Air con vs ceiling fan

[Anthony5]

I've lived in the tropics for the past 20 years, the last 10 of them in here in Phuket. I still don't understand how people are comfortable with a setting of 26C. No wonder your electricity bills are low, AC isn't going to be doing very much work at all with that high a set point. 21-22 for sleeping and 23-24 during the day is a more realistic comfort level for me at least. Maybe its an english tthing, were more accustomed to being cold and therefore prefer a cooler climate overall.

all my aircons are set to 26ºC but my electricity bills are not exactly low:

may..........20,747.-

june.........19,950.-

july...........20,683.-

august.....19,411.-

currency Thai Baht not Viet Nam Dong!

Naam, without doubt TV member with the biggest carbon footprint.

Not something to be proud about.

stating facts has nothing to do with pride. i answered member Pomthai's comment

Don't think i have it wrong but I think you have stated that particular fact on this forum about every other week for the past 10 years.

[sparkey]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

[IMHO]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

I'm pretty sure his house is well over double that though, probably double mine

Edited December 19, 2014 by IMHO

[bankruatsteve]

I have a 7K BTU A/C that I only use at night and set to 26C. My bills range from 2500-1800 - the low like now when I don't use A/C or fans. I will check with my family and neighbors and make a lot more posts so you can see what they do. Jeez.

[2fishin2]

My aircon is rated at1200 watts. If it was running 24 hours a day with the compressor running all of the time it would use 864KWH/ month. At my current PEA rate it would cost 3983 baht. 1.2 x 24 x 30 x 4.62 = 3983.

My ceiling fan is rated at 75watts. If it was running 24 hours a day it would use 56KWH/month. At my current rate it would cost 288 baht. 0.075 x 24 x 30 x 4.61 = 288.

Of course the compressor should not run 24 hours a day and most likely neither the fan or aircon would be on 24 hours a day., and the charge for power usage is on a sliding scale, the more you use the higher the rate.

From the above you can see that"my" aircon would cost 14 times as much to operate than my ceiling fan.

I'm really bored as I've been waiting for a Thai to pick me up since 0900 and it's now 1130. I don't believed I answered this.

How about a electric clock which uses more it, or a battery powered one. Me too, Im bored. Nice answer though! Good luck on the pickup

[Naam]

all my aircons are set to 26ºC but my electricity bills are not exactly low:

may..........20,747.-

june.........19,950.-

july...........20,683.-

august.....19,411.-

currency Thai Baht not Viet Nam Dong!

Naam, without doubt TV member with the biggest carbon footprint.

Not something to be proud about.

stating facts has nothing to do with pride. i answered member Pomthai's comment

Don't think i have it wrong but I think you have stated that particular fact on this forum about every other week for the past 10 years.

that is my prerogative and none of your business.

[Naam]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

I'm pretty sure his house is well over double that though, probably double mine

my house has only 2 bedrooms

[Naam]

I have a 7K BTU A/C that I only use at night and set to 26C. My bills range from 2500-1800 - the low like now when I don't use A/C or fans. I will check with my family and neighbors and make a lot more posts so you can see what they do. Jeez.

it doesn't make sense Steve to collect data from others because the situations are individual (area/volume to be cooled, heat transfer from out- and inside, old guzzling or new efficient aicon units, etc., etc., etc.) and can be totally different.

[Anthony5]

Don't think i have it wrong but I think you have stated that particular fact on this forum about every other week for the past 10 years.

that is my prerogative and none of your business.

You're right, my mistake, everyone has the prerogative to continuously brag.

[bankruatsteve]

I have a 7K BTU A/C that I only use at night and set to 26C. My bills range from 2500-1800 - the low like now when I don't use A/C or fans. I will check with my family and neighbors and make a lot more posts so you can see what they do. Jeez.

it doesn't make sense Steve to collect data from others because the situations are individual (area/volume to be cooled, heat transfer from out- and inside, old guzzling or new efficient aicon units, etc., etc., etc.) and can be totally different.

Exactly. BTW: I was trying to be facetious. Oh - and my A/C is 9K BTU not 7K.

[Morakot]

Either way, whatever the OP goes for, it's important not to make this all too common mistake: Air con vs extractor fan!

Edited December 20, 2014 by Morakot

[Naam]

Don't think i have it wrong but I think you have stated that particular fact on this forum about every other week for the past 10 years.

that is my prerogative and none of your business.

