Cost of electricity.

[Eddy B]

I just received my new electric bill and WOW! Last month I was so happy that it was so low at 1,400 baht. So I expected with the temperature and the slight increase of A/C use this new bill would be about 600-800 more. I was wrong! Today's new bill came in at a whopping 3,600 baht. Either they screwed up my last bill and under-charged me and now trying to pull money back or the unit to baht ratio has been changed. All I know is OUCH! I was not expecting that much. I was just wondering if anyone else has been hit with a bill like me and not expecting the cost jump. It's not even the hottest months yet!!!

[Rooo]

Moved to housing forum.

[johng]

Maybe something wrong with your aircon.... if its low on gas the compressor runs continually using a lot of elecricity.

[Crossy]

Are you being billed direct by the power company or via a condo/apartment landlord?

If it's a government bill you should be paying about 4.2 Baht per unit.

[Eddy B]

I will get my wife to book an appointment with the A/C dudes and get them to check the gas. I won't wait too long as April will be here soon and they soon get fully booked-up. Thanks for the info from you guys.

[mogo51]

Our last bill went down about 200bht, we have still not used a/c but it is getting close. You should set it at 24 degrees that is a comfortable temperature, if you run them below like 20 or 18 degrees, you will be fixing the bloody thing every couple of months, as they burn out motors and compressors.

[konfuzed]

Running 2x aircon at night, 1 intermittently during the day, a big aircon all day at weekends and some oven and other electric heavy draw gadgetry, my bill is usually around 5k. Billed direct from PEA. We are heavy users tho.

[Nowisee]

The condo I was staying at GH... was boosting electric numbers. I caught them twice with mine. Made me to take pictures every month. They acted like it was a mistake... jerks.

[RT555]

Find your meter. Check when beginning period is and the last day. Why would you let Thais record your usage...it's beyond me.

[pattayasnowman]

I was surprised how low mine was last month. Hope I don't get the same shock as you did this month

[KittenKong]

My bill used to be around 4KB with an old no-name air-con. Then I fitted a brand-name inverter unit and the bill dropped to around 1500B.

[Pib]

If you get your electric billed directly from MEA/PEA then a Bt1,400 bill equates to 327KWH usage or approx Bt4.3 per KWH including all fees/taxes...only 327KWH probably not included much A/C usage assuming you use TVs, fans, lights, frigs, computers, etc. A Bt3,600 bill equates to 785KWH usage or approx Bt4.6 per KWH which probably includes A/C usage. KWH used billing is not purely linear as it varies somewhat by tariff schedule and amount of KWH used. Your tariff schedule is probably the Residential Service Tariff 1.2. But if you are billed from your landlord then the landlord could very well be setting their own rate per KWH...seen plenty of posts where some landords charge around Bt7 per KWH....makes them a nice little profit.

...

Now whether your A/C needs serving and currently eating too much electricity I couldn't say. If it's cooling properly it's probably don't need servicing. Instead you are just shell-shocked by the A/C suddenly using more electricity/KWH because it's having to work harder in this hot weather. Keep in mind beginning in mid Feb the temp & humidity start rising significantly with Mar, Apr, and May typically being the hottest months during the year....A/Cs have to work much harder to cool thereby eating a lot more electricity.

MEA Bill for 327KWH

MEA Bill for 785KWH

[Pib]

Just to give an idea of the temperature change in Thailand throughout the year with Mar, Apr, May being the hottest for most locations in Thailand. See below temperate chart that shows the average low and high (i.e., night and day) temperature range for each month of the year in the Bangkok area. Time to clean/service your A/Cs to help reduce the utility bill shock.

[Daniel Ingalls]

Back in North Carolina, I have central air set at 75 degrees. Electric bill runs about $150-130 a month. Over here same scenario, only difference air goes on when we tuck in for the night. Electric bill runs about 1120 baht a month. I can live with that! It seems electric bills are cheap over here. My water bill runs about 320 baht a month. About the same as the States.

[Altalake]

Our Developer (a Brit) was charging us double till tks to the people who do our CAM we had another meter put in to check the usage - and he was "exposed"!

He said he was "sorry" and it was "not his fault" - yet his staff ran around like chickens with their heads cut off when they learnt of the "checking meter"!!

