Resort Owner Shocked As Power Bill Soars Over 700,000 Baht

[Dazinoz]

5 minutes ago, WilliamSmits said:

Then maintain the airco's,

My ex lived in an apartment block. She had an AC in her room. On one visit she told me they had been going to the rooms with Acs and cleaning them. I asked had they done the outside unit. She didn't know. A little later we were heading out and one of the maintenance team was walking past. I asked my ex to ask the girl did they also clean the outdoor units. They chatted awhile in Thai and the maintenance girl walked off. I asked my ex what did she say. Answer was no need to as there is nothing but a fan in the outdoor unit. And this from the "AC maintenance team". TiT

 

Having said that most of the threads on AC cleaning on here is most people put all the emphasis on cleaning the indoor unit filters and neglecting the outdoor. I did a video of me cleaning the condenser of the outdoor unit and posted previously but if someone would like to see why you need to clean outdoor unit I can repost.

[andersonat]

1 hour ago, MrMo said:

May be the lady would care to do a TikTok display with the pertinent facts or, as I would assume, just the one fact.   If she bothers to read her bill. she will see that it tells her how many units her meter has recorded as supplying her with during the month.   She will also see that the bill tells her how many units she has been billed for in each of the previous six months.   

Ours has gone from 1,700 to 2,400.   It's the weather.

From the OP:-

"In the video Amornphan Villa Resort owner said that in the 40 years of operation the monthly power bill had never exceeded 500,000 baht but this month it skyrocketed to 711,470.60 baht despite electricity and air-conditioner usage being the same as before."

 

( - the underlining has been added by me.)

 

My interpretation of the sentence is that she did read the no. of units on the bill.

 

[loong]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Not only cost per unit almost doubled........

Cost for my electricity has nowhere near doubled per unit.

[jmccarty]

I see 12% increase this month's bill and do observe all compressors working much harder and not able to cool to my comfort zone of 24 in the rooms I am in. Bedroom unit is getting to about 26 with unit set at 22 and much smaller home office is getting down to 24 in the mornings, but need to set at 20 to get there and at the hottest time of day, the room is closer to 25.  Compressors on most of the time.

[BestB]

50 minutes ago, loong said:

Cost for my electricity has nowhere near doubled per unit.

you must be special, for everyone else it use to be 3.9 and now for businesses is  6.3-6.7

[Gknrd]

6 hours ago, mran66 said:

I've had so many experiences of clogged aircon filters being the reason for ac not being able to cool the room regardless of compressor running full time that have developed habit of checking ac cleanliness first thing after taking the room. More often than not the maintenance is complete neglected. 

Same here, I cannot tell you how many filters I have cleaned in Thai hotels that were completely clogged up. Not to mention that there is no insulation and usually holes in the windows and doors where air can get in. A/C in Thailand is used to spot cool a small area only. Horrible wast of energy.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Gknrd

[Toby1947]

It's worldwide stop whinging 

[Jonathan Swift]

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Time to go solar then. No excuse in a country with so much sunlight for not doing so.

I'll bet his rooms all have airconditioners, and solar would work for them during the day.

 

Of course he could go for the option that many resorts used when I was staying on beaches and only have power in the evening, and cold water showers.

Every country basically has the same sunlight, climate is not sunlight. This is a tropical climate. Any country that has clear skies can effectively use solar. But you're right about going solar. But to the credit of the Thais, Chulalongkorn University has an experimental solar project that is quite impressive, and there are some other examples. But  the power industry needs to get on board and it's the government's job to encourage and subsidize the changeover. The US had and still has government subsidies for homes switching to solar. In the meantime, yes, private businesses need to begin to switch over. Government should help subsidize them as well, since this directly affects the tourism industry. 

 

[Jonathan Swift]

The property owner must know he coul

1 hour ago, Dazinoz said:

My ex lived in an apartment block. She had an AC in her room. On one visit she told me they had been going to the rooms with Acs and cleaning them. I asked had they done the outside unit. She didn't know. A little later we were heading out and one of the maintenance team was walking past. I asked my ex to ask the girl did they also clean the outdoor units. They chatted awhile in Thai and the maintenance girl walked off. I asked my ex what did she say. Answer was no need to as there is nothing but a fan in the outdoor unit. And this from the "AC maintenance team". TiT

 

Having said that most of the threads on AC cleaning on here is most people put all the emphasis on cleaning the indoor unit filters and neglecting the outdoor. I did a video of me cleaning the condenser of the outdoor unit and posted previously but if someone would like to see why you need to clean outdoor unit I can repost.

