Paying 10,000+ Baht/Month On Electricity

[Cheesekraft]

Heya, in our house we have two bedrooms filled, we have four ACs, maybe running 1.5 AC 24/7 on average. Our electricity bill is always 5,600-10,700 baht/month. We are on the standard housing electricity pricing AFAIK, starting around 3 baht or so but increases with use.

I paid around 6-9,000 baht/month for electricity myself when I used AC a lot in a studio apartment or two, but I figured it would be less in a house. We had an electrician come by and check the switchbox and saw the ACs were using about 6-8 "units" (amps?) a piece, meter around 0.001 with the switch down, and only 0.02 discrepancy between box voltage and the meter spinning. All of the ACs on in the house was about 39 units, but when we turned on the hot water, one shower was 39 units (the same as four ACs and all of the lights) and the other was the same.

Our water bill is also around 570 baht which I hear is high, given we don't use it for anything except showers/dishes/very briefly watering some plants.

I don't really know what I am asking, but does this seem too high? What can we do? The electrician thinks we should replace the hot water machines but they certainly don't get a lot of use, so I am not sure how they would impact the bill this much.

Thanks! =--0

[cmsally]

You don't mention where you are living which might help people compare to you if they are nearby. Try switching off ALL the appliances and then take a look at your meter and should be static and then switch on appliances one at a time. Should give you some idea of what is going on.

[KunMatt]

10k a month at 3 baht a unit is 3,333 units so approx 111 units a day, and on average 4.6 units every hour for the month.

So, somehow you are burning 4.6kW on average every single hour of the month. A decent aircon can use 1.8kW each, one that hasn't been serviced or running efficiently can be much more. If you are running multiple aircons constantly then 10k a month is doable, but it is extremely expensive.

Our bill is usually less than 1k on the same rate as you; we have 1 AC, 2 hot showers, water pumps, oven, microwave, washing machine, big screen TV etc.

[iainiain101]

sounds about right. we have 3 fridges and use 4 air cons to get to that amount. your water bill is less, we run at about 1k a month.

Iain

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Not sure if the bill is high, but running FOUR air conditioners continuously around the clock is impressive, if nothing else.

[brit1984]

Sounds normal, don't worry.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[Briggsy]

That sounds right to me. The size of the air conditioners will make a difference.

[KunMatt]

Not sure if the bill is high, but running FOUR air conditioners continuously around the clock is impressive, if nothing else.

4 aircons in one house is extreme. No idea how cold you can get a house here, he didn't say but maybe he is part Eskimo.

[ARISTIDE]

I have four AC too but I use one at a time 24/7 bill rarely exceed 3 thousand something bath. The BTU size for each is a bit bigger than what's required.

I also have electric water heaters installed in kitchen and 2 bathrooms.

I use the water heater in the kitchen almost all the time.

Edited July 16, 2012 by ARISTIDE

[ARISTIDE]

4 aircons in one house is extreme. No idea how cold you can get a house here, he didn't say but maybe he is part Eskimo.

OP mention four but running 1.5 AC?

[eyecatcher]

Sounds normal, don't worry.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

Well thats it them...I am not normal; confirmed.

sorry but I dont know what you are doing to use that much electric and water.

in my business with showers and washing machines on every day, regularly topping up the pond due to evaporation my usage is about 9 or 10 m3 and that bill is around 200bt.

Electric, last month was a painful bill for me, it was 1800bt mainly becasue I had one of my 4 aircons on all night every night.

and to put your 10k bill in perspective, I know the owner of a well known night club paying marginally more than 10k

A suggestion to save costs.............get out more.........and switch yours off

[CMNightRider]

I would check to see if one of your neighbors has taped into your electricity.

[crazykopite]

WOW I have a 500 sq mtr house with swimming pool and have to pay the developer 5 bht per unit and I have never paid more the 3500 for a month of electricity

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Not sure if the bill is high, but running FOUR air conditioners continuously around the clock is impressive, if nothing else.

4 aircons in one house is extreme. No idea how cold you can get a house here, he didn't say but maybe he is part Eskimo.

Well, I have 6 of them in my place, but a maximum of two running at the same time, and then only at night, for some nights.

When running them during the day the level of heat-gain / insulation in those rooms will have a big impact too.

