Air Cons

[jaideeguy]

In this extreme heat, I find myself running our aircons more and more hours per day as it gets hotter and hotter.

we have 5 units to service our large houses and on average we are now running the air cons 8+hrs per day. To save money and carbon footprint we are mostly using them for a couple of hrs a night to cool the room then off. occasionally for a half hr during the day for a quick nap.

I fumble when it comes to setting up a poll, so maybe a 'mod' could assist me in setting one up for this post.

Anyway, I'm just being nosey and wondering how many hrs/day others are using their aircons??

[pampal]

As little as possible(6-8 hours/day) in the hot season

[bkkmick]

All evening in the living room and all night in the bedrooms.

[Losangels]

Around seven hours/day when going to sleep at night, a few hours more on weekends

[froggshw]

Same here.....1 unit about 8 hours a day when we sleep....

[Mobi]

All night in the master bedroom, occasionally in other bedrooms at this time of year, but not much.

All the time I am in my office which is anything from 1 to 10 hours/day. (The computers heat up the room.)

Never turn them on in the lounge, as it is huge and airy, with 3 sets of double patio doors, which are kept open except for the fly screens and there is always a breeze, so we just use fans.

In any event, when home, I spend most evenings on my pool terrace and use fans to cool me.

[swain]

All day in the master bedroom if we are home..(doubles for office space)... living room we deal with fans most of the time but do air con when having company over. When needed at night ... air to cool the room down then fans until morning... When we were dealing with the electric resale from the condo we were living in.. we could have a 12k bill.. now we are in a three bedroom house buying directly from the government its only 2-3k each month with up to 5k during April, May, and June... this may seem high but nothing compared with what I was paying for in California..

Edited April 18, 2008 by swain

[popshirt]

At this time of year, all day and all night but set at 28 C. When nobody is home, air cons are off completely.

[Cuban]

About 12 hours a day on average, sometimes put the units on timer but most nights left running.

I would be interested in what temperature others set their aircon to.

Currently with 35 degrees outside during the day i'm happy with 28 when I get home, but either of us might click down to 26/27 degrees when sleeping.

[pampal]

I put it mostly on 28, sometimes 26 or 27 when I sleep

[Scott]

Mine runs about 12 hours a day, but in the bedroom only. I have it set at 24 and if I am home, it's on. I have a TV in the room and computer and it's a small room, so my electricity bill is still reasonable, less than 2,000 baht per month--although this month it might get close to 2,000 baht.

[Mosha]

During the hot season almost everynight about 9 or 10 hours. We only cool the main bedroom. The rest of the year we just use the room fan, around here it can actually feel quite cold on a night.

[JetsetBkk]

I'm waiting for Naam to reply.

(I think his 17 aircons are on 24x7.)

[samtam]

When I'm home (up to 24 hrs per day) all the time in the living room, or bedroom when I'm sleeping. When I'm out I switch all off, and it usually stays cool, unless the maid opens the balcony doors. These last few days it's been very humid indeed, and I see no reason to be uncomfortable. However, the timings I mention apply throughout the year. My electricity bill is usually THB8-10k per month, but I figure you spend that in UK in the winter for heating during the day, only here you need it to sleep aswell, and there's little option on the clothing front...I couldn't wear less if I am to maintain a semblance of decency.

[lioness]

Main Bedroom 1/2 hour at night before retiring only during the hottest months.

Lounge room about once a week for an hour or so if it's really hot.

I have ceiling fans in every room and 8 ceiling fans on my 2 large patios, at this time of year there is always 2 or 3 on wherever we happen to be.

Don;t know what others think but the more you sit in Air Cond the more you think you need it and you feel the heat even more when you do venture out.

[ignis]

Bedroom never use, all 7 windows are open 24/7..

Living room never unless have Thai visitors...

Likewise in the car mostly always drive with the window open

[Mosha]

When I'm home (up to 24 hrs per day) all the time in the living room, or bedroom when I'm sleeping. When I'm out I switch all off, and it usually stays cool, unless the maid opens the balcony doors. These last few days it's been very humid indeed, and I see no reason to be uncomfortable. However, the timings I mention apply throughout the year. My electricity bill is usually THB8-10k per month, but I figure you spend that in UK in the winter for heating during the day, only here you need it to sleep aswell, and there's little option on the clothing front...I couldn't wear less if I am to maintain a semblance of decency.

That is my bill for about 6 ot 7 months

[Naam]

I'm waiting for Naam to reply.

(I think his 17 aircons are on 24x7.)

it's only 16 aircons JSBkk but the last one installed is triple the size of the "normal" ones. that means a reasonable estimate is 18 aircons. it's too difficult to estimate and describe how many of the units are running x-hours on y-days. all what i can say is that my electricity cost in 2007 was a approximately 100,000 Baht and i estimate it will be be 130-140,000 Baht in 2008. perhaps it's of interest to mention that in 2007 the energy share of aircon was ~50% but will most probably go up to ~60% in 2008.

question: how long will it take till some clown accuses me of "flaunting" my aircons?

[Naam]

About 12 hours a day on average, sometimes put the units on timer but most nights left running.

I would be interested in what temperature others set their aircon to.

Currently with 35 degrees outside during the day i'm happy with 28 when I get home, but either of us might click down to 26/27 degrees when sleeping.

house 26-27ºC, bedroom cooling down to 18ºC (with 2 ACs) before retiring and then set one AC at 25ºC for the night, other one off.

[JAS21]

In this extreme heat, I find myself running our aircons more and more hours per day as it gets hotter and hotter.

we have 5 units to service our large houses and on average we are now running the air cons 8+hrs per day. To save money and carbon footprint we are mostly using them for a couple of hrs a night to cool the room then off. occasionally for a half hr during the day for a quick nap.

I fumble when it comes to setting up a poll, so maybe a 'mod' could assist me in setting one up for this post.

Anyway, I'm just being nosey and wondering how many hrs/day others are using their aircons??

One or two downstairs all the time that we are in. One in our bedroom all night 23Deg..Even my wife says it quite hot now...spend the money mate...why worry about the electric bill...rice and soy sauce is ok!

[libya 115]

I suppose it matters where in Thailand that you live. But I never use air con at night to sleep. Fans are enough.

I am out and about during the daytime, but if I were to stay in during the daytime then I would use it. I can understand people who have to work at home to use it, but for those of us not working and at leisure there is no need.

Plus, it is not really the temperature, it is the humidity that matters. For example 85 F low humidity to me is perfect. But 85 F at 80% humidity is uncomfortable.

I am a bit surprised at the enthusiasm for air-con; in what is a just a moderate tropical climate. It is the Middle East where air-con is essential, not SE Asia.

[Gravelrash]

In the cold season not at all (Chiang Mai). Only moved into my house recently and brought old a/c with me. My bedroom one not powerful enough, tomorrow they install a bigger and badder one, old one transferred to the smaller home office. Later will run office 10 hours a day in hot season and bedroom maybe 12 - 14. Lounge gets a run in the mornings 2 hours for the kids and Thai tutor. Cold season no air at all about 3 - 4 months.

I'm from another hot country and can cop it except for sleeping (these days), but what is the point? Mind you a really sweaty shag on occassion can be interesting.

[micksterbs]

We only have air-con in our bedroom which, at this time of year, runs whilst we sleep; setting at 24. Most of the year, we just have the bedroom windows open and use a fan. Winter, open and no fan. Lecky bill goes from around B450 with no air-con to B1300-ish with air-con. I lived in the Phils with no air-con and just couldn't sleep well in the hot, humid months.

[tamsin]

Never. I have an ECO house which allows natural air flow throughout and is cool even at this time of the year. My electricity bill is peanuts.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Must not take bait, must not act like clown, AGAIN...

Oh, stuff it!

Dr. Naam, I think 16 1/2 aircons are over the top, it is kinda like FLAUNTING your air cooling capacity.

Thanks to JetsetBKK for moral support in the ongoing battle.

Where is Mobi when we need him?

[Naam]

Must not take bait, must not act like clown, AGAIN...

Oh, stuff it!

Dr. Naam, I think 16 1/2 aircons are over the top, it is kinda like FLAUNTING your air cooling capacity.

Thanks to JetsetBKK for moral support in the ongoing battle.

Where is Mobi when we need him?

see? i knew it! by the way, i don't think i ever flaunted the total cooling capacity of aircons in my (thai) house. that's why i flaunt it today. it's 223,000 btu @ 32ºC ambient outside temperature. in a year or so i might add to the capacity another 36k btu totalling then 259,000 btu (but i'm not yet sure about that).

[Naam]

All night in the master bedroom, occasionally in other bedrooms at this time of year, but not much.

All the time I am in my office which is anything from 1 to 10 hours/day. (The computers heat up the room.)

Never turn them on in the lounge, as it is huge and airy, with 3 sets of double patio doors, which are kept open except for the fly screens and there is always a breeze, so we just use fans.

In any event, when home, I spend most evenings on my pool terrace and use fans to cool me.

you disappoint Mobi! why not revealing to the public that those six suites in your guesthouse (located a quarter mile behind the Mobi mansion) are airconditioned 24/7 at 22ºC in case some unexpected guests from Europe arrive who can't tolerate the heat?

[autonomous_unit]

We run our bedroom unit for the entire night, year round. We bought all "inverter" units so they wouldn't be too inefficient while operating all night with a low heat load.

We run one in the living room up to 6 hours a day in the evening if we're spending time there. This room is naturally too warm, even without the television or hifi powered on...

We very rarely use the biggest unit (a few times per year), in our dining room/pantry area, because that is the naturally coolest room of the house.

When I am working at home in the office, I run that unit the entire time I am in that (small) room. If I'm just hanging around during the day, I try to just use a fan and get some cross-breeze from open windows.

In general I think we set the thermostats in the 24-26 range. Sometimes it needs to be set lower to dehumidify in the rainy season.

[Mobi]

All night in the master bedroom, occasionally in other bedrooms at this time of year, but not much.

All the time I am in my office which is anything from 1 to 10 hours/day. (The computers heat up the room.)

Never turn them on in the lounge, as it is huge and airy, with 3 sets of double patio doors, which are kept open except for the fly screens and there is always a breeze, so we just use fans.

In any event, when home, I spend most evenings on my pool terrace and use fans to cool me.

you disappoint Mobi! why not revealing to the public that those six suites in your guesthouse (located a quarter mile behind the Mobi mansion) are airconditioned 24/7 at 22ºC in case some unexpected guests from Europe arrive who can't tolerate the heat?

Ok I'll come clean. I actually have 8 a/c's. I'm not in the same league as you Nam, but as stated we only really use the master bedroom and office a/c's on a regular basis. This time of year maybe one or two more on occasion.

I have "printed instructions" (German style ) for all house guests, telling them to feel free to use the a/c's but TURN THEM OFF WHEN YOU GO OUT. And do they? Do they f...ck

We are prestigious fan users and have ceiling fans everywhere, including the lounge (3), kitchen and bedrooms, plus in the guest quarters annex.

Beleive it or not, it is far less humid out here near Mabprachan than it is in Pattaya.

Many of you will know this, but for those who are new here, you will save a lot on electricity bills if you have your a/c's cleaned at least once a year, and they will run more efficiently.

[lardy]

Never. I have an ECO house which allows natural air flow throughout and is cool even at this time of the year. My electricity bill is peanuts.

So how do you keep it below the ambient temps outside? Is it on top of big poles? I mean if ambient temp is 40 c you cannot get this lower without air can u?