I guess I'm lucky in my apartment building, Ratchaprarop Tower Mansion, where there are notices on every floor stressing that AC should be cleaned regularly, and they have technicians on the premises that will do it free

[Dazinoz]

3 minutes ago, Jonathan Swift said:

The property owner must know he coul

I guess I'm lucky in my apartment building, Ratchaprarop Tower Mansion, where there are notices on every floor stressing that AC should be cleaned regularly, and they have technicians on the premises that will do it free

As per my previous post there are technicians and there are technicians. At my ex apartment their "professional" AC cleaning team said nothing in outdoor unit except fan. VERY professional.

 

From personal experiences the condenser fins on the outdoor unit has been the main problem when AC performance dropped significantly.

[FarangFB]

8 hours ago, ChipButty said:

There is only one sure fire way and that is to charge extra for electric, You watch the guest turn it off then, 

 

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Put individual meters on each room and inform the tourist they will be charged for each unit used upon check out.

Great way to get rid of customers. If a hotel/resort charged me for electricity I'd make sure not to go back there and tell my friends.

[mijens]

8 hours ago, MJCM said:

Easy solution for that but only works when they leave the room but not for leaving the doors or windows open and keep the air con running

 

 

 

Stayed at a hotel in Korea where Windows and door where equipped with micro sensors that would prevent AC from running if not activated. 

Work like this:

https://images.app.goo.gl/RRVeSXxrRSqjAkna6

[Cake Monster]

10 hours ago, JensenZ said:

t doesn't help that the unit charge has increased this year. She needs to find some way to control how they are used too. Maybe some guests have left them running when they go out.

Good luck with trying to control how the Air Con Units are used with Thai Guests.

My experience from the Apts my wife owns and runs, is that the Thai attitude is  " I pay, I can use it how I want ".

The same will apply to the amount of Water used, which is wasted more than used IMO

 

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

In the video Amornphan Villa Resort owner said that in the 40 years of operation the monthly power bill had never exceeded 500,000 baht but this month it skyrocketed to 711,470.60 baht despite electricity and air-conditioner usage being the same as before.

Seems strange that the usage is the same as before yet the price has dramatically increased?

[superal]

9 hours ago, ChipButty said:

There is only one sure fire way and that is to charge extra for electric, You watch the guest turn it off then, 

Tourist just don't get it they will have the A/C running with all the windows and doors open, I even tell them the garden doesn't need cooling down they are tropical plants.

Also getting them to turn it off when they go out is another problem that is just complete waste, there is a few things you can do, install a keycard system so when they take the card out the electric goes off.

These multi billion dollar A/C companies could help by designing a motion detector if no movement it goes of after 15 minutes, I did write to LG about it, No they don't have, 

Maintenance of the A/C unit is important but Im afraid it's not high on the agenda with Thai's as long as it's still running that's ok, 

Certain nationalities which I've noticed have the place like a fridge.

Pal looking for hotel in Pattaya . Room electric is not included and is on a seperate meter . The hotel charges 25 baht per unit . That would be a hefty bill when checking out if you are unaware of electricity charges in Thailand . 

[jimn]

10 hours ago, JensenZ said:

I run my aircon nearly the same as you... 26 (awake) to 27 (when sleeping). My wife prefers 28C all the time in her room. A good unit will drop the humidity fast, so you can feel comfortable at higher settings. I got new Daikin inverter units installed last year and it saved me roughly 1000 baht per month... and that's with running them for longer each day.

 

Why dont you compromise and share a room, set the air con at 27.5

[Dazinoz]

3 minutes ago, superal said:

Pal looking for hotel in Pattaya . Room electric is not included and is on a seperate meter . The hotel charges 25 baht per unit . That would be a hefty bill when checking out if you are unaware of electricity charges in Thailand . 

What a rip off. I am sure that would be illegal but nothing will happen in Thailand.

 

Most appartments with individual room meters used to charge double or around 8 baht a little while back. I did read that "they", whoever "they" are changed rules to say that apartments condos, etc could only charge 20% more than MEA/PEA rate, but again this is Thailand.

