The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) of Thailand is offering advice on how to use air conditioning systems effectively without racking up extensive electricity costs in the ongoing heat.

 

The PEA advises selecting an air conditioner with the suitable British Thermal Units (BTU) depending on the room size. With 9,000 to 21,000 BTU, air conditioning units are ideal for small or medium spaces like apartments. In contrast, air conditioners with 21,000 to 30,000 BTU work best for larger rooms like living rooms and 30,000 to 36,000 BTU units are needed for bigger areas such as home offices, restaurants or cafes.

 

The PEA suggests setting air conditioners to 26 to 27 degrees Celsius and using a fan for improved air circulation, which can reduce electricity costs by 10%.

 

Keeping the air conditioning unit well maintained, including regular cleaning of its filter every month and complete washing every six months, aids in efficient functioning, the PEA said.

 

Avoid switching off the air conditioner frequently, as this adds to power consumption. Instead, use a timer for it to switch off at suitable times, such as during cooler night temperatures, can also help cut down costs.

 

The PEA emphasizes the importance of sealing doors and windows to prevent the escape of cool air and entry of warm air, leading to the air conditioner exerting more effort and using more power.

 

Furthermore, the PEA informs about the energy-saving advantages of modern inverter air conditioners since they cool rooms quickly and efficiently. However, they clarify common misconceptions associated with their usage, which may lead to higher electricity bills instead of saving energy.

 

This advice from PEA is highly relevant as summer temperatures mount, offering an accessible way to stay weather-comfortable while intelligently managing energy usage and keeping electricity bills within reasonable limits.

 

Caption: Image: Freepik

 

-- ASEAN NOW 2024-04-24

 

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1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

However, they clarify common misconceptions associated with their usage, which may lead to higher electricity bills instead of saving energy.

Probably the most important part of the article, but with no actual clarification of those misconceptions.

Crikey! If I ran mine at 27c in this weather I'd fry.

I replaced the air con in our (myself and wife) bedroom recently. I did this after I had a 20KW solar system with 20 panels installed. The old air con had the blower unit in the ceiling and so aesthetically it looked good. I noticed after installing the solar I would see the 20 KW batteries would be down to 20-30%  . I changed the bedroom to an invertor wall mount air con 12,000 BTU ( wasn't sure what the ceiling air con was as I couldn't find any numbers on it, I was told when I bought the house (2010) it was a 12,000 BTU unit). So monitoring the panel on the invertor I could see KWH and the invertor was 60% power use of  the ceiling air con using the same temp setting 27C and same run time.

 

I have since changed out 4 air cons at our other houses in Thailand for invertor air con.  Both the blower unit and compresssor unit are very quiet.. Besides saving money they cool off very quickly.

1 hour ago, Baht Simpson said:

Crikey! If I ran mine at 27c in this weather I'd fry.

26, 27 is fine for me. As for what BTU to get there are calculators on the net. Another misconception is to set at say 18 to really cool the room down then turn it up to a higher level, let's say 26. This is both more expensive and totally unnecessary. If you want the room at 26 but set to 18 to cool the room down then bump it up to 26 the temp will of course need to be 26 at some stage on it's way down. Set at 26 is all that's needed. It took me a while to explain this one to the missus.

27 minutes ago, TCAK said:

I replaced the air con in our (myself and wife) bedroom recently. I did this after I had a 20KW solar system with 20 panels installed. The old air con had the blower unit in the ceiling and so aesthetically it looked good. I noticed after installing the solar I would see the 20 KW batteries would be down to 20-30%  . I changed the bedroom to an invertor wall mount air con 12,000 BTU ( wasn't sure what the ceiling air con was as I couldn't find any numbers on it, I was told when I bought the house (2010) it was a 12,000 BTU unit). So monitoring the panel on the invertor I could see KWH and the invertor was 60% power use of  the ceiling air con using the same temp setting 27C and same run time.