Ho ho - Developers - crooks mostly. Not only in Thailand...

[konisaan]

Are you being billed direct by the power company or via a condo/apartment landlord?

If it's a government bill you should be paying about 4.2 Baht per unit.

Hang on. Isn't government power on a sliding scale?

If you own a house or a condo, you will have your own meter and your account with the electric company. The price of electricity is based on a sliding scale.

From zero to 200 units (KW) you will pay ca. 2 baht per unit

From 200 to 400 units you will pay ca. 4 baht per unit

From 400 and up you will pay ca. 6 baht per unit

[Torrens54]

We were paying about Baht 4,000 per MONTH in the middle of last year.

Two adults and one teenager in a Town House. Average of One Aircon running most nights (Midnight to 5 a.m.)

In Australia during SUMMER we averaged TWO Aircons running similar times and the bill was about the same (when converted to Dollars)

JUST ONE DIFFERENCE....In Australia, the Bill came once every TWO MONTHS!!

Edited March 16, 2015 by Torrens54

[canarysun]

Living in Thailand for 4 years based on a small condo my electricity has always been around 250 - 300 baht a month.I have never used aircon in Thailand or a fan.( very bad for you and bloody expensive! ) Many places are now charging 9 baht a unit ( a bit of an increase ) but if you are not using aircon then it won't make much difference.......

F.J x

[Crossy]

Are you being billed direct by the power company or via a condo/apartment landlord?

If it's a government bill you should be paying about 4.2 Baht per unit.

Hang on. Isn't government power on a sliding scale?

If you own a house or a condo, you will have your own meter and your account with the electric company. The price of electricity is based on a sliding scale.

From zero to 200 units (KW) you will pay ca. 2 baht per unit

From 200 to 400 units you will pay ca. 4 baht per unit

From 400 and up you will pay ca. 6 baht per unit

Yes it is, and there's a variable fuel surcharge that's why I said ABOUT 4.2 Baht per unit, much easier to get a ball park figure than using the sliding scale.

[Suradit69]

Could it just be that last month they read the meter earlier in the month than this month. In our building one of maintenance guys comes around to read the meters, but I doubt it's the same date every month. Most likely it's sooner or later depending on how busy they are with other things. If one reading was for a 3 week period and the next a five week period, it would make a big difference, for example.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Suradit69

[jacko45k]

We were paying about Baht 4,000 per MONTH in the middle of last year.

Two adults and one teenager in a Town House. Average of One Aircon running most nights (Midnight to 5 a.m.)

In Australia during SUMMER we averaged TWO Aircons running similar times and the bill was about the same (when converted to Dollars)

JUST ONE DIFFERENCE....In Australia, the Bill came once every TWO MONTHS!!

That seems excessive........

I run one AC a little longer than that every night and pay less, in a bigger house.

Do you have hot walls, or some other heavy duty consumption, like a teenager who can't switch lights off? (Electric oven, lots of long hot showers, washing machine which heats the water?) If not the AC unit may be inefficient.....

Edited March 16, 2015 by jacko45k

[ToddinChonburi]

You may want to have it cleaned properly, power washed to get the grime out of the coils. Just had mine done and it was filthy.

[ToddinChonburi]

it has also been very humid so maybe running more than you think.

[Eneukman]

It's possible that the electric company made a mistake with the meter reading. That happened to me when I got a bill that was very low one month. The next month it was quite a bit higher though about normal when the 2 months were averaged out.

My electric bill this month will be higher as we have just bought a washing machine though its usage has so far been minimal. Also, the aircon units in the living room and bedroom have been switched on for a short time on a few occasions.

Alan

[Pib]

Are you being billed direct by the power company or via a condo/apartment landlord?

If it's a government bill you should be paying about 4.2 Baht per unit.

Hang on. Isn't government power on a sliding scale?

If you own a house or a condo, you will have your own meter and your account with the electric company. The price of electricity is based on a sliding scale.

