How much would be typical utility costs for living in a 75 sqm condo?

[chiang mai]

No such thing as the "UK" rate!

[retiredat50]

1,900kWh you use to cool the house is great and that's a big reason why I would like to move to Thailand. I live in a condo using an inside unit central air conditioning system. Typical electric costs for myself and neighbours ranges from $300-$500 a month.

I wonder what do you mean by "inside unit central air conditioning system"? In condos here (at least the ones under 100sqm) one rarely sees anything other than individual split-unit systems with one indoor/outdoor pair per room. Maybe your system is particularly uneconomical or very old?

Having spent a lot of time in Manila over the last 40 years I always found that whilst I can live quite happily there with just a fan much of the time there are barely a few weeks in the year here (Pattaya) when I can stand having the aircon off. It always seems to be significantly warmer and more humid here than there. I think it may be due to the water in the sea being cooler there.

Hi, It's a 12 years old building. The sides of the building are completely sealed from the ground to roof with no ventilation in sight. Our air conditioners are built into the units. I assume they get cooling water from some central point. It's one of the most expensive residential buildings in the Philippines but probably the least efficient air cons :-( When I look around at the other residents it doesn't look like money is a problem for them. However it's a big problem for me. Yes I agree with you about Thailand. Much hotter than Manila except for this time of year.

[Naam]

In Manila I use one air conditioner for about 12 hours a day and don't use much else that might consume much electricity. In US dollars my electric bill is around US $300.

there's obviously something totally wrong with the information you submitted. just talked to a friend who lives in Manila paying 5.96 pesos for 1kWh. assuming the consumption share of your single airconditioner is USD 200 ($100 cost for fridge, TV, lighting, computer, etc.) you are using 2,686kWh per month to cool a 75m² apartment = ~90kWh/day = 7.5kWh/hour.

compare your 2,686kWh with the 1,900kWh electricity per month i use to cool a house of ~600m² living area @26.5ºC / 24 hours a day.

My November 2013 Meralco bill shows Current Amount of 11,929.85 pesos / 1017 kWh = 11.73 pesos for 1kWh. Basic charge is 5.17 pesos but after that are 22 lines of other charges for taxes, generation (44%) of cost and others. This was not a typical month for me and it's not the hot season yet so the charges are lower than in summer.

1,900kWh you use to cool the house is great and that's a big reason why I would like to move to Thailand. I live in a condo using an inside unit central air conditioning system. Typical electric costs for myself and neighbours ranges from $300-$500 a month. I'm sure for others it's substantially more but those residents having 300m square units don't talk to foreigner like me :-)

11.73 pesos for 1kWh

here's the explanation! your total consumption of 1017 kWh paints a completely different picture. if we assume that ~80% of that consumption is aircon then we are down to 800 kWh/month, but that is still a lot for the size of your apartment.

[KittenKong]

It's a 12 years old building. The sides of the building are completely sealed from the ground to roof with no ventilation in sight. Our air conditioners are built into the units. I assume they get cooling water from some central point. It's one of the most expensive residential buildings in the Philippines but probably the least efficient air cons

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

[KittenKong]

here's the explanation! your total consumption of 1017 kWh paints a completely different picture. if we assume that ~80% of that consumption is aircon then we are down to 800 kWh/month, but that is still a lot for the size of your apartment.

His total monthly consumption is quite similar to mine for a condo of similar size. He pays a lot more per month for his electricity than I do though, and presumably that's down to the price he pays per unit (plus taxes and supplements as he mentioned).

So if we suppose that his consumption per month will be about the same here as in Manila then he should still end up paying quite a lot less here in total, assuming that he can pay the bill here directly at the official PEA rate.

[Naam]

It's a 12 years old building. The sides of the building are completely sealed from the ground to roof with no ventilation in sight. Our air conditioners are built into the units. I assume they get cooling water from some central point. It's one of the most expensive residential buildings in the Philippines but probably the least efficient air cons

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

possibility:

-his system is not centralised and his reference points to airducts/outlets in the ceiling served by an individual indoor water-cooled unit. the individual electricity bill would indicate that.

i experienced these units in Australian (QLD) hotel apartments. but water-cooled units are usually much more efficient than air-cooled ones.

[retiredat50]

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

Hopefully not hidden on the roof it would have to go up 12 floors and in the basement it would need to go down 12. I'm really not sure where the hot air goes but we do have cold water pipes feeding the aircon. Being in the Philippines I am guessing it's totally inefficient and I know it breaks down all the time. Just had a completely new unit fitted (again). When the old unit was taken out it looked like something that was home made. No sign of any manufacturers name. A big spinning wheel and it looked like nothing that would meet modern standards.