You're right, my mistake, everyone has the prerogative to continuously brag.

not to forget the right of mischievous little envious men to post blatant lies or ridiculous claims such as "every other week for the past 10 years"

[Swelters]

One answer to this can be found in the Chao Phraya River, which varies in temperature over the year from 28 to 31 deg C.

As goes the Chao Phraya, so goes the ground temperature (in Bangkok), same range by season. You won't get any lower than this no matter how deep you dig.

By analogy, temperatures of "deep" thermal masses like the floors in my condo are close to this, maybe 28-30 deg C in the hot season (because my neighbors use a lot of aircon which passes free coolth through the walls; also, opening my patio doors at night and closing in the afternoon helps a little bit. Also, my unit does not pick up direct heat from the sun, which is a key factor.)

So.... what can I tolerate? Since I am not from the UK and don't overdress I am happy with 29 deg C with a nice breeze.

If my walls and floor and ceiling are about 29 deg, the air will be the same.

So I use a table fan blowing directly a couple of meters away, that's 1 to 2 meters per second velocity. This is better albeit less romantic than a ceiling fan. As you can see from the graphic here above or larger scale below, this is perfectly comfortable.

So I don't need air conditioning, which I consider a technology that promotes unhealthy fragility.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tropical-cool

Swelters

Edited December 20, 2014 by Swelters

[Naam]

So I don't need air conditioning

-that you don't need airconditioning is irrelevant for those who enjoy the comfort of airconditioning.

irrelevant for other people (because mileages vary) is also that

-i don't need restaurants because i prefer the food prepared in my kitchen,

-i don't need Chang, Leo or Singha beer but prefer "Weihenstephaner",

-i don't need to frequent bars when i would like to have a drink,

-i don't bitch about Thailand, its people and their attitudes,

-i don't complain about baht buses because i don't use them,

-i don't complain about "racist" ATM fees because i don't use ATMs,

-i don't complain about soi dogs when i am bicycling because i don't own a bicycle,

shall i go on?

[Mitker]

If you set the aircon to dehumidify mode the humidity will drop and the temperature will stay about the same but it will feel like the temp dropped about 10 deg.

The aircon will use much less electricity in dehumidify mode.

Any A/C is actually dehumidifying the indoor air.

Forced circulation against the cooling element will provoke condensation that will need to be evacuated outside via a draining pipe (that feeling that someone is spitting on you from upper floors when walking in BKK).

Indeed dryer air reduces heat feeling.

My settings (when really need A/C): 27C + low speed fan

[pattjock]

If you set the aircon to dehumidify mode the humidity will drop and the temperature will stay about the same but it will feel like the temp dropped about 10 deg.

The aircon will use much less electricity in dehumidify mode.

Any A/C is actually dehumidifying the indoor air.

Forced circulation against the cooling element will provoke condensation that will need to be evacuated outside via a draining pipe (that feeling that someone is spitting on you from upper floors when walking in BKK).

Indeed dryer air reduces heat feeling.

My settings (when really need A/C): 27C + low speed fan

Any A/C will dehumidify to some degree.

The point is that if you set the A/C in dehumidify mode it will not lower the temperature (or maybe just 1-2deg). In dehumidify mode you can not set temp or fan speed. The fan will only start up for a few minutes 4-5 times per hour and the compressor will not run very much. The result is a very comfortable 50-60 % humidity at lower cost than running in A/C mode

If your setting is 27C + low fan speed you will probably just get less comfort for a higher cost than if running in dehumidify mode.

[Pib]

I have a question similar to the OP's. Will a 100 watt light bulb use more electricity when turned off or on?

But seriously for the OP, if you want to use the A/C in Fan Mode due to the more energy efficient fan motor and cage fan in an A/C it will probably use a little less electricity than a ceiling or floor fan. However, but, put the A/C in Cooling Mode which causes the A/C compressor to run then standby for a much higher electric bill in comparison to ceiling/floor fans. Too many variables such as ambient temp/humidity, A/C size, size of your residence/room, A/C temp setting, number of hours used per day/night, etc., to provide any detailed comparison between an A/C and fan other than a much higher electric with an A/C.

[IMHO]

I have a question similar to the OP's. Will a 100 watt light bulb use more electricity when turned off or on?

