Electricity Bills

[Donnyboy]

Slow meters are a possible answer, as there seems to be no maintainance or checking procedure in place. In my case it would seem to be the reverse, as a single occupant of my house, I just cannot see where it all goes. Even when I am away for a month, I still get a bill of around 400 baht. All that's on is the fridge (5 star rating) and three security lights. Maybe a call to the PEA for a meter check is long overdue, at least it will give me the satisfaction of knowing one way or the other.

my first course of action would be to check if anyones tapping into your metered power.

Turn off your main switch in your home, then see if the meter is still turning.

Are the security lights high wattage? 3 x 150 watt lights on all night (10 hours)would equal 135kw per month, or roughly 350B

[Maejo Man]

my first course of action would be to check if anyones tapping into your metered power.

Turn off your main switch in your home, then see if the meter is still turning.

Are the security lights high wattage? 3 x 150 watt lights on all night (10 hours)would equal 135kw per month, or roughly 350B

Did that some while ago DB. Turned off the main switch on my CBR box, so zero power to anything in the house, and walked out to check the meter......stationary.

My security lights are all low power 9 Watt energy savers, I do have one 150 Watt but it only comes on from an infra red sensor if someone enters the property at night.

Will get the PEA to check at their earliest.

[annabel]

OK, I`m back.

My wife stuck our last bill away in a bag somewhere and I`ve been 2 hours searching for it. Found it now and here are the details:

Total bill: 1001.10 baht

Reading 26th July 2009 = 1107

Bill dated one month up to 25th August 2009, reading 1388

Units: 281

There are other Farangs living in my area and all bills average about the same.

During the cold spell in November to January when we do not use air con or fans, bills average 500 to 700 baht.

Jumping in here a bit late but anyway , my bills are astoundingly high every month. This month from Aug 23rd to Sept 23rd my bill is 2,186 units.... 6,324.84 + 2,023.14 (Tax?) + 584.36 (Vat) = 8,932.34 !!! Used ONE AC every night and fans elsewhere...Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 .... Other appliances are microwave, clothes washer, Dryer sometimes but rarely, and as much as I ry to minimize lights at night doesn't sem to make a big difference... very discouraging

[Maejo Man]

Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 ....

One of the drawbacks of owning a swimming pool I'm afraid. On a small pool running a 1 1/4 hp motor on a 12 hour duty cycle you can add around 2000 baht to your monthly bill. Using a larger pool pump, the bill will go up accordingly, the same as if you run the pump for longer periods. If you run the pool filter continuously expect a bill of around 4000 baht just for that alone.

[Naam]

Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 ....

One of the drawbacks of owning a swimming pool I'm afraid. On a small pool running a 1 1/4 hp motor on a 12 hour duty cycle you can add around 2000 baht to your monthly bill. Using a larger pool pump, the bill will go up accordingly, the same as if you run the pump for longer periods. If you run the pool filter continuously expect a bill of around 4000 baht just for that alone.

may i [not so] humbly add that only brain amputated ignorant pool owners run their filter pumps 12 hours a day?

[Naam]

count your blessings!

jan....... 6,600 Baht

feb....... 7,480

mar.... 10,691

apr..... 11,576

may.....11,993

jun...... 11,363

jul....... 11,845

aug......12,562 (3,060 kW)

sep..... 11,497 (2,800 kW)

[Spoonman]

Small two bed house (second bedroom used for storage only) two AC units, 1 runs 12hrs a night the other never, 2 fridges, 1 water cooler, 1 water pump, 1 hot water unit (shower) 2 fans, 1 PC runs 24/7, 1 laptop runs 24/7, 1 washing machine used every second day etc etc etc, my bills seem to average between 2500 to 3000 baht a month.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Spoonman

[pjclark1]

I'm in ChiangMai, 2 bed house, but don't use the aircon. Fridge, Tv, washing m/c, shower, 2 fans.

Never more than 450bht a month, some months the king paid the bill (when less than 300bht)

Edited September 29, 2009 by pjclark1

[annabel]

Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 ....

One of the drawbacks of owning a swimming pool I'm afraid. On a small pool running a 1 1/4 hp motor on a 12 hour duty cycle you can add around 2000 baht to your monthly bill. Using a larger pool pump, the bill will go up accordingly, the same as if you run the pump for longer periods. If you run the pool filter continuously expect a bill of around 4000 baht just for that alone.

Thanks Maejo... At least now I know for sure it's all the pumps running ... The swimming pool yup 12 hours , that's the minimum you can do to keep the pool clear and clean + my other 3 pumps for the borewell to get the water up and then through the filtering tanks and up to the storage tank... wish I would have known this before .... .. anyway thanks again !

[cmsally]

Jumping in here a bit late but anyway , my bills are astoundingly high every month. This month from Aug 23rd to Sept 23rd my bill is 2,186 units.... 6,324.84 + 2,023.14 (Tax?) + 584.36 (Vat) = 8,932.34 !!! Used ONE AC every night and fans elsewhere...Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 .... Other appliances are microwave, clothes washer, Dryer sometimes but rarely, and as much as I ry to minimize lights at night doesn't sem to make a big difference... very discouraging

Wow, that seems pretty high. Checking to see if your water pumps are working efficiently can help. As well as replacing any lengths of pipe that are filled with gunge. Worst offender is normally stretch of pipe that runs from well/borehole to tank, even worse if it goes vertically. We replace ours (this vertical piece) approx every 2 years, when its diameter has started to get smaller. If we left it, the pump would take twice as long to fill the tank.

[Donnyboy]

agree on making sure the pumps are working efficiently

friend of mine had the sand filter for the pool replaced recently, and he commented on how it made a difference to the power bill. Motor didnt sound as loud either.

[Donnyboy]

count your blessings!

jan....... 6,600 Baht

feb....... 7,480

mar.... 10,691

apr..... 11,576

may.....11,993

jun...... 11,363

jul....... 11,845

aug......12,562 (3,060 kW)

sep..... 11,497 (2,800 kW)

wow, you running the playboy mansion?

[keithkarmann]

Someone told me it's the swimming pool pump, the borewell and water system pumps that make the bills so high. We don't use any lights at all till about 6.30 PM and even then it's limited to kitchen , living / dinning room and some garden lights.... I just get a shock every month when I get the bill.. last year the bills averaged between 5,500 to 7,500 but this year seems to be averaging around 7,000 to 9,000 ....

One of the drawbacks of owning a swimming pool I'm afraid. On a small pool running a 1 1/4 hp motor on a 12 hour duty cycle you can add around 2000 baht to your monthly bill. Using a larger pool pump, the bill will go up accordingly, the same as if you run the pump for longer periods. If you run the pool filter continuously expect a bill of around 4000 baht just for that alone.

Do you really have to run your pool pump 12 hours a day to keep it clear? I have a 10mx4m pool, with a sand filter in Crete,

and people tell me off for running the approx 1.5kw pump for 4 hours a day. I have crystal clear pool water. I spend about 80 Euros a year on triplex chlorine tablets (Chlorine,Algeside and Flockulant) and about 30 Euros a year on Ph lowering acid.

The water in Crete is very bad (sometimes comes out of the tap brown) and has a very high calcium level. Also as a comparison we have very hot weather in Crete (up to 45c). Maybe I should open a swimming pool consultancy.

[Maejo Man]

Do you really have to run your pool pump 12 hours a day to keep it clear? I have a 10mx4m pool, with a sand filter in Crete,

and people tell me off for running the approx 1.5kw pump for 4 hours a day. ...............................

That's what we would call a plunge pool, and not a swimming pool

[womblejamie]

Jesus some of the prices seem extortionate!! Me and the wife have a 3-bed house, shared with a cat and a dog. Both work from home computers on about 14-16 hours a day X2. Air-con in the bedroom, TV on when the PC's are not. and are averages about 500-600 per month double that for your Condo landlords jacking up the price and we are still no where near yours. We lived in a Condo type flat in Koh Samui and our bills were always coming in expensive like yours, then we found out the landlord was sharing our electric metre but we were footing the bill (cheeky git), so after a small row with the Russian guy we got two months free rent which amounted to 24,000 baht and were over the moon. We moved to Chiang Mai as soon as the free rent was up though!

Something is defo wrong with how they calculate it or maybe it is perfectly correct and just charging way over the odds!!

[SM7WGP]

aircon is running 24/7 so and also couple of fans tv etc 2060 baht in the hot season 4 room house

Forgott to say I have a 16amp surge on the meter the normal is 6 amp

Edited September 30, 2009 by SM7WGP

[pjclark1]

Just got my latest bill on the 2 bed house

Standing charge 228bht

Electricity (@ .9255 bht/unit) 104bht

Tax (@ 7%) 23bht

total 348bht for the month

PS

Tap water 6 cubic meters (@5bht a unit) 30bht for last month

Drinking water (2 crates of bottles + a big container per week delivered to my home) 300bht a month

I love the utility companies out here!

Edited September 30, 2009 by pjclark1

[harrry]

count your blessings!

jan....... 6,600 Baht

feb....... 7,480

mar.... 10,691

apr..... 11,576

may.....11,993

jun...... 11,363

jul....... 11,845

aug......12,562 (3,060 kW)

sep..... 11,497 (2,800 kW)

So the only Conservation of Energy you subscrive to is that of Newton?

[Donnyboy]

Just got my latest bill on the 2 bed house

Standing charge 228bht

Electricity (@ .9255 bht/unit) 104bht

Tax (@ 7%) 23bht

total 348bht for the month

PS

Tap water 6 cubic meters (@5bht a unit) 30bht for last month

Drinking water (2 crates of bottles + a big container per week delivered to my home) 300bht a month

I love the utility companies out here!

lucky you

bill came yesterday

499 units @ 1762.77

7% tax @ 123.39

aircon was used rarely as well

[KevinHunt]

lucky you

bill came yesterday

499 units @ 1762.77

7% tax @ 123.39

aircon was used rarely as well

My electric bill is very, very low although we use a/c quite a lot. My bills were quite high, so my brother-in-law from Liverpool checked the meter, when he was last here. I don't know what he did, but it seemed to work. I think it just needed adjusting?!! He seems to know about these things.

Anyone interested in getting a 'Water bill' topic up and running? I'm sure it would be as equally fascinating. Maybe, those that have scanners could scan their bills. That would be good.

[Naam]

count your blessings!

jan....... 6,600 Baht

feb....... 7,480

mar.... 10,691

apr..... 11,576

may.....11,993

jun...... 11,363

jul....... 11,845

aug......12,562 (3,060 kW)

sep..... 11,497 (2,800 kW)

So the only Conservation of Energy you subscrive to is that of Newton?

i did not move to Thailand to conserve energy and sweat. moreover i confess shamefully that i did not conserve energy when burning heating oil to heat my house in Germany and when using electric energy to cool my house in Florida.

edited for addendum: airconditioning is less than 50% of total energy consumption.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Naam

[Naam]

The swimming pool yup 12 hours , that's the minimum you can do to keep the pool clear and clean

[Donnyboy]

My electric bill is very, very low although we use a/c quite a lot. My bills were quite high, so my brother-in-law from Liverpool checked the meter, when he was last here. I don't know what he did, but it seemed to work. I think it just needed adjusting?!! He seems to know about these things.

Anyone interested in getting a 'Water bill' topic up and running? I'm sure it would be as equally fascinating. Maybe, those that have scanners could scan their bills. That would be good.

im more interested on what re-adjustments yr brother in law made

[marsteele]

I stayed in a room with an ensuit when I 1st came over,3 yrs ago just a TV and fridge and was paying the same every month 1,100 for electricity. I questioned it and was shown a meter by the manager for my room. Now my wife and I have built a 4 bedroom home air conditioning throughout 2 fridges (one for beer) and everything else you can think of. Our bill is about 720 baht per month. I think if you stay in an appartment complex then the management are skimming thier share of the electricity and water costs as well.

[aginns]

I am living in a Condo in Chiang Mai near Super Highway, ca. 25 m2 and my first month electricity Bill was 2642 THB!! I don't use AC in a high capacity. .I already complained this to my Condo Owner and we wait and see this month.Can this be realistic? If not, can somebody advise me how I can adjust this?

Thanks,

[LJW]

My electric bill for a 3 bedroom house w/ 3 air-con, pool, 3 waterfalls is around 4 or 5k per month.

[cmsally]

Regarding electric bills, a heads up for people in Chiang Mai (and probably elsewhere (that get their bills directly from PEA; ie not from apartment owner charging their own rate)

Check on the top left hand corner of your bill that is says number 11

If it says number 20 , you are being charged the business rate which is at least 30% more if my calculations work out correctly.

Also don't assume that because it says 11 this month it will be the same next month , check it every month.

I bought a condo last year and bills before purchase and for 3 months after purchase were 11

and then the bills just changed to 20 by magic.

I didn't notice until the condo was empty for 3 months and the bills were high.

A friend then told me 11 = HOUSEHOLD RATE

20 = BUSINESS RATE

I had to go and check at the PEA Nong Hoi and change it. This month it should be back to 11 so am waiting to check.

Interestingly enough the PEA computers showed it being as 20 rate for the last many many years.

Bringing out last years bills when it still showed 11 and the first bill when it changed to 20 brought a hushed silence and mutterings about the "meter" dept. Like most large institutions I don't think one dept always gets on well with the other.

[KimoMax]

Landoloards not giving you a proper bill from PEA or EGAT is one of the biggest SCAMS here in Thailand perpetrated not only on foreigners, but even locals.

I had a landloard once who refused to give me a proper bill and said the bill was higher than EGAT becsue the power was supplied by the nearby Military Base.

I had made it a point in my rental contract to have a proper electric metered and billed to me only, but this never happened.

The landloard was trying to get nearly 10 baht per electric unit from me. I refused but the misses agreed to 6 bath with the landloard against my wishes.

Complaining did no good. I was being taken by the landloard for a ride.

I moved !

Was unfortunate because it was a nice beachfront cottage, but not worth nearly 3,000 per month for electricity.

Should have been about 1,000 or less.

So the landloards get a Free Ride off your use of Electricity.

Nice to get nearly 2,000 extra each month from every rental without doing anything except going for the free ride.

Edited July 19, 2011 by KimoMax

[PingandSingh]

This is mystory about the Thai electricity company and their officials. You will notbelieve it if it would happen somewhereelse in the world. We are billed at the official unit rate.

My wife andI live in a 100+sqm condo for about 8 years. We never had electricity billsover 200 Baht a month as we never cook at home (go out every day), never runairco (windows always open and most ofthe time a nice breeze on the 10+ floor). We have a TV running for 4-5 hours/dayand 1 pc for about 10 hours /day. Most of the time we not use hot water at theshower and never have many lights on (1 x 40 watt only). That’s about all.

Last year,and coming back from a 2 week vacation, we had a bill of 500 Baht and not beingin the condo half of the month. We complaint and tried to find out what wentwrong. Apparently they installed a new meter without our knowledge and while wewere gone. They told us that, after 10 years, they had to install new meters bylaw! When I showed all my bills of the last 4-5 years, the manager told me veryserious: “you have a new meter now and new meters are better and run fasterthan old meters. It is normal you have to pay more as it turns fasteraround”. ! ! !

Talking tomany other Egat-staff they all told me the same….. new meter… run better… moreexpensive…. When I told all those people that in Western Countries all metershave to run the same volume, old or new, they just smiled and said “not here in Thailand”.

As anexample I told them to better not go to a new pump at the gas station as thatpump would spin faster and thus give less fuel. They smiled, but not one didunderstand this comparison.

I wroteletters and emails about this to the highest Egat staff, even in Bangkok, andnever got any reply back.

Since that time,our bills tripled and we can do nothing. They came to check the meter twice andfor them everything is OK. We cannot get the old meter back as well.

This isThailand.

[LJW]

I stayed in a room with an ensuit when I 1st came over,3 yrs ago just a TV and fridge and was paying the same every month 1,100 for electricity. I questioned it and was shown a meter by the manager for my room. Now my wife and I have built a 4 bedroom home air conditioning throughout 2 fridges (one for beer) and everything else you can think of. Our bill is about 720 baht per month. I think if you stay in an appartment complex then the management are skimming thier share of the electricity and water costs as well.

With a 4 bedroom house with airconditioning throughout, I don't believe you saying your electric bill is about 720 baht per month.

Why lie???