What is the biggest drain in my electric bill?

[bcarrawa]

Hello,

I live in a two bedroom townhome. Only my roommate has the AC, mine is without. He uses the AC each night, all night...it's on even when I leave in the morning. No tv, use small fridge, old electric water heater, two CPUs, and basic lighting.

The bill was 700 baht and trying to figure out how much lore he needs to pay for AC usage. Does anyone have a roundabout estimation?

Thanks

Brian

[daveAustin]

Aircons and showers use the majority of juice. Can't be using all that much of the aircon if the bill is only 700 baht. It is likely set on a higher temp setting and thus the blower is running most of the time. All depnds on size of compressor, but let's say it draws 1kw and he uses it all night but the comp spurs on 20% of the time. Over 12 hours that'd be 12 x 200 watt = 2,400 watts, or 2.4 units or roughly 10 baht a night. 30 nights by 10 = 300 baht for aircon. But that is a rough guesstimate on size of comp, temp setting and hourly usage.

[onthedarkside]

I agree with the above. I only use our aircon at night for maybe 9 hours at 24 C and our bill is about 1,200 baht. I estimate 800 for the aircon the rest for fridge, fan, TV, CPU.

So your 700 baht bills seems very low.

[kaptainrob]

^ Dave is pretty much spot on. Our bill usually rises from ~ 500/600 bt to ~ 750/850 when a/c in use. We don't use all night, more like 5 or 6 hours max.

[cmsally]

If I switch on AC at night then it whacks my bill up approx 300 Bt per month.

I would say that is a fair figure for 1 AC unit.

[Straight8]

Wish mine was 700 baht

[chiang mai]

Agree with the above: our electric bill runs to about THB 600 a month as a base and increases to THB 800 if we turn on the sprinklers every day (we have a large garden). We don't use aircon because there is no need. That's two people, four showers a day, two/three loads laundry a week, plasma TV PC stuff and electric oven/hob used daily.

[rethaier]

We have 3 aircons and when they are used my bills go from 2500 baht to 4500 baht.

[how241]

Wish mine was 700 baht

+1...Mine is usually 1000-1500 for a very small condo with the air cond. set on 26 @ night and 29 during the day.

[attrayant]

Give some thought to installing a meter on that room (or at least on the a/c line) if you want to be able to charge back the cost of the a/c without starting an argument.

http://www.solar-thailand.com/EN/Product/KWHmeter/5(65)A-230V-50HZ-DDS238-2-Single-phase-Din-rail-KWH-Watt-hour-din-rail-energy-meter-LCD

I installed one in my bedroom and office so that I could pay my inlaws for whatever part of the bill I was responsible for. I tell them if they have any questions about how much I use, they should go discuss it with the meter.

[MauiSteveBKK]

Agree With Above!

But take a look at the hot water heater, especially if old.

On Maui I lowered the temp by half, and it significantly reduced the electric bill.

Hot water heaters are still very inefficient.

A/C

Floor Fans (much better than my ceiling fans)

Hot Water Heater

Refrigerator (lower one notch)

Computers/Laptops are minimal.

[northernjohn]

Wish mine was 700 baht

+1...Mine is usually 1000-1500 for a very small condo with the air cond. set on 26 @ night and 29 during the day.

If you are in a condo it might not be a bill from the power company. It might be from the Condo who often charge 6 or 8 baht a unit. I heard about 1 that charged 10 baht a unit. Not sure but I believe the power company charges just a little under 4 baht a unit.

[pennine]

They say Koh Samui is expensive. I have 3 bedroom house with small pool, never use the AC's, only the ceiling fans, use a gas hob, live alone and monthly power bill is about Baht 6000 (1000 kW x 600 Bt per kW)

[crazykopite]

I know someone who has a bill every month for 10,000 baht, my bill is normally around the 3,500 mark I reckon just my pool electric costs around 1,300 a month I would charge your mate 500 baht it will come down to the air con !

