3500 Baht Electric Bill.. Wtf Is This Correct?.

[toffo9]

Ok just moved into a bungalow, have a really old aircon in the bedroom and a brand new one in living room.. I put the aircon on allnight for 12 hours and used the one in living room too.. I got the bill and cudnt believe it.. never had a bill like that in the 17months ive stayed in Thailand.. My question is that could the old aircon in the bedroom be using to much power as it keeps making a boom boom noise all the time and it tripped the electrics before??? I ve now put the fan in bedroom to see wat happens on the next bill..

[Jdietz]

Sounds about right to me, Let's say the aircons will use on average 2kW (2 aircons, 12 hours, 50% on) and you are paying 3.5 Baht per kWh (unit), the electricity cost for the airconditioners alone will be 2,600 Baht. Add some lights, TV, etc and 3,500 Baht sounds good.

If you pay more per unit, you'll reach 3,500 Baht even sooner.

Edited March 31, 2011 by Jdietz

[timekeeper]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

[toffo9]

Ok thanks for your reply... Looking like the fan forever in bedroom now.. Still cant work it out , stayed in a hotel in pattaya for 6 months and sometimes left it on 24 hours aday.. bill was nomore than 1400 baht.. oh well

[toffo9]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

what yours is more than that?

[Jdietz]

A well insulated room in a concrete block (hotel) won't transfer heat as easily as a (wooden?) free-standing bungalow, with the sun shining on the flat roof. Also the corridors and the units adjacent to you will be airconditioned there for even less heat transfer.

So the airconditioner doesn't have to work as hard (I'd guess it'd be on idle most of the time you're running it in a hotel) An airconditioner only uses a significant amount of power when the compressor is on.

A fan uses about 35W

An airconditioner unit about 2,000W when active, larger units more.

[Jezz]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

what yours is more than that?

How much? That's four months for me at about 850 baht per month. Mind you, with the cold weather of late, who needs air con? When I do run two air cons, two bathrooms with electric showers, and the usual kitchen appliances, I average about 1200 per month. Maybe electric is cheaper in Isaan.

[toffo9]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

what yours is more than that?

How much? That's four months for me at about 850 baht per month. Mind you, with the cold weather of late, who needs air con? When I do run two air cons, two bathrooms with electric showers, and the usual kitchen appliances, I average about 1200 per month. Maybe electric is cheaper in Isaan.

Im in isaan and im glad the cold weather is herenbut looks like its getting warmer now..

[TBWG]

Hi

Just a thought ~~~ you say you have just moved into a new bungalow, maybe still on construction tariff which I am led to believe is much higher than standard domestic rate.

TBWG

[toffo9]

Hi

Just a thought ~~~ you say you have just moved into a new bungalow, maybe still on construction tariff which I am led to believe is much higher than standard domestic rate.

TBWG

Sorry its not new , I meant moved into

[zzaa09]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

Makes me glad to be living a countryside setting without all the needless "mod cons".......we've one small a/c unit in two reasonably sized houses. Even with moderate amount of electricity that we might use, we'll top out at around B350 per month.

[timekeeper]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

what yours is more than that?

10-12,000 every month

its not a boast, i want to make either.......

[H2oDunc]

As above, same same.

OP simply read the meter. If the figures are correct then that's what you pay. An old AC is going to use more than a new so maybe look to change for a new unit as it will pay for itself in a while.

Try a month with not using the old one and see if there is a marked difference ?

[angiud]

9000 shop (big) and house

[MaaTini]

just pay the bill

[sinbin]

Turn off all the power in the house and see if the meter is going round. The reason I say this is because my neighbour had a power surge, caused by lightning, and it caused his meter to malfunction.

[glegolo]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

Makes me glad to be living a countryside setting without all the needless "mod cons".......we've one small a/c unit in two reasonably sized houses. Even with moderate amount of electricity that we might use, we'll top out at around B350 per month.

One guy have a bill for 350 baht a month in electric and now this one for around 10-12.000 baht a month.... What kind of guys is this really???

I have a big one in my bedroom and one medium sized in my kids room and these two are going through the night time. And than on top of that i have a small one in my study going all day long. I am now talking about when it is NOT this cold, but in normal times of the year. My electric bills ends up in and around 1.800 - 1.950 baht a month....

I live in Isaan, is it different prices up here like one guy suggested or have you just forgotten to close your windows and doors

when using your aircon..... I say 10-12.000 baht.... are you having a castle???

