21k electricity bill, 2br

[Pib]

4.8 baht/KWH (includes all fees and tax) is the current residential rate when billed directly by the electric company...It's also pretty close to the current and various business rates...but folks on a Temporary Power connection/service can pay around 7 baht/KWH. People paying more than that are paying additive costs piled-on by the landlord, association, etc.

Sent from my Samsung S4

[vento]

thanks again for all the answers. now even though i didnt find a soloution like, someone is stealing your power... meter is not working or similar, it was still very helpfull in order for me to understand the size of my system and a strict usage pattern is needed to control the usage.

Im out of town for a few days, when i get back to bkk i will try different AC settings for 24h at a time, reading the meter everyday and compare results. now, i never had to do this in my life, but this time is seems needed.

Cheers

[GOLDBUGGY]

If you moved in and this is your first electric bill it is probably because they added on the past 6 months, or so, when nobody was living there. Refrigerator, TV, testing the air cons from prospective renters, and things like that use power, even when nobody lives their. They are supposed to clear that up for you but in my case I am sure they did not, but said they did.

I should have taken the electric meter reading before I moved in. Or maybe it is a hook-up fee I did not know about. All I know is in my first month, when I was only there for 15 days my electric bill was over 9,500 Baht. The next month I was here for the full month with my air con running full time and it was around 6,000 Baht. Never seen it much over that in all this time. So where did this extra 3,500 Baht show up after only a half month? .

[Pib]

If you moved in and this is your first electric bill it is probably because they added on the past 6 months, or so, when nobody was living there. Refrigerator, TV, testing the air cons from prospective renters, and things like that use power, even when nobody lives their. They are supposed to clear that up for you but in my case I am sure they did not, but said they did.

I should have taken the electric meter reading before I moved in. Or maybe it is a hook-up fee I did not know about. All I know is in my first month, when I was only there for 15 days my electric bill was over 9,500 Baht. The next month I was here for the full month with my air con running full time and it was around 6,000 Baht. Never seen it much over that in all this time. So where did this extra 3,500 Baht show up after only a half month? .

For you folks who live in apartments/condos, do you get your electric bill directly from the electric company in your name, or from building management/the landlord? Like when moving in to get your electric service turned on did you (or your representative) go to the electric company and open your electric service account, or was this all done with building management?

[Ulic]

I have a 36sqm 1 bedroom unit with 2 air con units. I am not shy about running them but don't run them steady. Probably

18 hours a day at the moment and 12 hours during the winter (one unit at a time, bedroom set at 24c and living room at 26c)

when it is cool. Electric bills have ranged from 800 baht a month in the winter to 1200 baht a month now. So while

your place is considerably bigger your bills seem outrageous to me. As mentioned have the units serviced and use a

fan as well. I could have halved my electricity use if I wanted but the cost was low so why bother.

[Lancashirelad]

vento.....

Assuming you pay 4 baht per unit of electricity, here is what it would cost if the compressor on that 3 phase monster ran at a 100 % duty cycle and all day and night:

21,700/1000 units/hr * 24 hrs use per day * 30 days * 4 baht per unit = 62,496 baht per month.

If you have a different electric rate than 4, just substitute that rate in above. Usually, air conditioners do not cool all the time, so if you have a gut feel for what percentage of the time the compressor is running, like 50%, just multiply the cost by that percentage. The room circulation fan only draws about 50 watts which does not amount to much cost.

Lucky for you that the compressor is not running at 100% duty cycle!

the OP used 4,679 Baht = 215 hours running time/month = 7.2 running hours daily = compressor running time ~33%.

total bill 22,459 Baht = average price per kWh = 4.80 Baht.

You seem to be assuming the outside a/c unit is responsible for the whole bill. Not so, there's internal unit fans and other general usage. Ok we accept that the a/c will be responsible for a large proportion of the consumption, but not all. So could I suggest that the run time is even less than above?

[Crossy]

A pretty reasonable assumption LL, there are of course other loads in the condo, but the lions share of that bill is the aircon compressor.

[Pib]

Using a clamp-on ammeter or inline main circuit box ammeter, the OP should probably have his unit checked for proper current/amperage draw to ensure the invertor function is working properly and not running at full current draw all the time when compressor is running. If the invertor system is pretty much allowing the compressor to run at full speed/all the time versus varying its speed and whether its on or off, then it could generate high electric bills.

Back in his post #38 it showed his invertor "system" draws 3.5A to 13.3A during normal operation. As an invertor system the amps draw will vary as the cooling load varies....like with one inside unit running the system current draw should draw current in the lower third of that 3.5-13.3A range and with all three inside units running (I think the OP said he had three inside units) the system current draw should be in the upper one-third. The great, great majority of the system current draw will be generated by the outside unit which contains the compressor which is the electricity eating pig...like 90% plus...the inside units need little current to run their small circuity board, roller cage fan, and LED...usually only around 0.3A based on measurements I've done...about the same as a floor fan.

Personally last year when one of my 6 year old York 18K BTU split-air units developed a problem (i.e., drawing way too much current) I installed an ammeter in my main circuit box which allows me to monitor total current draw in my house...and say when the current draw is steady like around 2A due to some lights, fans, etc., running when any of my A/Cs kick-in I can see exactly how much current they are drawing. And since I know from the specification plate on the side of the A/C I know exactly how much average current they should be drawing if operating properly....if they are much above this average current I know I have a problem, like the outside unit being dirty/needing cleaning.

Real world example: last year I got a small shocker in my monthly electric bill...since only 2 of my 7 home A/Cs get used a lot each day and night. I knew the problem probably laid with one or both of them. Each of these 18K BTU non-invertor units said their normal system current draw was 8.6A. I first used my clamp-on ammeter to measure the current draw and found one was drawing around 8A, but the other one was way too high at around 12A. After cleaning the outside unit (specifically its cooling fins which were too dirty and restricting air flow...reduced air flow means the compressor must work harder/run longer to achieve cooling), the unit's amps draw dropped below 8.6A...it's now operating properly. The unit hadn't been cleaned for around 5 years...I know clean the compressor units yearly which takes some effort since they are mounted half way up the house versus being super easy to access.

Right after than event I installed the ammeter in my home's main circuity box so I could monitor current draw within the house for any electrical item whenever I wanted to. I frequently take readings to confirm each of my 7 A/Cs are working properly since I know what the normal system current draw is for each A/C from their specifications label. All I have to do to check the current draw of any A/C is glance at the ammeter to see what the current amp draw is in the house with no A/C turned on, then turn an A/C on to see how much the current draw increases. If the increase is approx the same as the unit's specifications then I'm good to go....if it's too high then I got a problem...usually the problem is its time to clean the outside unit cooling fins. With a main circuit box ammeter and after monitoring it for a while and knowing what your electrical appliance normally draw it's real easy to spot problems causing high amps draw/power usage.