[arjunadawn]

Aircons and showers use the majority of juice. Can't be using all that much of the aircon if the bill is only 700 baht. It is likely set on a higher temp setting and thus the blower is running most of the time. All depnds on size of compressor, but let's say it draws 1kw and he uses it all night but the comp spurs on 20% of the time. Over 12 hours that'd be 12 x 200 watt = 2,400 watts, or 2.4 units or roughly 10 baht a night. 30 nights by 10 = 300 baht for aircon. But that is a rough guesstimate on size of comp, temp setting and hourly usage.

Damn! I wish I could figure something like this out! I'd have smoke coming out of my ears, scratch paper, calculator, and search engine screaming.

[crazykopite]

They say Koh Samui is expensive. I have 3 bedroom house with small pool, never use the AC's, only the ceiling fans, use a gas hob, live alone and monthly power bill is about Baht 6000 (1000 kW x 600 Bt per kW)

koh Samui is the same as everywhere else when it is a government meter 4 baht per unit, however there are lots of landlords or development s who charge from 7 baht a unit and upwards the most expensive I have heard on the island was 20 baht per unit. There are lots of people who commit to rent and never ask the Landlord about the water and electricity costs until the landlord hands them the first bill it is just another way to rip of Farangs !!

[MrTee]

700thb per month?

I'd just pay half - not worth the hassle of seeing who used more.

[attrayant]

If I'm reading the OP right, he's saying the roommate uses the lion's share and wants the bill to reflect that. For that kind of lopsidedness you really need some data to back you up.

[Travelighlty]

Related to this discussion, if your air conditioning is used, and lets say it's 100 degrees outside. You want to get a room to 70. Once the room reaches that temperature with the air conditioning, does it take any more air conditioning usage to keep it there than it would if you wanted it at 75 and maintained it at THAT temperature–given a reasonable amount of insulation and a sealed environment for the room? So, over an eight hour period, other than the initial cooling period to get the temp to either 70 or 75, would the air conditioner have to work any longer to keep the respective temperatures stable.

I’ve heard fans can keep skin temperatures feeling 10 degrees cooler. Any truth to that, enabling less electrical usage of the air con?

[alfieconn]

The biggest drain on my Electric Bill is the wife and daughter

[musiclover]

I know someone who has a bill every month for 10,000 baht, my bill is normally around the 3,500 mark I reckon just my pool electric costs around 1,300 a month I would charge your mate 500 baht it will come down to the air con !

My bill is also well over 10000 baht a month ...using only 1 aircon ! 12 hours I do have a pool which I reckon takes up some 1500-2000 baht but the rest puzzles me . Fridges and deep freezer ? Lighting ?

I don't know but it's a fairly big house .....living alone !

[alfieconn]

How the hell is chiang mai's so cheap compared with everyone else

[NancyL]

The big users of electricity in the OP's situation will be the aircon and hot water heater. The rest is peanuts.

When we installed a hot water heater for the kitchen sink our basic electric bill jumped up 700-800 baht/month for the months when we don't run aircon, but we cook at home a lot and found ourselves running the hot water a lot in the kitchen sink. Undoubtedly more than a couple showers a day.

It's worth it to be able to turn on the tap and have instant hot water in the kitchen.

[maswov]

Check the specs on the AC for the max wattage. Multiply that time how many hours the AC is running per day, multiply that by 30, then multiply by the price per kWh. That will be a little higher that what the AC actually uses but the excess could be considered his share of the rest. But for only 700 baht per month the margin of error is probably only 30 baht or so.

[OPG]

If my bill came in at 700 baht, I'd have to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. My monthly bill ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 per month and that is all dependent on the weather outside or plainly if we're not at home for the full month. I honestly can't remember ever getting a bill for 700 baht, which in itself is very cheap...not even in America have I ever seen an electric bill of $22 USD per month. Consider yourself very lucky to have such a low bill.