 

I have since changed out 4 air cons at our other houses in Thailand for invertor air con.  Both the blower unit and compresssor unit are very quiet.. Besides saving money they cool off very quickly.

How are you getting 20KW out of 20 panels ?, Most panels are in the 400-500 watt range never heard of 1 KW panels before.

its taken these geniuses  over a month to come up with this, and they still forgot to tell  the target audience to make sure they wire it up to an electricity supply and don't forget to turn it on.  

 

Ahh "British" thermal units, doesn't it make you proud .   That "goat "   character won't be happy "

36 minutes ago, scoobyguy said:

How are you getting 20KW out of 20 panels ?, Most panels are in the 400-500 watt range never heard of 1 KW panels before.

Correct my panels are 520W. I have 5 panels each facing N,S,E,W.  This time of year my panels reach 6-7 KWH around noon. Run my pool pump 4-5 hrs/day during the day. Don't run air con much in the day. All are big fans. It's amazing when you look at power comsuption on many of the applances such as fans, oven, dryer, and even hair dryers. So batteries are 100% charged usually before 2pm. If you are interested I have a data from past electric bills for last 3 yrs vs. with solar. 

 

 And Bday Prang what are you talking about? 

 

I sometimes ponder to think that when we go to bed and set the air con at 26 for a cool night's sleep , the same temperature in the UK in the daytime is referred to as ' a scorcher. 

There is a news article now on a Thai news website now (yellow page header also has a forum... not sure about posting the name) with some bloke praising the air con set at 27 deg and a small fan to distribute the air around.. maybe one of you air con gurus can have a look (it's in Thai language, I got my wife to translate)... and see if it makes sense.. he claims to cut his bill almost in half...

16 minutes ago, connda said:

 

Is that some kind of cock cooler ? Like meeting a really cool chick ?

Understnd that the full acronym for BTU is

GOBTU.....Good Old British Thermal Units. 

our inverter air con stopped working yesterday. cant get serviced until saturday. all the shops told my better half that they are overly busy this year as seems many people are having problems all at the same time. hard to sleep, reminds me when i got here 20 yrs ago and my first rental house didnt have air...

43 minutes ago, Martin71 said:

There is a news article now on a Thai news website now (yellow page header also has a forum... not sure about posting the name) with some bloke praising the air con set at 27 deg and a small fan to distribute the air around.. maybe one of you air con gurus can have a look (it's in Thai language, I got my wife t ro translate)... and see if it makes sense.. he claims to cut his bill almost in half...

We have a large bedroom and we do use a fan to 'throw' the cooled air across the room to our sleeping area. It works very well but it certainly does not reduce our bills by 50%! 

 

I cannot see how that would be possible.

So then... 

 

PEA advises on cost-effective air conditioners BUT FORGETS to mention MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION for buying a cost-effective AC? 

 

a. No mention of EFFICIENCY 

 

b. No mention of efficiency ratings 

 

c. No mention of how to calculate the EER rating of an AC, just by checking capacity in BTU and Watts. 

 

Therefore, this article and advice is completely USELESS. 

 

I would NEVER buy an AC with an EER below 23. 

 

I guess PEA was afraid to mention the EER rating because this is a ratio which requires the understanding of simple fractions. 

 

So, better to pay through the nose for extra power to run an inefficient AC? 

 

Such a shame. 

 

Living in the modern world requires understanding third-grade arithmetic. 

 

But I wonder if they can easily convert from BTU to kcal? 

 

1 BTU =0.25 kcal 

 

Ignorance is bliss... 

Unless you are losing money due to it. 

 

 

All well and good IF you have the power in the first place. It is quite common in our area for the power to go off at the slightest provocation, a bird perching on the wire, a spattering of raindrops, a snake in the works, or a drunk Somchai taking out a power pole at 8 at night.

Last night the power went off at 10 minutes to nine, and came back on at exactly 6 this morning. 