Glegolo

[Jezz]

Makes me glad to be living a countryside setting without all the needless "mod cons".......we've one small a/c unit in two reasonably sized houses. Even with moderate amount of electricity that we might use, we'll top out at around B350 per month

My in'-laws bill used to be around 250 baht when they scrubbed the clothes in cold water, showered with cold water and cooked on the old bbq. Now they have the upper level to the modified house, with me, the missus and kids on the new groundfloor. The modern kitchen appliances and air conditioning pushed the combined monthly bill to 850 - 1200 baht monthly. In my book, some creature comforts are worth that bit extra. Ma and Pa upstairs are no problem at all; quiet, and help out with the kids sometimes, but never interfere.

[monsieurhappy]

As someone said, turn off all the electric units in your house and look to see if the meter is still running.

If it is then check to see if yours is the only house that is connected to that meter.

It is not unknown for another property to be using the electric you are paying for!

It has happened to people I know and they got disconnected before they noticed they were paying for someone else's power.

If you are the only one using your meter then just turn on one appliance at a time to see which one seems to be using more power than it should. Just a matter of elimination.

[powderpuff]

Get a technician to service/check the bedroom aircon for malfunction.

[toffo9]

man, i would love to have that bill...........

Makes me glad to be living a countryside setting without all the needless "mod cons".......we've one small a/c unit in two reasonably sized houses. Even with moderate amount of electricity that we might use, we'll top out at around B350 per month.

One guy have a bill for 350 baht a month in electric and now this one for around 10-12.000 baht a month.... What kind of guys is this really???

I have a big one in my bedroom and one medium sized in my kids room and these two are going through the night time. And than on top of that i have a small one in my study going all day long. I am now talking about when it is NOT this cold, but in normal times of the year. My electric bills ends up in and around 1.800 - 1.950 baht a month....

I live in Isaan, is it different prices up here like one guy suggested or have you just forgotten to close your windows and doors

when using your aircon..... I say 10-12.000 baht.... are you having a castle???

Glegolo

If your paying 2000 baht max for 3 aircons then my bill must b incorrect

[kamalabob2]

For the most recent billing period I paid the PEA 2835 today for 737 units of electricity. While electric bills are computed on a tiered scale, it averaged out to 3.85 baht per unit when all the taxes and FT are included. We did not run many of our eight air conditioners in that billing period, but the pool pump, water pump and the electric fence run every day. Even with daily use of a clothes washing machine, dish washing machine, rice cooker, two computers and more than one LCD TV it costs just over $3 usd a day for electricity. Our air conditioners are all three years old, but they are cleaned every nine months @ 400 baht per unit by a good appliance shop. We did not use our electric oven last month, and our BBQ and two HOB cook tops are gas. We are fortunate enough to have multi point hot water heaters for all house sinks and showers. But if history proves correct during the hot season with more a/c usage we will see electric bills over 3500 baht. We use LED, inverter florescent and CFL lighting inside and outside the home with many lights left on at night. One of our two refrigerators is an inverter model and four of the a/c units are inverter models. Every room has an Emerson, Hunter or CEI ceiling fan and we have several Mitsubishi stand up fans to help minimize a/c usage. As other posters have pointed out you might be having issues with a malfunctioning and/or dirty a/c unit, or a neighbor might be tapping your supply. I sure can't say the insulation placed UNDER the roof tiles helps much with keeping the home cool, but perhaps the 12.5 thick CPAC block exterior walls help to keep it comfortable.

[zzaa09]

My in'-laws bill used to be around 250 baht when they scrubbed the clothes in cold water, showered with cold water and cooked on the old bbq. Now they have the upper level to the modified house, with me, the missus and kids on the new groundfloor. The modern kitchen appliances and air conditioning pushed the combined monthly bill to 850 - 1200 baht monthly. In my book, some creature comforts are worth that bit extra. Ma and Pa upstairs are no problem at all; quiet, and help out with the kids sometimes, but never interfere.

Decent of ya to take in your in-laws! Cheers!

[SlyAnimal]

If this is your first electricity bill in the bungalow, and if you have the time etc to sort it out, you can maybe try and find out what the last metered reading was, and when it was taken.

When I first moved into my apartment, I had an electricity bill for around 950 Bhat, but I'd only been living there about 50% of the time that month (I went over to Lao for 2 weeks), also it was the cool season so I didn't use aircon much. I figured Maii Pen Raii and just paid the bill, since it was more than I expected but not exactly high.

This month though, my apartment initially gave me a bill of 700 Bhat, and then wrote me a new one for 100 Bhat later that day when I went to pay the invoice. As from what I gather, in the previous invoice they'd charged me from when the previous occupant moved out of the apartment (So fridge had been on + TV on standby maybe). Or it could be that they'd just done an estimate on the power initially, and then actually checked the meter this time, I'm not sure which it was since my Thai isn't that good, but either way, two potential causes which could be similar to your situation.