[trogers]

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

Hopefully not hidden on the roof it would have to go up 12 floors and in the basement it would need to go down 12. I'm really not sure where the hot air goes but we do have cold water pipes feeding the aircon. Being in the Philippines I am guessing it's totally inefficient and I know it breaks down all the time. Just had a completely new unit fitted (again). When the old unit was taken out it looked like something that was home made. No sign of any manufacturers name. A big spinning wheel and it looked like nothing that would meet modern standards.

If the building uses centralised air-con system (water cooled) like in large commercial buildings, you should be able to see cooling towers on the podium or tower roof.

[KittenKong]

I'm really not sure where the hot air goes but we do have cold water pipes feeding the aircon. Being in the Philippines I am guessing it's totally inefficient and I know it breaks down all the time. Just had a completely new unit fitted (again). When the old unit was taken out it looked like something that was home made. No sign of any manufacturers name. A big spinning wheel and it looked like nothing that would meet modern standards.

Sounds like the device that Naam described. I have no experience of these and have certainly never seen anything like it for condos/houses in SE Asia or in Europe.

If you move to a condo here you will surely have individual split air-con units with a pair of indoor/outdoor units for each room, or possibly one outdoor unit and a couple of indoor units serving two rooms. Maintenance is normally just thorough cleaning for about 400B every 6-12 months. My current system is 10 years old and has never had anything done to it apart from cleaning and checking the coolant pressure, which is part of the cleaning procedure. It still works fine and isn't noisy, but I am thinking about replacing it with new model that should use less electricity.

Edited January 1, 2014 by KittenKong

[MyFriend You]

.

The PI is "over the top" when it comes to electric rates, but at least the service is wholly unreliable. I lived there a few years and base my post on that experience. The internet fell in the same general ranking both in terms of cost and reliability.

Water is inexpensive in Thailand.

I do like the people who live in the PI.

Vietnam as well, I would say about 3x the rate in Bangkok

[mrfaroukh]

If you are tight on spending then the best way to reduce your electricity bill is to have fan in your room as well. I run the AC for almost 1 to 2 hours until the room is cold and at the same time the fan is on too. So the room get cold much faster. Then I switch off the AC and easily relax in a cool room for few hours. I do the same before sleeping. I am not doing this to save money but I find this more pleasant as otherwise it get too cold.

Anyway I paid around 40 US$ for almost 12 to 14 hours use earlier, 10 dollar for water.

[fish fingers]

has anyone thought of installing a simple solar grid tie system to reduce leccy bills?

Edited January 1, 2014 by fish fingers

[Naam]

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

Hopefully not hidden on the roof it would have to go up 12 floors and in the basement it would need to go down 12. I'm really not sure where the hot air goes but we do have cold water pipes feeding the aircon. Being in the Philippines I am guessing it's totally inefficient and I know it breaks down all the time. Just had a completely new unit fitted (again). When the old unit was taken out it looked like something that was home made. No sign of any manufacturers name. A big spinning wheel and it looked like nothing that would meet modern standards.

there are different types of water-cooled systems:

-block unit (airhandler with heat exchanger, integrated compressor and water-cooled condenser),

-airhandler which is fed by a central "chiller" with cold water of 5-8ºC.

if you tell us the cost for the new unit we will know which type you have.

[Naam]

It's a 12 years old building. The sides of the building are completely sealed from the ground to roof with no ventilation in sight. Our air conditioners are built into the units. I assume they get cooling water from some central point. It's one of the most expensive residential buildings in the Philippines but probably the least efficient air cons

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

that is correct but it could be that the electricity cost for chiller and cooling tower is distributed pro rata (e.g. m²) or by various other means like a flow meter that measures chilled water.

[trogers]

It's a 12 years old building. The sides of the building are completely sealed from the ground to roof with no ventilation in sight. Our air conditioners are built into the units. I assume they get cooling water from some central point. It's one of the most expensive residential buildings in the Philippines but probably the least efficient air cons

Strange. If the heat exchanger/compressor part of the air-con system is centralised then one would expect your electric bill to be lower and your common fee to be higher, as the centralised compressors would normally be being paid for by the building. It's the outdoor part that uses the bulk of the electricity, not the fan part inside your unit.

Some posher/older buildings here have the compressors for the (normal) split air-con systems hidden on the roof or in the basement or in service areas. I wonder if yours could be like that?

that is correct but it could be that the electricity cost for chiller and cooling tower is distributed pro rata (e.g. m²) or by various other means like a flow meter that measures chilled water.

If this is the case, the electricity cost would also include a pro-rata portion for common areas. Is the corridor also air-con like in a hotel?

When the OP mentioned that the building is fully covered, probably by curtain wall, with no balcony, it sounds like the building was first built as a commercial building like a hotel.

This is possible as it was developed during the Asian Financial crisis, and was later converted into an apartment. This will explain the lack of a kitchenette.

Edited January 2, 2014 by trogers