Reducing my house electricity costs – any advice please .

[perconrad]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Electric kettles are typically 3 kW, and are usually filled with much more water than you need. Get a pan on the gas hob, or boil exactly the right amount in the microwave....a mug of water takes 2 minutes.

Or you can buy an electric kettle which stops when the water is cooked, most have measure on the side, so you can fill to the desired measure.

[Cardano]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I have replaced all my light bulbs, internal & external, with WiFI LED ones which can be programmed/controlled on my phone to come on and go off when I want. No need for solar lights

 

Regarding the Power Monitor shown, surely that will only show the consumption on that particular socket/outlet, and not for the whole house. I have fitted a monitor in my consumer unit/fuse box, which tells me the daily and overall consumption. I also read my meter every day and put the readings into an app so I know exactly how much I use each day/month.

What is the payback time if solar powering is fitted?

The increase in cost from Bht 4 to Bht 5 per unit is only for over 300 units per month.

quite right that wattmeter will only show power consumed by an appliance connected via that meter.

[KannikaP]

25 minutes ago, perconrad said:

Or you can buy an electric kettle which stops when the water is cooked, most have measure on the side, so you can fill to the desired measure.

Most (all ) stop when the water is boiling. But most are filled too much in my experience. It is up to the user to save themselves electricity consumption.

[phetphet]

You already have LED bulbs, but how about buying lower wattage ones?

Possible to improve insulation in the room where you have air con? Maybe put a cloth or towel at the bottom of the door at night to prevent cold air seeping out under it.

Maybe check no dust or fluff clogging up condenser at back of fridge?

Lower temperature of shower.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, Robin said:

Do without electric kettle and microwave.

And replace his water boiling and cooking facilities with what?  Are there alternatives that use free fuel?  

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, Robin said:

Do without electric kettle and microwave.

Why not suggest that he does without everything on his list?

[spidermike007]

1. Change all lights to LED.

2. If you do not have any, add insulation to your attic. This alone has reduced my electric bill by 35%, plus it keeps my place much cooler and more comfortable.

3. Make sure all your AC units are inverters. Even if you are renting. You can simply swap out the units, and replace the old units when you leave. Assuming you have a place to store it, in the interim. This saves a significant amount of electric.

[unheard]

"The one air conditioning unit is only used for a short time before going to sleep and does not run all night or during the day time."

@Custard boy

Make sure to keep your A/C components free of dust, both inside and outside units.

[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, MJCM said:

Change that to Solar lights is the first step we did. (They come on when it's dark and shut down when it gets light)

 

Overall you are good to go and buying that Power Monitor is a good thing that will give you some real insights, I for example have found out that a couple of the UPS's is was using to provide my appliances from were faulty (failing batteries) removing them made an impact on our Bill.

 

How old is your Fridge, ours is a couple of years OLD 22Q 2 door Inverter, and we had it serviced by Hitachi and they fixed something things and now it's running as smooth as it was new (and using less electricity (also measured with the Power Monitor)

 

Our Bill is approx in the same range as yours, but our Killer is the Water Pump that supplies water to the garden (750W) and it is used by the Wife 2 hrs in the Morning and 2hrs in the evening (when it is NOT raining)

 

Edit: you could always started with Solar Powering the house that will help a lot

Thanks for the comment.????

 

The fridge / freezer is 7 days old and has an Inverter Compressor so hopefully that will help reduce the electric running costs .

 

I was wondering about replacing all the lightning in side the house ( now using normal tungsten filament ) with LED .

 

The powering the house with Solar Power , sounds very interesting.

 

 

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[JeffersLos]

Lowering a 1500THB electricity bill?

 

Candles and buckets of water left out in the sun.

[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Try having cold showers every other day, or reduce shower time, see how that helps. Showers and aircon tend to be the biggest culprits. Make sure fridge not running too cold. How much do you use that microwave grill?

Thanks for the advice

 

The wife seems to enjoy a cold shower , but I’m a hot shower person . I’m going to try the cold showering every other day and see how it feels .

 

The fridge freezer is currently set to ...

 

Freezer -15 °C

Fridge  - 4  °C

 

The microwave is on average used once a day ( microwave + electric grill ) 

 

 

.

[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

2 points that will reduce usage, though how much is debatable, are turn off or unplug every device that has a standby mode. The TV will probably need to be unplugged. So is the saving worth the probable need to reprogram the tv? But if there is no problem you will save a tiny amount.

 

The second point is to change the fans to DC ones. This will drop the usage by about ⅓ for each fan. The problem with that is that I only know of a few makers of DC fans and those are all ceiling ones and the cost will almost certainly wipe out the savings available. So on a pure saving money basis a bad idea. However the ones I have are extremely quiet, much less noise than any of the standard floor standing ones.

Thanks ????

 

The unplugging thing is some thing I had not thought about , but I’m going to give it a try , and I’m going to do some research on the subject of DC fans.

 

 

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[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

1 500 baht in electric per month, and you want to lower the cost?????

Advice: Do not use electric appliances and never turn on the light.

Thanks for your comment ????

 

As for why I asked about lowering the cost of my house electric bill .........

 

After being sentenced and placed in handcuffs my dear old now decease dad shouted at me from across the crown court room as he was being led down to the police holding cells to begin his long prison term , Son Son , If you don’t ask you will never know . .????

 

 

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[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Electric kettles are typically 3 kW, and are usually filled with much more water than you need. Get a pan on the gas hob, or boil exactly the right amount in the microwave....a mug of water takes 2 minutes.