Depends. First you have to determine if you prefer more light

Edited December 21, 2014 by IMHO

[scubascuba3]

Thanks everyone for the extensive analysis, I knew you'd deliver. I've gone for ceiling fan the last few days on low speed and it's perfect, quiet and not too cold at night.

I put the AC on for a few mins when I first hit the room to get the temperature down.

[Naam]

Where you are in TH also matters too, of course. AC constitutes the variable range of our bill - i.e. without it we get down to high 5K's, best case (that includes the indoor unit fans running though). We are cooling ~300sqm of 400sqm, but duty cycles on the outdoor compressors are usually fairly low.

If we have a lot of visitors we can spike right up though - last Songkhran with 15 people and 6 bedrooms + a study occupied, and 9000w RMS of Crown-powered JBL speakers running most of the time, we hit 15K Baht

bingo!

something that a lot of people don't know is that a human being (depending on body mass and activity) is a heat source of 300-600 btu/h plus added latent heat due to humidification of the air.

[jacko45k]

Rough estimates:

Central air 3500 watts

Large window unit 1440 watts

Medium '' '' 900 watts

Small " " 500 watts

Watts per hour is how you pay for electricity. Most household fans are 50 watts and below

Perhaps watt-hours is how you pay. (ie the power x how long it is on).

1 unit is a Kilowatt-hour.

[AverageAussie]

all my aircons are set to 26ºC but my electricity bills are not exactly low:

may..........20,747.-

june.........19,950.-

july...........20,683.-

august.....19,411.-

I presume that does not include the power for the indoor ski slope! You run that on renewable?

Morakot, that's not a ski slope. This is how it's done properly [Dubai]

[IMHO]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

I'm pretty sure his house is well over double that though, probably double mine

my house has only 2 bedrooms

Are you sure this house is in TH and not on the Giza Plateau?

[PaulHamon]

Client Fan 20-100 Watt

Aircon 500-5000 Watts

You can have dozen of fans for one larger (or older) aircon.

[Naam]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

I'm pretty sure his house is well over double that though, probably double mine

my house has only 2 bedrooms

Are you sure this house is in TH and not on the Giza Plateau?

quite sure! stating the number of bedrooms is not informative at all. what counts is total airconditioned area. but i'm sure you knew that

[sparkey]

Isn't because all your Renoirs , Monets , Van Gochs , constables need separate environmentally controlled areas

555

[sparkey]

Wow

Naam your electric bill is twice the rent and all utilities on my 3 bed 3 bath in rayong.

I never thought I was so frugal

555

I'm pretty sure his house is well over double that though, probably double mine

my house has only 2 bedrooms

Are you sure this house is in TH and not on the Giza Plateau?

quite sure! stating the number of bedrooms is not informative at all. what counts is total airconditioned area. but i'm sure you knew that

Isn't it because all your Renoirs , Monets , Van Gochs , constables need separate environmentally controlled areas

555

[Estrada]

When calculating the cost of running aircon you should add on the monthly average of the maintenance cost and replacement costs, if you own the aircons. I have 4 aircons with a monthly cost between B4,000 and B8,500/month with average around B6,000/month or B72,000/year. However maintenance which includes cleaning, repairs and topping up the gas is around B8,000/year. Replacement costs say every 10 years is around B100,000 = B10,000/year so my yearly cost is B90,000 or B7,500/mth(25%higher). So you should add 25% to the electricity bill to obtain your true costs/mth.

[KhnomKhnom]

Science has many studies on this topic. It says........

Fans are the cheapest way to get to feel cooler.

Cooling air conditioning units are expensive due to the need to run the compressor sometimes.

Also, architecture studies say that it is more efficient to cool one room at a time rather than the whole house.

[Anthony5]

When calculating the cost of running aircon you should add on the monthly average of the maintenance cost and replacement costs, if you own the aircons. I have 4 aircons with a monthly cost between B4,000 and B8,500/month with average around B6,000/month or B72,000/year. However maintenance which includes cleaning, repairs and topping up the gas is around B8,000/year. Replacement costs say every 10 years is around B100,000 = B10,000/year so my yearly cost is B90,000 or B7,500/mth(25%higher). So you should add 25% to the electricity bill to obtain your true costs/mth.

8000 Baht a year cleaning for 4 aircons? You have them cleaned monthly?

A airconditiong shouldn't need topping up, ever. If that happens there are bigger issues.