[hellodolly]

Sorry don't know the procedure but their is a separate department in the Government that will come out and check your meter to make sure it is running properly. Perhaps where you pay your bill will have the information.

From what I have read here it would seem that perhaps the water heater is a big source of power usage. I find it hard to believe that the average usage time would be much over one hour a day. We only wash ever three days and even then the hot water is not on that much I live in a studio only one air con but I have two machines that run all night and quite often the air con. One month the bill would have been about 3,000 baht at the normal rate. Living in a condo I pay almost double.

How often do you service the air con? Is it placed in a position to cool the room down in the best possible way. I know ours was placed to the side of the windows blowing across the front of them. Had it moved to a more central part of the room. One reason or another they could not face it right into the room just across in front of the windows.

Just my opinion but your bill seems rather high to me.

I did not know that the standard rate goes up with use.

[expat63]

Between 1200-2000 bath. One Aircon running only nights and cleaned every 1/2 years. 3.5 bath/unit

For water we never exceeds 200 bath

[eyecatcher]

Between 1200-2000 bath. One Aircon running only nights and cleaned every 1/2 years. 3.5 bath/unit

For water we never exceeds 200 bath

I would say identical bills to me............you are not my wife are you?.....

[brit1984]

I don't think this thread was intended to be about how much electricity we use. The OP just wants clarification if his bill is consistent with his usage.

We should read his description of his usage, compare it to our usage, and tell him whether his bill is proportional to ours (adjusted up or down depending on our usage).

That is what I did and that is why I can say the OP's bill makes sense. I don't think the OP asked how much electricity we all use.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[expat63]

Between 1200-2000 bath. One Aircon running only nights and cleaned every 1/2 years. 3.5 bath/unit

For water we never exceeds 200 bath

I would say identical bills to me............you are not my wife are you?.....

I hope not

[Lobo4819]

800-2000 per month for electric, often using one A/C all night and on oppressive days. Water about 200 per month watering plants daily most days.

[Beetlejuice]

What you are running sounds like an extravagance.

I would like to know; how many people in the household and how many hours each day do they run your appliances?

As for having four AC units, just for a two-bedroom home and all the water, are you running a farm or some sort of commercial outfit from your home?

We live in a 5-bedroom property and my electric and water bills total only a fifth, sometimes less of what you are paying.

So for some reason your household is either burning electricity or splashing water for fun, or this is a commercial set up. If neither than you’re being stitched up.

[Naam]

Not sure if the bill is high, but running FOUR air conditioners continuously around the clock is impressive, if nothing else.

4 aircons in one house is extreme. No idea how cold you can get a house here, he didn't say but maybe he is part Eskimo.

4 aircons in one house is indeed extreme. that's why i have 17 units installed in the main house but the only "impressive" thing is my monthly electricity bill, especially during the hot season, like now with a lack of rain and clouds.

by the way, the expression "one (or more) aircon running" means nothing. there are units with a capacity of 7,000 btu/h which draw in cooling mode 0.8 kWh and there are units with a capacity of 48,000 btu/h which draw in cooling mode 5.8kWh. some people think the aircon is "running" even when the compressor is off because the demanded temperature has been reached. that during this phase of operation the energy consumption is only a fraction is quite often not taken into consideration.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Naam

[Naam]

WOW I have a 500 sq mtr house with swimming pool and have to pay the developer 5 bht per unit and I have never paid more the 3500 for a month of electricity

finally an excellent description with a wealth of detailed information how long a specific piece of string can be.

this encourages me to mention our details. we have a 622m² house which we keep at an average temperature of 26-26.5ºC and our last electricitity bill (may 21 till june 19) was 545 Baht and 59 Satang.

[mamborobert]

WOW I have a 500 sq mtr house with swimming pool and have to pay the developer 5 bht per unit and I have never paid more the 3500 for a month of electricity

finally an excellent description with a wealth of detailed information how long a specific piece of string can be.

this encourages me to mention our details. we have a 622m² house which we keep at an average temperature of 26-26.5ºC and our last electricitity bill (may 21 till june 19) was 545 Baht and 59 Satang.