I forgot to say that we do have a have a gas  stove .

 

.

 

 

[Custard boy]

28 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Lowering a 1500THB electricity bill?

 

Candles and buckets of water left out in the sun.

Thanks ????

 

Not sure what the '' Candles and buckets of water left out in the sun.'' means . ????

 

 

.

[proton]

Use candles?

[Custard boy]

13 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I have got Mr Ken AC ceiling fans which take 30 watts each so in 12 hours take 360 watts = one third of a unit= Bht 1.5. Not really worth worrying about.

And they are inaudible. The noise comes from the movement of the air, not the actual fan.

Thanks ????

 

I forgot to mention that we do have a ceiling fan in the lounge , and that fan is only used after 6pm until about 10 pm every day .

 

.

[Custard boy]

11 hours ago, transam said:

Tell the ladies in the house, a shower only takes 2 minutes, not 30.

 

Replace all lighting with LED, checkout the LED wattage to your stuff equivalent to do the same job.

 

Fill any open space in fridge/freezer with plastic bags etc. Periodically, pull the fridge/freezer out, turn off the power to it, unscrew the panel covering the gubbins, clean out all the <deleted> build up with vacuum and brush, ensure air can be pulled in and expelled by the fridge gubbins cooling fan. Don't take too long doing it if you have frozen chips. ????

I bought switched twin plug sockets for regularly used stuff, saves pulling plugs all the time, plus they have small LED lights telling you if an appliance is still switched on, very handy..

 

Thanks ????

 

Thats given me something  to think about.

 

,

[Custard boy]

10 hours ago, perconrad said:

Or you can buy an electric kettle which stops when the water is cooked, most have measure on the side, so you can fill to the desired measure.

Thanks ????

 

We have one electric kettle ( 1500 W ) and it does have an automatic cut off switch when the water has reached boiling point .

 

.

[Custard boy]

10 hours ago, phetphet said:

You already have LED bulbs, but how about buying lower wattage ones?

Possible to improve insulation in the room where you have air con? Maybe put a cloth or towel at the bottom of the door at night to prevent cold air seeping out under it.

Maybe check no dust or fluff clogging up condenser at back of fridge?

Lower temperature of shower.

Many thanks ????

 

Some things in your comment I had not thought of.

.

[Custard boy]

9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

1. Change all lights to LED.

2. If you do not have any, add insulation to your attic. This alone has reduced my electric bill by 35%, plus it keeps my place much cooler and more comfortable.

3. Make sure all your AC units are inverters. Even if you are renting. You can simply swap out the units, and replace the old units when you leave. Assuming you have a place to store it, in the interim. This saves a significant amount of electric.

Thanks ????

 

some good points , the insulating an attic space is some thing I never thought of. 

 

.

[JeffersLos]

15 minutes ago, Custard boy said:

Thanks ????

 

Not sure what the '' Candles and buckets of water left out in the sun.'' means . ????

Use candles instead of electric lights. (Or go to sleep at sundown)

 

Use buckets of water that were left out in the sun to heat up during the day instead of the electric shower.

 

Those alone should get it down to.... 1,170THB. 

[Custard boy]

Just now, JeffersLos said:

Use candles instead of electric lights. (Or go to sleep at sundown)

 

Use buckets of water that were left out in the sun to heat up during the day instead of the electric shower.

 

Those alone should get it down to.... 1,170THB. 

Thanks 

 

Love it ????

 

.

[Gottfrid]

7 hours ago, Custard boy said:

Thanks for your comment ????

 

As for why I asked about lowering the cost of my house electric bill .........

 

After being sentenced and placed in handcuffs my dear old now decease dad shouted at me from across the crown court room as he was being led down to the police holding cells to begin his long prison term , Son Son , If you don’t ask you will never know . .????

 

 

.

More likely, on a to thin budget to make it long time in Thailand.

[phetphet]

9 hours ago, Custard boy said:

Many thanks ????

 

Some things in your comment I had not thought of.

.

You will be amazed at how much cold air escapes through any gap under the door when the air con is on. I can stand outside my bedroom with the door closed, and can feel both the cold air blowing from three feet away, and how cold the floor tiles get. Now I just place an old towel on the floor inside when I go to bed.

 

Another lighthearted suggestion. You and the wife could always shower together. ????

[sammieuk1]

I have now turned the heating off and save a fortune now only 4k pm ????

[Lacessit]

10 hours ago, Custard boy said:

Thanks ????

 

some good points , the insulating an attic space is some thing I never thought of. 

 

.

When you insulate the attic space, also ensure the roof space is vented so heat is not trapped inside.

As other posters have said, solar panels are probably the best at reducing the electricity cost of a household.

[unheard]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

When you insulate the attic space, also ensure the roof space is vented so heat is not trapped inside.

Let's get real here.

The OP is not building a new house!

There are lots of suggestions mentioned in this thread that will require a major capital investment.

Just to save a few baht on the already small electrical bill?

[Peterw42]

There is a lot of passive solar products available nowadays, solar exhaust fans to draw heat out of roof space, or draw heat from the house up into the roof space. Set and forget.

 

[Custard boy]

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

More likely, on a to thin budget to make it long time in Thailand.

Yes how did you guess , I have to sadly admit that as a British old age pensioner and as my British government monthly pension amount was permanently frozen from the day years ago when I foolishly informed the British Government pension office that I was now residing in Thailand , My British old age monthly frozen pension payment amount is now understandably not worth very much . So any monetary savings I can now find are for me a real bonus .????.

 

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