I, like most everyone else am looking forward to the rains, but that is tinged with the certainty that the power will be off daily.

They forget to say that the larger the  room volume the more it will cost to cool. I have divided both our bedrooms Scandinavian style with glass wall dividers and a sliding door, so that one half holds the bed only and the other half holds the wardrobes etc. i.e. a dressing room and small sitting room. Therefore a much smaller volume to cool at night and during the day in the dressing/sitting room but still have the sensation of relative spaciousness. Each original bedroom was L6m x W3m x H3m. Our living room is huge and costs a fortune to cool during the day. Hence looking at getting solar panels for use during the day

46 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

All well and good IF you have the power in the first place. It is quite common in our area for the power to go off at the slightest provocation, a bird perching on the wire, a spattering of raindrops, a snake in the works, or a drunk Somchai taking out a power pole at 8 at night.

Last night the power went off at 10 minutes to nine, and came back on at exactly 6 this morning. 

I, like most everyone else am looking forward to the rains, but that is tinged with the certainty that the power will be off daily.

Ours went off last night for about 2 hours, first time this year. Last year we had no power outages  whatsoever which was incredible. I think solar panels and batteries are my next big purchase

11 hours ago, TCAK said:

 And Bday Prang what are you talking about? 

what bit don't you understand, I thought it was clear enough?

1 hour ago, AhFarangJa said:

All well and good IF you have the power in the first place. It is quite common in our area for the power to go off at the slightest provocation, a bird perching on the wire, a spattering of raindrops, a snake in the works, or a drunk Somchai taking out a power pole at 8 at night.

Last night the power went off at 10 minutes to nine, and came back on at exactly 6 this morning. 

I, like most everyone else am looking forward to the rains, but that is tinged with the certainty that the power will be off daily.

 

That's interesting. 

Where is your area? 

Thailand, or other? 

 

 

Beware salespeople trying to sell you a larger unit than you need.  Bigger is not better when it comes to air

The first thing they have to advice is to buy an Inverter airco, they are considerably economical in use.

13 hours ago, Baht Simpson said:

Crikey! If I ran mine at 27c in this weather I'd fry.

This doesn't make sense. If it's 34°C or 40°C outside it would still be 27°C in a room cooled to 27°C.

 

Shouldn't they have offered this information at the start of the hot season rather than a short time before it ends?

14 hours ago, Baht Simpson said:

Crikey! If I ran mine at 27c in this weather I'd fry.

27 is 27 whether in or outside.

26 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Shouldn't they have offered this information at the start of the hot season rather than a short time before it ends?

I hope you're right about a short time. This is the 10 day forecast where I am...

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/th

 

Furthermore, the PEA informs about the energy-saving advantages of modern inverter air conditioners since they cool rooms quickly and efficiently

 

 

 

An inverter aircon does not cool any quicker than a non inverter type.  Equivalent size compressor units will or should cool the same although they may use different refrigerant gasses which may make a difference.  Both types will use roughly the same electrical energy when running flat out, with similar sized compressor.  Where an inverter can save electricity is on compessor start up.  An induction motor as in the compressor can take around 7 times its running energy to start. So if your non inverter unit is set so that it is switching on and off constantly then it will be losing out to an inverter model.  The inverter models don't have this problem.  Inverters will also modulate up and down to maintain a steadier temperature rather than on/off.

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

That's interesting. 

Where is your area? 

Thailand, or other? 

 

 

Thailand, 

I have a 'TV computer room' off my bedroom more like a green house, high celling, but only gets morning sun through shade cloth, it just got hot, I have a floor fan pointing at me with the bedroom door slid open, so it sort of sucks it out, only a 9.8 BTU aircon in there, now running at 23 (night 26), I don't care anymore about my bill I'm willing to pay up to another 1k a month as long as I'm comfortable. TV room now at 29 but the cool air is blowing at me.        My "TV" room being built on my veranda.