High electric bill

[DonniePeverley]

We use 'normal amounts of electricity', nothing ridiculous - TV, and two air conditioning units as we in a two bedroom (but very little during the day), washing machine and now and again use the stove. Bill came to nearly 7000 Baht for the full month. This is on par with UK levels. Is this about rite or should i go figure something out >?

Edited October 30, 2023 by DonniePeverley

[georgegeorgia]

Mine in Australia for 3 months was practically the same and I thought that was expensive and rang them up !

Yours is ridiculous price !!!

[DonniePeverley]

3 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Mine in Australia for 3 months was practically the same and I thought that was expensive and rang them up !

Yours is ridiculous price !!!

 

Yeah this is higher than my UK bill !

 

Damn TikTok fooled me again with the 'everything cheap in Thailand' again. 

[Sigmund]

Do you pay the bill directly to the company/government or to the developpment manager ? Because developpment managments are known to inflate the rate openly.

[still kicking]

16 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Mine in Australia for 3 months was practically the same and I thought that was expensive and rang them up !

Yours is ridiculous price !!!

Yes I pay about 85 AUD per 2 months 

[gt162]

7000 baht is too much from what you described. Somebody is stealing your line or inflating the bill somehow. Check the owner, neighbor, etc.

 

 

 

 

[Banana7]

Mine is about 2,000 per month paid to PEA. My electrical appliances are similar to yours but only one 18k BTU inverter AC running 12 hours per day at 23C, only hot water kettle for cooking, one water pump, 2 hot water showers per day, one air cleaner running 2 hrs. per day, one medium size fridge (inverter).

[NoDisplayName]

That's gotta be wrong.

 

We run our entire house averaging 2500 baht during summer, 1500 in not summer.  Similar to banana's consumption, but with a load of washing daily, electric cooker, a dozen perimeter lights at night.

[KhunLA]

@DonniePeverley That sounds really high, as the most we us, is ~1000 kWh a month and that's <5000 PEA bill.   We're abusive with the AC, use electric appliances in kitchen, and even charge  EVa

 

Not UK, but compared to USA, electric is not that cheap in TH, same or more depending where living in USA.

Edited October 30, 2023 by KhunLA

[Seppius]

Clean your A/C never put lower than 25, check your fridge freezer. Something not right, but leaving AC on 24/7 yes that's right, the biggest drain

[Skipalongcassidy]

Definitely look into the billing... who do you pay and what are your meter readings... have your lines tested for draw and trace your lines while looking for scabbed on wires... you are paying for three households at the very least.

[Tom H]

Just unplug everything and check the meter if running.

[SammyJ]

the key thing to check is what has been suggested already by one comment--do you pay directly to PEA, or to another entity?  Sounds like you live in a condo, where often a surcharge is added, which in some cases DOUBLES what the PEA would charge.

[MangoKorat]

26 minutes ago, SammyJ said:

Sounds like you live in a condo, where often a surcharge is added, which in some cases DOUBLES what the PEA would charge.

Didn't I read somewhere that the Thai authorities were going to stop that?  I rented in Bangkok many years ago but when I saw the landlord's charges for water and electricity (almost double), I almost backed out of the deal. Fortunately the landlord really wanted to let the property and backed down - allowing me to pay the actual cost.

 

I would guess that a lot of newcomers to Thailand aren't aware of this situation until after they've signed a lease agreement. Leases usually specify what you will be charged but don't show how much above the actual cost that is.

[WorriedNoodle]

We have at least one or two a/c's on 24 hours and another at night. Bill close to 7000THB.

[yeahbutif]

Just take a reading of the meter then use electric as normal check reading next day.. average is 4 to 5 bhat per unit used...   in fact in house house the bhat rate per unit has gone down by half a baht per unit must be government subsidised.

[patman30]

compare current bill to old bills for rate and usage
knock off the main breaker and check the meter has stopped spinning
if that is fine
knock off all breakers
and bring them back on 1 at a time, checking the meter after each one.
my previous house used to be 5-8000/month so its not completely unusual
is the house owned by an individual or company?

[KhunLA]

Age of ACs and if inverters will make a big difference, and of course, keeping them maintained & clean (filters).

 

฿7000 = 1450 kWh/units of electric.   That's about double our normal usage, and Sept wasn't exactly a hot month.   We used 20kWh a day on average when home in Sept, so would be 600kWh @ ฿2800 

[TimeMachine]

4 hours ago, Tom H said:

Just unplug everything and check the meter if running.

Yes. Or plug in everything and see the meter spinning like crazy. Turn of items one by one while checking. Isolate the hungry items. Most likely AC units especially if non inverter type. 

[bbko]

One month our electric bill shot up to almost double the monthly average, the wife quickly went to the local PEA and they come out to investigate and found some sort of "leak/drainage" on the utility pole just after the meter.  They fixed it and quickly adjusted our bill and things went back to normal.

