What is the biggest drain in my electric bill?

[kaptainrob]

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.

Check which tariff you're on as many (usually) new homes are still on builders/commercial rates.

[chiang mai]

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

OK, I'll play:

I bought my house three months ago, it was unfurnished and without any appliances, it's a 3bed/3bath with two residents.

All the appliances are new and energy efficient, it was a prerequisite, all the lights were changed to LED so mostly 3 watt lighting, 5 watt in some areas.

My house is shaded by tall trees although we recently had them pruned, all thirty three of them. The house has four gable ends which provide excellent airflow, I also have two bamboo screens that are offset from the wall/window of the house to deflect the afternoon sun.

I have two pumps that provide water from wells to the garden sprinklers, it's a contingency thing! But running either/or for one hour, on a daily basis, does not contribute more than two units per day to my electricity bill, I know this because I read the meter daily to check.

Our house is single storey and has high ceilings, it also has four gable ends which provide excellent airflow and a chimney effect when the closet door is opened.

Please feel free to ask further questions insomuch as your limited ability to think allows.

[Beng]

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.

Yep. I confirm on this. I'm doing 400 without and 700 with aircon, set on automatic and 23 celsius.

[peterb17]

Brian

I think if you start to look at every satang that you are your flate mate spend, it will get down to arguments about who used the milk in the fridge etc.

Just say we will split the bill - easy- 350 baht is a tiny amount of money.

My bill last month was 7000 baht- so have been rushing around replacing everything I can with LEDs - this month 4500- it really made a difference.

[maswov]

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.

The AC doesn't really work harder to cool the house, just longer. It's hard to say really without doing an assessment of the home. Best thing to do really is set the thermostat at a comfortable level, for me 27 or 28 is good but I think most people like it at 25. One thing I noticed with Thais is they either hate AC or set the thermostat to 15. I imagine your wife sets it colder than comfort level, and if this is the case energy is being wasted cooling beyond what is needed. This could be compensated a bit if the house is extremely well insulated ie doble or triple pane windows, no cracks, high R value insulation, trees to shade southern exposure, etc.

[Blindside]

My water pump also uses a fair bit. I have to switch it on at least 4 or 5 times a week as our water is switched off a lot.

Some months they don't do it and my bill goes down a few hundred.

[Dante99]

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

He/she has not lived there through the hot season yet.

[chiang mai]

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

He/she has not lived there through the hot season yet.

He/she/it has lived here through twelve continuous hot seasons.

Next!

[alfieconn]

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

He/she has not lived there through the hot season yet.

He/she/it has lived here through twelve continuous hot seasons.

Next!

But in an earlier post you said I bought my house three months ago !!!

[pest]

Water pump puts my bill up by 500 per month if our local estate supply gets low

[orange31]

Take the wattage of the aircon, times hours of usage each day, times days per month, times 4.5/1000 to get rough price in Baht per KWH. E.g. 1,100 watt air (small room) x 12hrs x 31 x 4.5 / 1,000 = 1,841 Baht/month

[sprq]

The biggest drain? My landlady, who charges 5 baht a unit, which is double the normal rate I'd pay if I were directly billed. My bills are from 2,000 baht (cold season) to 4000 baht plus in the hot season for an 80 sq m apartment, which I spend most of my time in, working - which means aircon is essential most days of the year. I take the high cost as a necessary hit, because the rent is very low.

[naboo]

OP, split the bill 50/50, stop being a tight git/troll.

Our bill is 500B in the cools season, 900B in the hot season and somewhere in between in the rainy season.

Cooker is gas.

Living room has 8 light bulbs, kitchen has 3, other rooms one each, all LEDs, 3W or 5W.

Fridge is small, wife wants a big one but she's not having it until she manages to rotate the veg so that I don't have to pull the decomposing matter out every weekend.

Washing machine is a top loader, usually the water is warm enough to work well with biological powders, but there is a hot water heater fitted on the inlet to make for a hot wash if needed or in the cool season. Washing done three times a week.

We have numerous fans, use changes according to season. Not having aircon in the bedroom, we sleep with a fan on all night from March to October and other months we are comfortable with it off or on at first on a timer until 2am.

A desktop computer (used for a few hours a day) and a large screen TV (again, a few hours per day).

We have one aircon unit (18,000BTU) in the living area which is on from March until July midday to 7pm each day, and occasionally other times depending on the heat. The wife pays for the electric bill out of the housekeeping allowance so she's not excessive.

[onthedarkside]

The biggest drain? My landlady, who charges 5 baht a unit, which is double the normal rate I'd pay if I were directly billed. My bills are from 2,000 baht (cold season) to 4000 baht plus in the hot season for an 80 sq m apartment, which I spend most of my time in, working - which means aircon is essential most days of the year. I take the high cost as a necessary hit, because the rent is very low.

Saying that 5 baht is double the normal rate is just complete nonsense. Where do you justify that statement. I pay my bills direct to the electric co and I calculate at 4.6 baht/unit. That includes the surcharges and tax.

[hmficc]

All a/c all the time. What a bargin! Who would think of parsing a 700 bt electric bill. Just pay the whole bill and enjoy life.

[MrTee]

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

how much did they set you back?

[chilli42]

That's easy, it's the neighbor who has tapped into your meter box and is stealing your electric every month

[thailand49]

If you are talking in Thailand 700 baht consider yourself lucky. Something might be wrong with your meter but of course say nothing! Normally your refrigerator although small and the A/C is the drain. I have not found that the Thai electric water heaters are a drain.