[brianthainess]

I went into a Big See (litigation) supermarket yesterday, the manager was not in his usual place, sat under the one A/C in the whole place, at his desk, The A/C was turned off, the place was stifling, all chocolate not chilled and soft, and the open chillers were not Cold, no way would i buy anything there. I made a comment to the checkout girl who informed me electric is expensive. No Sh@t Sherlock and yet every other shop has their A/C on.

Use Less electric and lose customers  Mr. Manager you won't make your targets that way.  people can get sick from your products. nob head.

[superal]

6 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I went into a Big See (litigation) supermarket yesterday, the manager was not in his usual place, sat under the one A/C in the whole place, at his desk, The A/C was turned off, the place was stifling, all chocolate not chilled and soft, and the open chillers were not Cold, no way would i buy anything there. I made a comment to the checkout girl who informed me electric is expensive. No Sh@t Sherlock and yet every other shop has their A/C on.

Use Less electric and lose customers  Mr. Manager you won't make your targets that way.  people can get sick from your products. nob head.

Made me laugh Sherlock ? Find your post hard to believe but because it is in Thailand , I do believe . Thanks 

[eisfeld]

11 hours ago, Crossy said:

700k Baht would be about 150k units or 5000 units per day! Finger in the air would need nigh on 1.8MW of solar!

 

This is serious solar-farm stuff, probably 2 rai of space. Plenty of commercial roof systems in Thailand that big.

I think 1MW should be able to reduce the bill significantly, if you go bigger than that different regulations and requirements apply.

 

To get 1MW with 550W panels which are each roughly 2sqm in size plus overhead let's say 3sqm you'll need in the order of 5500sqm or nearly 3.5 rai.

 

With resorts you run into special problems. You usually don't have one huge roof like with factories or warehouses. You have multiple smaller ones, usually not flat (and so not all sides easily utilized) and you have to run a looooot of cabling meaning big losses. What makes matters worse is that you can't just go and install it whenever you want because it involves noise which occupants wouldn't be happy about. And then there is the aesthetic aspect. You can't block the view of a building that sits behind the one in front etc.

 

I've been involved in feasabilities for big resorts in Thailand and there are quite a few challenges. It can be worth it but it's tricky and unfortunately for many resorts not something they want.

[brianthainess]

1 minute ago, superal said:

Made me laugh Sherlock ? Find your post hard to believe but because it is in Thailand , I do believe . Thanks 

It is Absolutely true. I stopped buying any cold items there 18 months ago my milk went off after 2 days. I got home yesterday and have emailed there website I was so peed off. It was bloody stifling in there, enough is enough BC on KC is the place to avoid!

[eisfeld]

9 hours ago, MJCM said:

Let's assume 1 Panel costs 4500 THB = 900 * 4500 = 4.050.000 THB (and that is for the panels alone thus not including labour, inverters, cables, mounting brackets etc etc etc etc) (adding batteries to store electricity to that would double or triple that amount)

Wholesale prices for panels are way way lower than what you see in retail. Assume very roughly 20 Baht per Watt all in (panels, mounting, inverters, labor and so on). Batteries don't make commercial sense at this point in time. They are only used for mission critical setups.

[lavender19]

Well when there is only one energy supplier. What can you. expect. It's called a monopoly. No competition 

[eisfeld]

8 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Just read in the BP that 70% of Thailand's electricity supply is bought at 9 baht per kWh from a private company..........I just wondered........could there be anything dodgy going on?

EGAT don't buy at 9 baht per kWh flat. The price varies with 9 baht probably being the peak in small quantities or whatever. Then they mix it with their own generated power. I also highly doubt the 70% "from a private company" number. That's probably a misunderstanding and the reality is "from private companies", plural. I've been to many solar, hydro and wind power projects in Thailand from north to south and it was a good mix of companies behind them.

[eisfeld]

7 minutes ago, lavender19 said:

Well when there is only one energy supplier. What can you. expect. It's called a monopoly. No competition 

But the price didn't change. So how can it be the fault of PEA? My power bill also spiked but I can clearly see that a lot more units were consumed due to the high heat.

 

The "journalist" nor the resort owner clearly didn't bother to check consumption. They instead put a misleading "despite electricity and air-conditioner usage being the same as before". Well no, no it's not the same as before. Let's take a look at her actual bill.

 

 

The first column is the month, the second is the units consumed and the third is the total price.

 

So, her resorts electricity consumption went from about 70k units to 128k units. That is a 80% increase in consumption. Her total cost went up about 75%.

[Reigntax]

11 hours ago, MJCM said:

So 1.8MW = 1.800.000W

 

Let's assume A Solar panels is approx 500W, so that would already 1.8MW / 500 = 3600 Panels.

 

1 panel approx 4500 THB = 3600 * 4500 THB = 16.200.000 THB just for the Panels.

 

WOW

I think you are confusing w and wh or kw and kWh in this case.

 

The former post stated 5000 units which I assume to be kWh.

the 5000 represents a 24 hr consumption so the average hourly load is about 200kwh which by itself seems high unless it was a say a 75 room hotel thus allowing 2kw input power per room (24 hrs a day)and say 50kw for the remainder of the premises.

 

2kw input per room is probably high considering at least a COP of 3 giving 6kw refrig output.

 

Effective solar output of say 6hrs with ongrid feedin unit credits (or onsite storage) equals about 800kw of panels. Or 1,600, 500w panels to cover 100% load.

[soi3eddie]

11 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Same units exactly, 15 BTU. It has saved me over 12,000 baht in one year, but that's not all. They are so efficient and quiet, and drop the temperature of a hot room very fast... and I run my fan at the lowest setting. The problem is, they are so quiet I sometimes forget to turn them off when not needed. I also use the sensor that slows them down abit if no one is in the room (raises the temp by a degree).

I have a pair of Daikin FTKMs - 12,000BTU (25,000THB) and 24,000BTU (40,000THB). Installed in 2019 and 2020. Super quiet and efficient. The savings in energy use (halved) have already paid for them. I think that resorts are short sighted when it comes to equipment - they seem to want to save on capital expenditure at the expense of long term efficiency and reduced energy use. Same in rented apartment/rooms. Some of the units I've seen must be 20 years old and don't cool very well.

   

[Reigntax]

25 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

But the price didn't change. So how can it be the fault of PEA? My power bill also spiked but I can clearly see that a lot more units were consumed due to the high heat.

 

The "journalist" nor the resort owner clearly didn't bother to check consumption. They instead put a misleading "despite electricity and air-conditioner usage being the same as before". Well no, no it's not the same as before. Let's take a look at her actual bill.

 

 

The first column is the month, the second is the units consumed and the third is the total price.

 

So, her resorts electricity consumption went from about 70k units to 128k units. That is a 80% increase in consumption. Her total cost went up about 75%.

Or an incorrect meter reading or they missed a monthly reading and this represents 2 months 

[eisfeld]

2 minutes ago, Reigntax said:

Or an incorrect meter reading or they missed a monthly reading and this represents 2 months 

You can clearly see the readings of the previous months which have been settled already so nothing was missed. I have not seen an incorrect meter reading so far for big consumers. These bigger consumer meters are completely digital and newer meters can be even hooked directly to PEA for near real time stats, it's not a human reading a spinning cycle meter like those old ones for small houses.

 

My best guess is higher occupancy + hotter weather. There's also the possibility of some equipment like a pump or chiller being not operated correctly or somehow malfunctioning.

[Reigntax]

4 hours ago, Dazinoz said:

My ex lived in an apartment block. She had an AC in her room. On one visit she told me they had been going to the rooms with Acs and cleaning them. I asked had they done the outside unit. She didn't know. A little later we were heading out and one of the maintenance team was walking past. I asked my ex to ask the girl did they also clean the outdoor units. They chatted awhile in Thai and the maintenance girl walked off. I asked my ex what did she say. Answer was no need to as there is nothing but a fan in the outdoor unit. And this from the "AC maintenance team". TiT

 

Having said that most of the threads on AC cleaning on here is most people put all the emphasis on cleaning the indoor unit filters and neglecting the outdoor. I did a video of me cleaning the condenser of the outdoor unit and posted previously but if someone would like to see why you need to clean outdoor unit I can repost.

Different type of dust on the condenser compared to the evaporator and wall mounted splits generally have low static pressure fans which are affected by filter blockage.  Evaporator filter dust is oily and mostly skin particles and the filters generally poorly stop bypass resulting in partial evaporator contamination and heat transfer loss.