Edited October 31, 2023 by bbko

[ChaiyaTH]

Depends so much where you live, I had places where my bill could be up to 5-6K baht a month using also 2 AC because the building was in full sun all day and the concrete even super hot in the deep night. While where I rent now, I even run one AC with often the door open in day time on 27, and my bill is never more than 2.3K. 

That being a 3 bedroom house. Then again I also have rented studio condo's with just 1 AC, having almost always a bill of 2-2.5K as well. And no it was not due to some landlord bla bla, always the official government bills.

Edited October 31, 2023 by ChaiyaTH

[The Fugitive]

6 hours ago, Tom H said:

Just unplug everything and check the meter if running.

Top suggestion. 

[connda]

12 hours ago, gt162 said:

7000 baht is too much from what you described. Somebody is stealing your line or inflating the bill somehow. Check the owner, neighbor, etc.

 

 

 

 

You're getting ripped off.  Find the source.  Find your meter and take pictures monthly and compare to your bill.

[connda]

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Depends so much where you live, I had places where my bill could be up to 5-6K baht a month using also 2 AC because the building was in full sun all day and the concrete even super hot in the deep night. While where I rent now, I even run one AC with often the door open in day time on 27, and my bill is never more than 2.3K. 

That being a 3 bedroom house. Then again I also have rented studio condo's with just 1 AC, having almost always a bill of 2-2.5K as well. And no it was not due to some landlord bla bla, always the official government bills.

Older A/C in apartments aren't as efficient as inverters and an old, unserviced A/C can suck a ton of electricity while delivering very little cool air.  Plus your landlord will scrape cream off of the top of the electric bill as well. 

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, bbko said:

One month our electric bill shot up to almost double the monthly average, the wife quickly went to the local PEA and they come out to investigate and found some sort of "leak/drainage" on the utility pole just after the meter.  They fixed it and quickly adjusted our bill and things went back to normal.

Thanks for this! Something I wasn't aware could happen. I suspect many other people aren't either!

[Freddy42OZ]

7 hours ago, SammyJ said:

the key thing to check is what has been suggested already by one comment--do you pay directly to PEA, or to another entity?  Sounds like you live in a condo, where often a surcharge is added, which in some cases DOUBLES what the PEA would charge.

 

Condos usually give you the actual bill so you only pay for what you use. 

Apartment buildings are the ones that don't show the real bill and charge an extra 'service charge' .  There are limits to how much extra they can charge however.

And its the MEA in Bangkok.  The PEA is for people living outside of the Metropolitan area.

[Freddy42OZ]

11 hours ago, Seppius said:

Clean your A/C never put lower than 25, check your fridge freezer. Something not right, but leaving AC on 24/7 yes that's right, the biggest drain

 

Lower than 25?   I'm cold if I put my AC on 27C so I only put it on for very short periods of time.

I wasn't in my condo during Jul, Aug & Sept but I was back here from Oct 1st. 

Here are my bills taken from the MEA Smartlife App.   

50 sq/m with 2 ACs (used minimally), 2 computers on 24/7, very large fridge, 2.5 cubic meter chest freezer, 3 large (49", 85" & 34" TVs with the two largest on all day), 1 fan on 24/7, 1 fan on about 12-14 hours per day, I also use a toaster quite often and do a lot of cooking with the microwave. 

The MEA announced rate cuts for Sept to Dec, so everyone's bills should be lower than normal.  

Mine certainly is! 





 

[khunPer]

7,000 baht is for more than 1,500 units/kWh – for a private home it seems a bit high, but what is "normal amounts of electricity, nothing ridiculous"?

 

Pool pumps running 24/7 can use some amount of power, easily 50-200 units; an older larger freezer/fridge can add extra 1,000 baht to the bill, i.e. 250 extra units; hot coffee-water heater in kitchen running 24/7 can add numerous units; so can large TV-sets and rice cookers, not to forget older aircons that needs service.

 

I use between 3k baht and up to just over 5k baht – depending if we are two or more people staying in the house – including pool pump, large (newer inverter) freezer/fridge, laundry machine, and electric cooking hubs. Aircons are inverters and don't used much power, and are not used much; and there are no hot coffee-water, rice cooker and TV-set(s) running 24/7.

[DonniePeverley]

Thanks for all the advice here guys. 

 

We will take up some points - 

 

1) Turn of power at main, and see if meter is still moving. 

 

2) Condo is brand new, only 2 years old. 

 

3) Will get a/c units cleaned. 

 

4) We were just given a bill, and paid at 7/11

[DonniePeverley]

2 hours ago, connda said:

You're getting ripped off.  Find the source.  Find your meter and take pictures monthly and compare to your bill.

 

The meter is on the floor in each room. But the door is locked. Will demand to see the meter.