave 3 years ago and immediately said she should charge me more electric.

Move on mate, get the hell out of there, she's messing with your mind. 

 

Let this be a lesson, next time find accommodation that you can PAY the electric bill directly to PEA. 

 

I've got the PEA App, I have 4 properties (4 bills) each month to pay, the App combines the bills and I pay the total through Rabbit LinePay.

I get charged a total of 5 baht commission for the 4 bills. 

 

Easy ????????

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by SAFETY FIRST

[kekalot]

On 3/24/2022 at 11:33 AM, Crossy said:

If the meter is still functional it's easy enough to put it back in circuit.

 

Do you have a multimeter or neon-screwdriver?

• Check which end of "your" breaker is the outgoing side (turns off with the breaker off).
• With it off remove the wires from that end and insert them into the free terminals on the meter. Is the cover available? It will tell you which side is L and which is N.
• Connect the two wires that go nowhere to the vacated terminals on the breaker (You may need to use longer wires).
• Turn on.

Run your shower to check the meter actually works.

Read the meter.

QED

 

Or just ask the landlady to get it put back in circuit and agree a price per unit for energy used.

Hi Crossy,

 

the plastic cover for the breaker/switch is on the top of the meter, i had a look at it and its just a plastic box (doesn't mention nothing)

I don't own a multimeter but always wanted one, if you could point me to a proper one on lazada or shopee I'd love to order one now

 

if I understand correctly I'd need to figure out which one is the out of the switch, connect this to the meter (does it matter which one? there are 4 screws on either sides.)

and then connect the dangling wires where the other ones were connected?

 

the cables connected  to the bottom of the switch seem a bit short to reach the meter but I expect that those are the cables that were there before..

how would I extend that cable? buy similar gauge of cable and tying it together or is that a big no no?

 

otherwise, it seems simple enough, I should be able to do that