From zero to 200 units (KW) you will pay ca. 2 baht per unit

From 200 to 400 units you will pay ca. 4 baht per unit

From 400 and up you will pay ca. 6 baht per unit

Yes, there is a sliding scale up to 400KWH/month...below is that sliding scale "basic" charge per KWH. If not exceeding 150KWH/month usage (which is not much usage....minimal/no A/C usage) there is a slightly lower fee schedule. See my above post which includes a couple of bills showing all the charges involved in an electric bill like the basic rate/KWH, Fuel tariff /KWH, service fee, and tax when billed directly from MEA/PEA.

Note the first 400KWH is on a sliding scale...then it's Bt3.9361 above 400KWH/mo. So, let's say a person uses 500KWH/month, they would have some of that total charged at three different rates. Then they need to add the Ft (energy tariff...fuel cost adjustment), service fee, and tax which currently adds approx 25% more which can get them up to around Bt4.6 per KWH.

For example a 1000KWH usage bill comes to Bt4,643/month or approx Bt4.6/KWH....750KWH usage to Bt3,430/month or approx Bt4.6/KWH.....500KWH usage to Bt2,200/month or Bt4.4/KWH. Remember this is the "total" bill which includes the "basic" rate per KWH on a sliding scale and the the Ft, fee, and tax.

See below MEA Residential 1.2 Tariff for the "basic" rate per KWH. And remember, these are rates when you are billed directly by MEA/PEA...if you are billed via your condo/landlord then a condo/landlord fee could be in effect...usually a fee that pumps up the cost per KWH...as mentioned earlier I've seen ThaiVisa posts saying they pay around Bt7/KWH....now Bt7/KWH is 52% higher than Bt4.6/KWH....if using an A/C then a 52% higher charge than if billed directly from the MEA/PEA could really hurt...not be so cool.

[Pib]

It's possible that the electric company made a mistake with the meter reading. That happened to me when I got a bill that was very low one month. The next month it was quite a bit higher though about normal when the 2 months were averaged out.

My electric bill this month will be higher as we have just bought a washing machine though its usage has so far been minimal. Also, the aircon units in the living room and bedroom have been switched on for a short time on a few occasions.

Alan

Anything is possible...humans make errors...but after 7 years at my current location and the meter reading occurring on the 13th of each month for me, the electric man that comes around on his motorcycle and eyeballs the meter reading has never made a mistake.

Assuming you can easily access/read your meter, why don't take a reading daily at the same time for the next 3 to 5 days to get an average daily KWH usage...then multiply that average daily usage amount by 30 days and then by which ever Bt per KWH charge you think applies in your case (like maybe Bt4.6/KWH if you are being billed directly from the electric company) and see what totals up to. You might find out you are indeed using more than you think.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Pib

[michemiche]

In thailand, more you use, more you pay.
This politic is to obliged people to reduce their consumption of power.
This month the place where i live have to pay :

4041.15 baths for 876 kwh, which make the kwh at 4.61 baths
Our neighbor have to pay :
10326.28 baths for 1392 kwh, = which make the kwh at 7.418 baths.

!.................

[ThaidDown]

^^

The second bill seems to be correct for a 2.1 tariff consumer. The first bill must be for a user on a different tariff, not the standard residential as the amount is way too high.

Looking at the PEA tariffs it would appear that the first user could be currently on a 'temporary service'. The rate for that is 6.3434 baht/KWh. 1392 units would be 8830.01 as stated on the bill.

edit for 1392 units on tariff 2.1 the total cost should be around 6540 baht.

Edited March 17, 2015 by ThaidDown

[csabo]

Living in Thailand for 4 years based on a small condo my electricity has always been around 250 - 300 baht a month.I have never used aircon in Thailand or a fan.( very bad for you and bloody expensive! ) Many places are now charging 9 baht a unit ( a bit of an increase ) but if you are not using aircon then it won't make much difference.......

F.J x

I almost never use my AC and my 1br bungalow still costs about 2k a month. Using AC it goes to about 3k so yeah, I think maybe the fan is expensive to run. I use it whenever I am home but how exactly is it bad for me??

[zlodnick]

What about the meters?

Not sure about nowadays, but I believe the builders used to buy and install the meters. Ive seen in Global House etc., meters from cheap to expensive. Our original meter stopped working and we didnt recieve a bill for 2 years! I looked on the meter and it said, "Waterproof", and it was half full of water.

Maybe some meters arnt very accurate. That could work in your favor or not.