[Dante99]

They say Koh Samui is expensive. I have 3 bedroom house with small pool, never use the AC's, only the ceiling fans, use a gas hob, live alone and monthly power bill is about Baht 6000 (1000 kW x 600 Bt per kW)

How many of your neighbors homes are tapped into your line?

[maswov]

Related to this discussion, if your air conditioning is used, and lets say it's 100 degrees outside. You want to get a room to 70. Once the room reaches that temperature with the air conditioning, does it take any more air conditioning usage to keep it there than it would if you wanted it at 75 and maintained it at THAT temperature–given a reasonable amount of insulation and a sealed environment for the room? So, over an eight hour period, other than the initial cooling period to get the temp to either 70 or 75, would the air conditioner have to work any longer to keep the respective temperatures stable.

I’ve heard fans can keep skin temperatures feeling 10 degrees cooler. Any truth to that, enabling less electrical usage of the air con?

On most ACs the compressor is running full while cooling, the compressor will cycle on and off to maintain temperature based on input from the thermostat. Every time the compressor turns on there is a spike in power which uses more energy than while running. Variable speed air conditions, or inverter AC will vary the speed of the compressor to maintain temp rather than cycle on and off thus reducing energy usage. Of course the better insulated the room is the temp will be maintained with more efficiency.

Regarding fans, when the air blow across you you will lose heat through convection resulting in feeling cooler. A fan in an empty room or that is not blowing on you is actually counter productive due to the fan motor being a source of heat. However the fan could be configured in a window or as some type of exhaust to keep air flowing in the room which would help keep it cool.

Another thing to consider is humidity, the comfort level for humans is 70%. With a constant temperature you will feel cooler as humidity increases to 70% the start to feel warm as humidity increases beyond that.

[NoshowJones]

I have solar panels, so I don't need to worry too much about electric bills.

[farangmick]

Be careful. Two farang arguing over a 700 baht electric bill could result in a "suicide". Christ, I thought I was kii niao.

[OPG]

Question: If I run my air cons 24/7 while at home, will it save on my electric bill than to have my wife continuously shutting off the air con in the living room when she gets cold and then turning it back on which at that point must cool the entire house again....our house is quite large and has an open plan, so turning the a/c on in the living will cool basically all the house except the bedrooms. I have to imagine that keeping the a/c running on auto will keep the a/c from working too hard when you turn on and off and on and off as it must cool the entire house and puts a strain on the system.

Any thoughts?

Related to this discussion, if your air conditioning is used, and lets say it's 100 degrees outside. You want to get a room to 70. Once the room reaches that temperature with the air conditioning, does it take any more air conditioning usage to keep it there than it would if you wanted it at 75 and maintained it at THAT temperature–given a reasonable amount of insulation and a sealed environment for the room? So, over an eight hour period, other than the initial cooling period to get the temp to either 70 or 75, would the air conditioner have to work any longer to keep the respective temperatures stable.

I’ve heard fans can keep skin temperatures feeling 10 degrees cooler. Any truth to that, enabling less electrical usage of the air con?

On most ACs the compressor is running full while cooling, the compressor will cycle on and off to maintain temperature based on input from the thermostat. Every time the compressor turns on there is a spike in power which uses more energy than while running. Variable speed air conditions, or inverter AC will vary the speed of the compressor to maintain temp rather than cycle on and off thus reducing energy usage. Of course the better insulated the room is the temp will be maintained with more efficiency.

Regarding fans, when the air blow across you you will lose heat through convection resulting in feeling cooler. A fan in an empty room or that is not blowing on you is actually counter productive due to the fan motor being a source of heat. However the fan could be configured in a window or as some type of exhaust to keep air flowing in the room which would help keep it cool.

Another thing to consider is humidity, the comfort level for humans is 70%. With a constant temperature you will feel cooler as humidity increases to 70% the start to feel warm as humidity increases beyond that.