But how many aircon units and what BTU? Facts, we want facts,

Back to the OP, I live in a shophouse, its huge (sorry never that worried about the area) but have high ceilings both floors, large rooms, and just operate with fans, large industrial ceiling and portable (matter of choice rather than finance). Would be a really bad month if I ran over 1000 baht.

Even with aircon in Australia in three rooms, multiple fridges, tvs etc if I came to a bill of $300 plus AUD (about 10000nht) for a month of power i would be amazed (and more likely shocked, and angry)...and power here is cheaper.

I can understand using aircon, but even your old studio price is a shocker to me.

Maybe you ought to look at not running units 24/7....I don't do that even in Australia over summer with the temperature being higher than here though not the humidity. Better construction, insulation, tiling have all altered the temp of my house, but even before I did all that I had one big open plan lounge/kitchen/dining room with a 2hp unit in use in daytime with aircon on from maybe 10.00am, turn on bedroom/s aircon an hour before I and kids retire, switch off lounge unit, and so ad infinitum. Would never run all units at the same time......not doing any good for anyone at night, and room does not heat up at night that much anyway when aircon has been running in the day.

But I digress (old age pls forgive me). The cost itself does not to me seem inconsistent with your use. If thats the use you want or need, thats the price you pay. Everyone here is consuming differently but the price you are paying seems reasonable to me (though perhaps not the consumption).,

Edited July 16, 2012 by mamborobert

[transam]

WOW I have a 500 sq mtr house with swimming pool and have to pay the developer 5 bht per unit and I have never paid more the 3500 for a month of electricity

finally an excellent description with a wealth of detailed information how long a specific piece of string can be.

this encourages me to mention our details. we have a 622m² house which we keep at an average temperature of 26-26.5ºC and our last electricitity bill (may 21 till june 19) was 545 Baht and 59 Satang.

Next door are paying the rest.

[Dante99]

WOW I have a 500 sq mtr house with swimming pool and have to pay the developer 5 bht per unit and I have never paid more the 3500 for a month of electricity

finally an excellent description with a wealth of detailed information how long a specific piece of string can be.

this encourages me to mention our details. we have a 622m² house which we keep at an average temperature of 26-26.5ºC and our last electricitity bill (may 21 till june 19) was 545 Baht and 59 Satang.

Very efficient Nam. Congratulations. How is it done? Are you in the cool mountains? Have a very thermal efficient house? Alternate source of electricity?

[hedonist44]

Not sure if the bill is high, but running FOUR air conditioners continuously around the clock is impressive, if nothing else.

4 aircons in one house is extreme. No idea how cold you can get a house here, he didn't say but maybe he is part Eskimo.

4 aircons is "not" extreme in a larger house....just saying

[trainman34014]

Seems people rely on too much aircon. I find contra-rotating wall fans suit us better at night and they don't dry the air out as much. Only use aircon at the very hottest times. 3 bedrooms, office, oven etc. A very airy house close to nature means breeze coming through most of the day. Since building in 2009 I've never had an electric bill higher than 550 Baht.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Seems to be some missing information to me

This house how big is it (Sq.m.)

Are you renting or buying ?

How long do you plan to live there ?

How old and how many BTU's are your A/C units ?

At what temprature do you set your A/C units ?

My home is about 120 sq. m.

3 of us live there min. 6 showers a day in total

Dining room and bedrooms have ceiling fans

Home has 2 average A/C units with 10 EER ratings, about average. CCould get 16+ and pay double and save over 50% on A/C cost but only think I will only be in the home 2 years

Home is insulated.we spend about 10,000 Bt to do that and our power bills reduced 50%

We have a western kitchen, Lots of lites, 2 big flat screens on more than I want to admit, and 2 computers on 75% of the time

We pay 5 baht a unit for power and with guest last month our bill was 1057 for power and 100 Bt for water.

[worgeordie]

You need to ask yourselves do you really need A/C s, it seems compulsory if you

are from U.S.A. been brought up with them,maybe less so with Europeans ,but

I have lived here many years and have never had A/C installed.

Have lots of trees and plants growing around the house,leave windows open,use

fans when it gets too hot, and only use a sarong when around the house or in the

garden, they maybe 5 days a year when I wish I had A/C ,the other 360 no thanks.

I am sure you would need one if you live in a condo or a house with a lot of concrete

around. this is all just my opinion and how I live.

regards Worgeordie