[toffo9]

getting a new air con for the bedroom fitted this weekend.. havent checked the meter yet but ill be checking to see if the neighbours are hooked up to mine and i will also turn the power off to see if its still running... Thanks everyone for all the advice been really helpful..

Edited April 2, 2011 by toffo9

[SanukJoeII]

Sounds about right to me, Let's say the aircons will use on average 2kW (2 aircons, 12 hours, 50% on) and you are paying 3.5 Baht per kWh (unit), the electricity cost for the airconditioners alone will be 2,600 Baht. Add some lights, TV, etc and 3,500 Baht sounds good.

If you pay more per unit, you'll reach 3,500 Baht even sooner.

Wrong thinking, wrong calculation.

An aircon uses only 2 kW when on full power, after reaching the desired temperature it switches to economical mode, using much less power.

Reading all comments and (good) advice one should consider this:

Aircon is expensive, the more units you have (and put on like some energy-wasters do, long time) the more expensive;

Have your aircon serviced annually, it will work better and use less energy;

Put it on 26C, no need for 20C as you need a blanket to keep warm and the missus often refrains from close encounters;

Put it on when you go to bed (if bedroom aircon), it will cool down the room quickly; (mine goes on full power for max. 30 minutes)

Don't leave doors/windows open between airconditioned and hot rooms and/or outside;

If no sun into the room, open the windows at night (mosquito screen in) so you get "fresh" air, helps the aircon work faster;

In general, keep the house cool, open windows and doors on the shade side, keep out the sun on the sunny side (this relates to rural residents like me, wouldn't do it in a large city).

And yes, check for "borrowing" neighbours, it happens...

Having said that, my personal experience in Isan, 4 year old house, one aircon in master bedroom, two water heaters in bathrooms, fans in all rooms:

In the "no aircon" season I pay around 800 baht/month (3.5 B/kW all in),

In the hot season with aircon on in the night (8 hours) I pay around 1500 B/month, resuming the aircon costs me about 500B/month if used daily, another 200B/month for fridge/freezer working harder plus cold water dispenser.

Common sense is the tool to save money and energy

3500 B is too much (for my taste), 10,000 is ridiculous unless living in a castle without windows but 12 aircons . Even if it doesn't hurt your wallet to pay 120k plus per year it hurts the energy output of our beloved planet, the only one we have (at current).

Cheers

Joe

[Naam]

when using your aircon..... I say 10-12.000 baht.... are you having a castle???

Glegolo

not necessarily a castle. my bill is 8-10,000 in the "cool" months and 12-14,000 in the hot months ("record" last year mid april-mid may was 15,690 Baht) . the share of aircon fluctuates between 40 and 60%. the other electrical gadgets are adding up to, such as

-pool pump

-pond pump

-irrigation pump

-water fall

-deep well

-house water supply

-hot water bathrooms

-washer

-dryer

-fridges

-freezer

-cooking

-lighting in/outside

-TVs

-computers

the highest demand comes from the mobile phone chargers

[zzaa09]

It really all comes down to how one wishes to live, doesn't it?

[Naam]

It really all comes down to how one wishes to live, doesn't it?

correct! interesting in the various topics which deal with electricity consumption are the postings which "condemn" the use of airconditioning with the smart advice "get used to the heat and/or sweat". nobody in his right mind would render advice in "cold" countries "don't use heating, just shiver".

[SanukJoeII]

It really all comes down to how one wishes to live, doesn't it?

correct! interesting in the various topics which deal with electricity consumption are the postings which "condemn" the use of airconditioning with the smart advice "get used to the heat and/or sweat". nobody in his right mind would render advice in "cold" countries "don't use heating, just shiver".

I'm afraid I missed those topics

Would it be correct in your opinion to try to have a house at the north pole heated to 35C?

Possible of course, but common sense says it's a waste of energy, like having 6 aircons in LOS on 20C and the windows/doors open, right?

Some rules are the same in cold countries, like close the windows and doors when the heating is on, keep the house warm.

Everybody to his own of course, but why spill money on energy instead of buying beer or other pleasant things for that money?

I'm happy with max. 1500 B/month for electricity and I'm not sweating, the house is nicely cool and if necessary the one aircon in the bedroom works for some time.

I'm sure you could save at least 25% on your electricity bills, by following some rules and common sense. The list you produce doesn't give reason for such high bills.

I'm not a freak on energy saving and I'm not telling you how to live your life, I just give my thoughts and that is a good thing of a forum :jap: