Reducing my house electricity costs – any advice please .

[spidermike007]

11 hours ago, Custard boy said:

Thanks ????

 

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

 

.

It completely changed our home. The rooms used to broil during the day, without AC. They get warm now, but far cooler than before. And it was fairly inexpensive to install. Just laid it on the drop ceiling in the attic. Cost about 12,000 baht for a 200 meter home, with labor. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by spidermike007

[LosLobo]

If you have an OLED Smart TV DO NOT unplug to save power!

 

OLED TV's have an automatic screen burn repair system which operates when in stand-by mode.

 

Unplugging the TV would disable this necessary protection feature.

 

Screen burn on OLED TV's is evident in TV stores which have systems to power down all the stores' display TV's after hours.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by LosLobo

[Photoguy21]

The air conditioner I would think to be the biggest consumer of electricity. Do you have it on all day? If so why not just use fans in the day and A/C for sleeping. Even then turn the cut in temperature up. I set mine to 29C which is still cool and the A/C doesn't come into play very often at that setting.

[sometimewoodworker]

11 hours ago, Custard boy said:

 

The fridge freezer is currently set to ...

 

Freezer -15 °C

Fridge  - 4  °C

 

Those temperatures are incorrect for safe storage

Freezer -20 °C (maximum  -18 °C)

Fridge  + 4  °C

[Lacessit]

57 minutes ago, unheard said:

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?

IIRC, insulating the roof space on my GF's house was about 11,000 baht. Not a huge capital investment; however, it depends on what the time of payback is.

The house does not have to be new to install insulation.

I'd agree 1500 baht is not a huge bill for a house, having said that mine is 500-600 baht/month.

[bobandyson]

Wear clothes that don't require ironing after every wash.

[Lacessit]

22 hours ago, BE88 said:

Yes for an electric cooker but not when you have gas available beyond the fact that there are a lot of criticisms of the microwave for health.

 

Please post your evidence, AFAIK microwave is non-ionizing radiation with zero health effects, unless one was to climb into a microwave oven.

Manufacturing standards for ovens are quite rigorous, in order to prevent stray radiation.

Perhaps you have been looking at conspiracy websites too often.

[sandyf]

On 9/2/2022 at 8:19 AM, Custard boy said:

This is a screen shot of my current electricity bill .

I would say that 338 units for this time of year is quite reasonable. There is only myself and my wife and the recent bill was 422 units.

I would normally expect around the high 400s during the summer months and about half that over the winter. My wife runs the washing machine every day and we do all the cooking on an electric hob/oven/air fryer.

The consumption is based on power and time so things like kettles and shower although high power are normally of short duration, the heavy hitters are aircon, ovens and washing machine.

With a multitude of appliances it will be difficult to find a simple solution with an already low consumption.

[MrJ2U]

On 9/2/2022 at 8:26 AM, 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

Same,

 

Outdoor solar lights.

Our house looks like a stadium from the distance.  All lit up by Solar lights. 

[MrJ2U]

Your air-conditioning unit should have a dry mode.  That decreases the humidity making your room more comfortable for sleep and uses up to 60% less electricity.

 

Turn off the electric heater on your shower.  They use more electricity than an air conditioner when in use.

 

Your electric bill looks extremely low.  Honestly you'll probably only save 100-200 baht before suffering quality of life issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by MrJ2U

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, Custard boy said:

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 .????.

 

.

 

 

But you have a choice! You can go back and have it unfrozen, or you can stay and suffer. Or is all the bridges burned as well?

 

[unheard]

58 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

IIRC, insulating the roof space on my GF's house was about 11,000 baht.

How long ago and for how many sq.m.?

Did you mean insulating the ceiling?

The only thing for sure is that today's prices would be significantly higher.

Edited September 3, 2022 by unheard

[Custard boy]

1 hour ago, Photoguy21 said:

The air conditioner I would think to be the biggest consumer of electricity. Do you have it on all day? If so why not just use fans in the day and A/C for sleeping. Even then turn the cut in temperature up. I set mine to 29C which is still cool and the A/C doesn't come into play very often at that setting.

Thanks

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

 

I currently have the A/C set on Eco mode which according to the instructions is the most economical setting .

.

[Custard boy]

59 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

But you have a choice! You can go back and have it unfrozen, or you can stay and suffer. Or is all the bridges burned as well?

 

Thanks .????