For those who think their bill is too high, which I felt was with my bill for my small apartment building. The total bill did not reflect the tenants usages so one day I shut the power to the building down for a moment. I went to each unit to see if their meters were operating which none were moving. Then I went out to the street meter and it was still moving and I always noticed from day one when it was installed it moved faster than my house or any other house on the Soi. It just didn't make sense? and I always had doubts to the contractor who built the place. So after a few weeks I was able to locate a electrician through another friend. The guy came out and I showed him what I found and after a hour or so he located that the contractor had hook up the main box wrong. I paid him 1500 baht, and after all the work the street meter was running much slower, so slow now when I got the bill the next month I went from 4,000 baht to 900 baht. Now I take nothing for granted I double check everything.

I'm now looking for the contractor to cut his hand off!

Edited February 24, 2015 by thailand49

[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?

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.

Maswov, thanks for the explanation. It was helpful and easily understood.

[kbelyeu]

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 !

Mine is the same.. 3 bedroom house, pool, deep freeze, wine chiller, double door fridge and beer fridge near my pool table. When it is only me and the missus the AC in the bedroom is used at night. When we have company it can jump to 20,000 a month if all the AC units are running at night.

Kurt

Edited February 24, 2015 by kbelyeu

[chiang mai]

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

He/she has not lived there through the hot season yet.

He/she/it has lived here through twelve continuous hot seasons.

Next!

But in an earlier post you said I bought my house three months ago !!!

In my current house for the three months, in Thailand for twelve years, what's your point or don't you really have one, again!

[chiang mai]

Water pump puts my bill up by 500 per month if our local estate supply gets low

A 1 HP water pump typically draws about 0.75 kwh which means one hour of continuous use will cost three quarters of the cost of one unit of electricity, that's about four baht. I run two garden sprinkler/well pumps for about 90 minutes every day to water my garden and that costs me around 200 baht a month. If your drinking water supply pump is costing you 500 baht a month there's a problem somewhere.

[Dante99]

RE Post 51

Point is that you appear to being to be talking about the bill for your current house because that is what you described, not the average bill for 12 years. If that is not the case then you need to write more clearly. Reread your own post and you just may be able to understand.

[kevin2852]

I disagree with the earlier post about computer use though, my machine is on like 10 hours each day and with a 600 W power supply that means I am using 60 Bt per day ( 1,800 Bt/month ) just to feed the computer. Laptops are more economical, but along with their running cost you have to look at replacement batteries every 2 years which can also cost 3,000 to 4,000 Bt or about 40 Bt per week just for that. Do not regard a computer as trivial usage. Everything hinges on the wattage of the power supply and VERY FEW of them are below 300 W

[mango66]

be happy,

onbly 700 thb !!

[pest]

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Water pump puts my bill up by 500 per month if our local estate supply gets low

A 1 HP water pump typically draws about 0.75 kwh which means one hour of continuous use will cost three quarters of the cost of one unit of electricity, that's about four baht. I run two garden sprinkler/well pumps for about 90 minutes every day to water my garden and that costs me around 200 baht a month. If your drinking water supply pump is costing you 500 baht a month there's a problem somewhere.

3 women in the house washing machines on every day ,toilet, garden so i can see the 500 being used up on low local water days

[naboo]

I disagree with the earlier post about computer use though, my machine is on like 10 hours each day and with a 600 W power supply that means I am using 60 Bt per day ( 1,800 Bt/month ) just to feed the computer.

Sorry but your maths is out.

(600x10)/1000= 6kWh per day, at 3.5B/unit that is 21B a day, 630B a month.

Edited February 24, 2015 by naboo

[chiang mai]

RE Post 51

Point is that you appear to being to be talking about the bill for your current house because that is what you described, not the average bill for 12 years. If that is not the case then you need to write more clearly. Reread your own post and you just may be able to understand.

So presumably you now want to know what my electricity bills were at my previous homes in Thailand: in Chiang Mai, Muang, in a 2 bed/2 bathroom condominium where the price of electricity was inflated, my average bill rarely exceeded THB 1,000 per month, the only exception to this being two month periods over four years where we used aircon and the bills came in at circa THB 1,400.

In Phuket for four years, in a 2 bed/2 bath house running aircon frequently, electricity bills ran circa THB 2,500.

Prior to those periods, I can't recall.

And so the moral of all of this is: if you use aircon. it will cost you - if you don't and you can pick your property/location (most of us can) with some care, the cost of electricity for normal everyday living, (2 people, 4 showers/day, laundry 2 x week, cooking, PC's, TV's and so on, is really quite inexpensive in Thailand. The caveat of course must be that if you pay an electricity surcharge to a landlord or a condominium complex your bills will be higher.

BTW it's hot season currently in Chiang Mai!

Edited February 24, 2015 by chiang mai

[malt25]

Brian..... mate. 700 baht electricity bill for 2 people. It's easy, 50/50. 350 baht each. If it were 7000 baht then maybe work out what each should pay.

Just my opinion..... Cheers..... Mal.

[Gonsalviz]

I have bills from 8,000 down to 3,850 I live alone most of the time. I run 1 inverter a/c and another at 26C, 24/7. 2 fridges, 1 12,000 watt and 3 6,000 water heaters. Obviously not all 4 run at the same time. Only 2 get used normally. The 12,000 watt for the shower and a 6,000 watt for the kitchen. Because of the moron that electrified my house, 16 florescent tubes light my living room.

I am slowly switching to LEDs. Those fake florescent electric saver lamps forced upon us are on the way out but that won't save much but I can now have 100 watt equivalent bulbs that use only 13 watts consumption.

But, I have a monstrous water pump that pumps from the well to my holding tanks and another to feed the house. The 8,000 bill came when the FIL was flooding the sugar cane field. They pay for that. I am finally to the point that under my use only, my bill will be about 4,000, 4800 in the hot season.