Paying 10,000+ Baht/Month On Electricity

[jacktrip]

You don't need AC. I have it and rarely use it and my electric is around 350-400/month. Learn to like warm air, open windows and use a fan.

[transam]

You don't need AC. I have it and rarely use it and my electric is around 350-400/month. Learn to like warm air, open windows and use a fan.

You live in a Temple ?

[elektrified]

You don't need AC. I have it and rarely use it and my electric is around 350-400/month. Learn to like warm air, open windows and use a fan.

If you want to live like that, well then that's your business. But 90% of the people want to live in comfort even if it costs more. I always run the A/C at night but seldom during the day except during the hot season. We do have a number of fans on at all times.

[cooked]

We definitely noticed a difference when we put in insulation above the ceiling. We also installed insulating foil under the roof (stops radiant heat). Anyway now, if you are foolish enough to stick your head up there, the heat is intolerable. We also put a ventilation aperture at both ends of the roof space, I don't know about putting a fan in up there as some people recommend.

What type of insulation did you use?

15cm of (sorry I'm not sure what you call it here) glass fibre 'bats' with aluminium foil would have been enough I guess, but we put in 20cm. I know that there are firms that will spray polyurethane foam up in your roof space but this is more expensive.

20cm Q-Blocks? Great, way to go.

I think that the main source of radiated heat in a house in Thailand is through the roof, maybe you want to look at some Australian websites, they have the same problems.

[Naam]

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.

relying appreciating airconditioning depends on the individual person. any advice such as "i find... i think... why not sweating a bit... i save on airconditioning to buy more beer... etc." is not only irrelevant but ridiculous.

It's not about trying to give advice; quoting a persons own circumstances is neither irrelevant or ridiculous. The OP is asking people what he can do to lower his bills and people have a right to answer as they see fit.

it goes without saying that anybody has the right to comment as he/she sees fit. i claim that right for me too.

-advising somebody to save energy by using less airconditioning is the same like lecturing "two plus two equals four".

-the same goes for "very airy house... means breeze...". if the outside temperature is 36ºC what good is an available "breeze"?

-most irrelevant is "close to nature". who will sell his existing home and build or rent another home "close to nature", spending a substantial amount of money to save on energy?

[Naam]

All merry nit picking apart, I wonder if the OP has any kind of insulation in his house? We have insulated the ceiling and (sunside) walls of our house, and plan on extending the roof to keep the sun of the wall exposed mainly to the sun as well as providing an outside living space.. Double glazing? Dunno about that.

Anyway, we use the A/C only occasionally and I wonder sometimes if it was worthwhile installing.

Yeah, I'm wondering the same about putting insulation into our ceilings. I used 20cm Q-Cons for the whole house and the walls are stone cold throughout the day, even to touch in the outside of the house. My living room is on the west side of the house and the hottest it will get is 31.6 degrees when it is 42+ degrees outside, however at nighttime when it is 26 degrees outside it is 29 to 31 degrees inside. I don't see how insulating my ceiling will help this. Surely it will be better if our room had no ceiling at all and the roof was the ceiling at 8m high so all of the hot air could be even further away from me. Houses with ceilings high like this in the UK are very difficult to heat up and take a lot of energy.

Please somebody explain to me how insulating my ceiling will keep the hot air from coming down into my room and how by not letting the hot air rise out of the room is a good thing. I keep hearing that the insulation stops heat radiating down into the room.

Naam, you may come and tell me that everything I said is wrong!

ceiling height certainly helps but is not even 10% as efficient as a good ceiling insulation. also not practical if you have a two or more story home.

extending the roof overhang to reduce direct sun on outside walls is an excellent idea.

double glazing in the tropics does not provide the same energy savings as it does in "cold" countries. the simple reason is that the outside/inside temperature difference in the tropics is a fraction of the difference e.g. in northern Europe where it might be 25ºC below zero but the home is heated to a comfortable 25ºC, id est temp diff 50ºC whereas in the tropics it's less than 10ºC.

shade trees =

light reflecting outside paint =

glazed roof tiles =

curtains with sunblock backing =

high ceilings =

heat reflecting window glazing =

big roof overhangs =

natural attic ventilation =

forced attic ventilation =

ceiling insulation =

whole house fan =

selecting and placing a/c units appropriately =

q-con or superblock =

double outside walls q-con or superblock =

sweating to have more money for Chang =

fans instead of airconditioning =

house on stilts =

[Cheesekraft]

got the bill down to 7,287.01 this month by practicing really strict use of the ACs hopefuilly can make it even lower for the next month!

[barefoot1988]

thats pretty high but no worries its getting cooler. last night was a cold one