 

Sadly as a 70+ year old age pensioner returning to the UK is going to be difficult task as all my family relatives have now passed away along with my close personal friends, so finding some sort of affordable accommodation that would allow me to stay long enough to process my application to have my British government pension reinstated to the current amount could be a problem. 

 

Oh , if only I could turn the clock back. ????

 

 

.

 

 

[Gecko123]

A few suggestions for incremental improvement (not just to save 100-200 baht, but to reduce carbon footprint):

 

1) assess whether exterior lighting is truly beneficial from a home security standpoint, or is it just for aesthetics. Security value varies depends on location, but can often add little value, burning lights all night long wastes money.

 

2) Religiously turn lights and fans off whenever leaving room, even briefly. You get distracted, and the fan and lights end of burning money for no benefit. Consider minimal fan speeds whenever possible. With cooler temperatures, can get by with fan set at "1" or "2", only need "3" in super muggy weather.

 

4. if outlet for microwave is counter level, unplug when not in use.

 

5. Cleaning refrigerator coils every 6 months, and periodically cleaning and inspecting refrigerator door gaskets is important for energy efficiency.

 

6. Check energy savings settings on computer.

 

7. I have a water cooler in my study, but I think it's an energy guzzler. Probably more energy efficient to cool drinking water in fridge compartment. Definitely turn off at night, or when not actively being used.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Gecko123

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, unheard said:

How long ago and for how many sq.m.?

Did you mean insulating the ceiling?

The only thing for sure is that today's prices would be significantly higher.

Probably 6 or 7 years ago. The insulation was on top of the ceiling ( fibreglass encapsulated in aluminium foil ) with air space between that and the roof itself.

[expat_4_life]

If you're away for a few days at some point, read the meter to get a estimate of how many units your home uses when it is not occupied. You can then gauge how much of your bill is due to daily activity. This might help you zero in on activity vs overheads you can reduce.

 

Other little things that may shave off a few baht
1) Keep the refrigerator door closed more

2) use the washing machine less, do larger loads less frequently, check what type of wash cycles duration/water temp you use,  let the sun do the drying use less spin speed/time

3) If you're going to cook, then possibly cook meals for several days at one time.  Allow items from the fridge/freezer to defrost or reach room temp before heating/cooking
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by expat_4_life

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, Custard boy said:

Thanks .????

 

Sadly as a 70+ year old age pensioner returning to the UK is going to be difficult task as all my family relatives have now passed away along with my close personal friends, so finding some sort of affordable accommodation that would allow me to stay long enough to process my application to have my British government pension reinstated to the current amount could be a problem. 

 

Oh , if only I could turn the clock back. ????

You are completely wrong about the difficulty of getting your pension increased to the current level.
 

I got mine reinstated during the period I was in the U.K. 

I phoned the DWP pension office a couple of weeks prior to arrival in England, the conversation took about 5 minutes, my pension was increased on the next payment date.

 

Easy, simple, fast and efficient.

 

However when I returned to Thailand, of course, the reverse case was also true.
So to retain the increased pension you have to stay in the U.K. 

[NoshowJones]

6 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

You are completely wrong about the difficulty of getting your pension increased to the current level.
 

I got mine reinstated during the period I was in the U.K. 

I phoned the DWP pension office a couple of weeks prior to arrival in England, the conversation took about 5 minutes, my pension was increased on the next payment date.

 

Easy, simple, fast and efficient.

 

However when I returned to Thailand, of course, the reverse case was also true.
So to retain the increased pension you have to stay in the U.K. 

"However when I returned to Thailand, of course, the reverse case was also true."

You mean you told them?? ????

[007 RED]

@Custard boy

 

FYI.....  Way back in 2019, whilst trawling through what was then Thai Visa I came across an interesting thread entitled “How about a solar car port on a budget”

The thread rapidly expanded with helpful contributions from many forum members who shared Crossy’s interest, achievements and the odd disappointment.

 

I confess to having no previous experience of solar systems and a fairly basic knowledge of electrical systems dating back to my days at Coventry Polytechnic some 50 plus years ago.  In fact, I would happily describe myself as a total nerd when it comes to solar systems.  That said, DIY seems to be in my DNA and Crossy’s thread inspired me to take the ‘bull-by-the-horns’ and consider doing something similar.

 

We (my wife and I) had a car port constructed in 2018 on land that we purchased adjacent to our house.  From the information derived from Crossy’s thread, the car port was ideally positioned in so far that one side of the roof was South facing and inclined was about 150.  Most importantly it was not shaded during the day, therefore, any solar panels mounted on the roof should (in theory) capture maximum sunlight during the day.

 

OK, so I was inspired by Crossy’s thread, but what was the motivation for me wanting to construct a small scale grid tied solar system on our car port roof?

 

The cost of the electricity in Thailand is relatively cheap (especially when compared to the current cost in the UK), and my wife and I aren’t heavy consumers.  Our average monthly bill being around 1,000THB.  So, cost savings wasn’t really a major ‘driver’.

 

Was it because going ‘green’ or ‘carbon neutral’ and saving the planet was the right thing to do?  No not really.  The amount of electricity we use is relatively small so it’s unlikely to make a massive difference to the world’s carbon footprint.  That said, every drop of CO2 less should help.

 

Oh, and one forum member suggested that saving just a few Baht a month was ‘penny pinching’.  Well, if you consider the pathetic interest rate that you get from most bank savings accounts, compared to the potential cost saving per year generated by a solar system, solar out performs the interest rate by far, so I think it’s fair to say solar is in fact a shrewd long term investment.

 

I think that the real motivation for me was that at the age of 74, designing, installing and commissioning a grid tied solar system, albeit a small one, was a great challenge.  Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed the challenges which have been ‘thrown’ at me.  Any long term financial payback, or contribution towards assisting the world to become carbon neutral would just be an incidental bonus so far as I was concerned.

 

I ended up designing a small scale solar system on the car port roof with the ambition of reducing our monthly electric bill by no more than 75%.  The installation comprises 4 x 415W Half-Cut monocrystalline solar panels linked to a 2.2kW grid tied inverter.

 

 

In theory the panels (under ideal laboratory conditions) should be capable of producing 1,660W, but unfortunately we aren’t living a laboratory and in reality they can be expected to produce somewhere around 1,200W, which with good sunshine for around 6 hours per day will yield approximately 7 units .  The graph below (from the system's monitoring facility) shows the solar panel output on a recent 'good day' when it achieved just over 8 units. 

 

 

The system cost me 28,000 THB (DIY installation) and it’s been running for almost a year now.  As originally planned, the system has been reducing our electric bills by around 70% a month.  I anticipate payback on the initial investment will be around 2.5 years - shorter if the price of electricity is increased.  As I said earlier, a shrewd little investment. 

 

A few words of caution

 

Firstly, it should be noted that the electric authorities (MEA or PEA) will not approve a DIY grid tied installation.  According to their policies, all solar system installations which are connected to the grid must be undertaken by one of their approved installers and it must have an electronic meter fitted.  The system must be subsequently certified by one of their engineers.

 

The cost of having a system installed and approved is very expensive, and the payback for any power which the system might feedback into the grid is very low (approximately half that of the normal purchasing price).

 

Secondly, if you DIY install a grid tied solar system and have a spinning disc type meter, any excess power produced by the system can potentially be fed back into the grid and make the disc spin backwards thus reducing the number of units used.  This practice is frowned upon by the electric authorities and if discovered (usually by the meter reader) they (MEA/PEA) will at best replace the meter with an electronic one which prevents ‘spin back’ or at worse they may disconnect the supply and demand that the solar system’ be removed and/or impose a fine.

 

Thirdly, if you create a system that constantly produces negative meter readings, that is to say the new reading is less than the previous reading, this will most certainly ring alarm bells within the MEA/PEA office, who undoubtedly will send an inspector to investigate the meter, which could result in the problems that I’ve described above.

 

I hope this helps in your endeavour to reduce your electricity bill.  Good luck. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by 007 RED

[jak2002003]

3 hours ago, bobandyson said:

Wear clothes that don't require ironing after every wash.

Don't wear clothes in the house. ????

[jak2002003]

6 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

@Custard boy

 

FYI.....  Way back in 2019, whilst trawling through what was then Thai Visa I came across an interesting thread entitled “How about a solar car port on a budget”

The thread rapidly expanded with helpful contributions from many forum members who shared Crossy’s interest, achievements and the odd disappointment.

 

I confess to having no previous experience of solar systems and a fairly basic knowledge of electrical systems dating back to my days at Coventry Polytechnic some 50 plus years ago.  In fact, I would happily describe myself as a total nerd when it comes to solar systems.  That said, DIY seems to be in my DNA and Crossy’s thread inspired me to take the ‘bull-by-the-horns’ and consider doing something similar.

 

We (my wife and I) had a car port constructed in 2018 on land that we purchased adjacent to our house.  From the information derived from Crossy’s thread, the car port was ideally positioned in so far that one side of the roof was South facing and inclined was about 150.  Most importantly it was not shaded during the day, therefore, any solar panels mounted on the roof should (in theory) capture maximum sunlight during the day.

 

OK, so I was inspired by Crossy’s thread, but what was the motivation for me wanting to construct a small scale grid tied solar system on our car port roof?

 

The cost of the electricity in Thailand is relatively cheap (especially when compared to the current cost in the UK), and my wife and I aren’t heavy consumers.  Our average monthly bill being around 1,000THB.  So, cost savings wasn’t really a major ‘driver’.

 

Was it because going ‘green’ or ‘carbon neutral’ and saving the planet was the right thing to do?  No not really.  The amount of electricity we use is relatively small so it’s unlikely to make a massive difference to the world’s carbon footprint.  That said, every drop of CO2 less should help.

 

Oh, and one forum member suggested that saving just a few Baht a month was ‘penny pinching’.  Well, if you consider the pathetic interest rate that you get from most bank savings accounts, compared to the potential cost saving per year generated by a solar system, solar out performs the interest rate by far, so I think it’s fair to say solar is in fact a shrewd long term investment.

 

I think that the real motivation for me was that at the age of 74, designing, installing and commissioning a grid tied solar system, albeit a small one, was a great challenge.  Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed the challenges which have been ‘thrown’ at me.  Any long term financial payback, or contribution towards assisting the world to become carbon neutral would just be an incidental bonus so far as I was concerned.

 

I ended up designing a small scale solar system on the car port roof with the ambition of reducing our monthly electric bill by no more than 75%.  The installation comprises 4 x 415W Half-Cut monocrystalline solar panels linked to a 2.2kW grid tied inverter.

 

 

In theory the panels (under ideal laboratory conditions) should be capable of producing 1,660W, but unfortunately we aren’t living a laboratory and in reality they can be expected to produce somewhere around 1,200W, which with good sunshine for around 6 hours per day will yield approximately 7 units .  The graph below (from the system's monitoring facility) shows the solar panel output on a recent 'good day' when it achieved just over 8 units. 

 

 

The system cost me 28,000 THB (DIY installation) and it’s been running for almost a year now.  As originally planned, the system has been reducing our electric bills by around 70% a month.  I anticipate payback on the initial investment will be around 2.5 years - shorter if the price of electricity is increased.  As I said earlier, a shrewd little investment. 

 

A few words of caution

 

Firstly, it should be noted that the electric authorities (MEA or PEA) will not approve a DIY grid tied installation.  According to their policies, all solar system installations which are connected to the grid must be undertaken by one of their approved installers and it must have an electronic meter fitted.  The system must be subsequently certified by one of their engineers.

 

The cost of having a system installed and approved is very expensive, and the payback for any power which the system might feedback into the grid is very low (approximately half that of the normal purchasing price).

 

Secondly, if you DIY install a grid tied solar system and have a spinning disc type meter, any excess power produced by the system can potentially be fed back into the grid and make the disc spin backwards thus reducing the number of units used.  This practice is frowned upon by the electric authorities and if discovered (usually by the meter reader) they (MEA/PEA) will at best replace the meter with an electronic one which prevents ‘spin back’ or at worse they may disconnect the supply and demand that the solar system’ be removed and/or impose a fine.

 

Thirdly, if you create a system that constantly produces negative meter readings, that is to say the new reading is less than the previous reading, this will most certainly ring alarm bells within the MEA/PEA office, who undoubtedly will send an inspector to investigate the meter, which could result in the problems that I’ve described above.

 

I hope this helps in your endeavour to reduce your electricity bill.  Good luck. 

Still waiting over one year for PEA to connect our solar panels to the grid....wish I never did it now. 

 

[Crossy]

6 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Still waiting over one year for PEA to connect our solar panels to the grid....wish I never did it now. 

 

Are you saying your panels and inverter have been sitting inactive for a year??

 

Your contractor should have hooked everything up so your inverter and panels were active and generating with your existing meter (if of the disc type) whizzing backwards when exporting. This is actually how most of the small systems here operate anyway.

 

The contractor would then arrange a PEA inspection of the system at which point an export meter would should be installed. It's also at this point that the delay happens, but if your meter reader doesn't actually see the meter going backwards (turn off the solar on the days he's likely to come) you could carry on for years in this state.

[KannikaP]

On 9/2/2022 at 10:46 AM, unheard said:

My previous quote was referring to the maximum allowable under the Energy Star Logo spec.

The U.S. and Canada sold LEDs tend to be of the highest available quality products currently on the market.

Your particular samples can consume much more than the allowable maximum of 0.5 W.

What's is your brand?

Cheapo Chinese ones off Lazada, Bht 150 each

[007 RED]

5 hours ago, unheard said:

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?

As I mentioned in my post above, my small scale DIY solar system comprising 4 x 415W panels linked into a 2.2kW GTI cost 28,000THB and is producing about 7 units a day, that equates to approximately 11,000THB a year, which means that the system will have paid for itself in 2.5 years (sooner if they put the price of electricity up) and everything there after is a nice reward on the investment.

 

Ask yourself a simple question.  How much will your bank give you in interest on 28K THB in a savings account?  I bet it wont be 11K THB per annum.

[KannikaP]

5 hours ago, Lacessit said:

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.

But the initial purchase and fitting costs will take years to repay.

[Custard boy]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

You are completely wrong about the difficulty of getting your pension increased to the current level.
 

I got mine reinstated during the period I was in the U.K. 

I phoned the DWP pension office a couple of weeks prior to arrival in England, the conversation took about 5 minutes, my pension was increased on the next payment date.

 

Easy, simple, fast and efficient.

 

However when I returned to Thailand, of course, the reverse case was also true.
So to retain the increased pension you have to stay in the U.K. 

Sorry I know its off topic.????

 

This is very interesting for me.

 

So have I got this correct , prior to you returning to the UK to reside there you telephoned the DWP and informed them that you would soon be permanently residing back in the UK . 

 

On hearing your telephone confirmation that you would soon be permanently residing back on UK soil , The DWP un froze your pension payment and the next scheduled pension payment would be at the current normal unfrozen rate..

 

I had it in my mind that if I returned to the UK with the intention of un freezing my British government pension, I would have to provide the DWP with an actual British postal address where I was residing and the DWP would then over time send forms / paper work for me to sign and return relating to my request to un freeze my current pension that I had been receiving in Thailand. This could possibly take months to finally sort out . 

 

It had also crossed my mind that once the British government pension had been reinstated to the normal un frozen amount, then it would just be a matter of quietly returning back to Thailand and then receive an un frozen pension amount .

 

. 

 

 

 

 

[Olmate]

25 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

As I mentioned in my post above, my small scale DIY solar system comprising 4 x 415W panels linked into a 2.2kW GTI cost 28,000THB and is producing about 7 units a day, that equates to approximately 11,000THB a year, which means that the system will have paid for itself in 2.5 years (sooner if they put the price of electricity up) and everything there after is a nice reward on the investment.

 

Ask yourself a simple question.  How much will your bank give you in interest on 28K THB in a savings account?  I bet it wont be 11K THB per annum.

For 30bht a day.!! . you need to get a piggybank not a solar system.!! lol

[Crossy]

8 minutes ago, Olmate said:

For 30bht a day.!! . you need to get a piggybank not a solar system.!! lol

 

Look after the pennies ...

 

Looks like a pittance doesn't it. But that's nigh on 11kBaht a year that's not going out of the coffers. And after 3 years or so recovering the outlay the energy really is free!

[thaibeachlovers]

On 9/2/2022 at 1:19 PM, Custard boy said:

1. LG smart TV

2. Electric shower unit

3. Combined fridge / Freezer ( Cooling digital inverter compressor )

4. Top loading washing machine ( no electric heating elements )

5. 5 floor standing electric fans ( intermittent use )

6. 1 Air conditioner unit ( Inverter – 18,000 BTU )

7. Microwave ( with internal electric grill )

8. 1 Electric kettle

9. Assorted house internal lighting

10. Assorted exterior house flood lighting ( LED )

11. Assorted small electric / electronic equipment ( computer / router / security cameras etc ).

Shower with cooler water, or convert to gas fired.

use fans and not ac

heat water with gas not electric

use led bulbs indoors

don't need exterior lighting on all the time. Sensor activated if needed.

Unplug small electronic devices when not in use. Some, like tvs, use power even when switched off.