aircon malfunction? Electricity bill doubled!

[WonnabeBiker]

We are renting but have been paying to have the AC maintained.

A few months ago, ourr electric bill doubled. It's got to be the AC, as the refrigerator is modern and frost free.

• Should we buy a meter to check actual power draw by the AC?
• what could cause this issue? Maybe we need to replace a part in the AC? (Had the filter and gas changed last time).

Thak you for all answers!

[Crossy]

Weather has heated up, A/C working harder.

Fridge will be working harder too.

EDIT. What temperature do you have set on the A/C? Does it ever attain that? Do you have bills from last year this time to compare?

[lopburi3]

As said this is now the hot season so use/cost of electric will be going up. When was the AC last power cleaned?

[IMHO]

Your electric bill doubled a few months ago (in the cold season) or more recently?

If more recently (last month or so) it could just be working twice as hard to overcome the heat.

As lopburi points out, it could need cleaning and just be very inefficient as a result. It might also be low on refrigerant - look at the outdoor unit for any icing-up of the pipes - it's usually a good indicator that one of these conditions exist.

[maoro2013]

Sometimes they don't read the meter and give an estimated charge and some months later the meter is read and an adjustment is made. This happens around our way at least

[WonnabeBiker]

Weather has heated up, A/C working harder.

Fridge will be working harder too.

EDIT. What temperature do you have set on the A/C? Does it ever attain that? Do you have bills from last year this time to compare?

Thanks for these good questions.

* Got the bills from last year (same period, same setting: 24 Celsius)

It is intermittedly "blowing" and often in silent mode. The temperature is not unreasonably low.

Bills really doubled.

[WonnabeBiker]

Your electric bill doubled a few months ago (in the cold season) or more recently?

If more recently (last month or so) it could just be working twice as hard to overcome the heat.

As lopburi points out, it could need cleaning and just be very inefficient as a result. It might also be low on refrigerant - look at the outdoor unit for any icing-up of the pipes - it's usually a good indicator that one of these conditions exist.

Thank you - can't see icing and was comparing the bills month by month (hot season with hot season).

Will order another service.

Thanks again to y'all for helpful hints!

[Kerryd]

Are you getting the electricity bill direct, or is the landlord quoting you a price ?

(I used to live in a place where the landlord would calculate how much electricity I used and would then charge me about 3 baht/watt above the normal rate. I eventually found out what was going on and moved out. Basically I was paying for the electricity I was using, as well as the juice they were using in their apartments and laundry shop ! Never saw an actual bill because of the way they had it set up, they just tacked the electricity cost onto the monthly rent.)

If you are getting the bill directly, different story of course. I'm sure I read (on TV) something about the rate changing depending on usage (i.e. if you go over a certain amount of watts/month, you get charged a higher rate). I could be mistaken and I don't recall if there was mention of how much the rate changes.

Looking back at my last 4 bills, the rate has gone from as low as 3.17/watt (low usage month) to 3.6/watt (higher usage month), not including the (0.5896) extra charge or the 7% tax. Include those and my cost/watt goes from 4.14 to 4.48.

I've got lots of electronic goodies running all the time (at night there's enough little LED lights on to make my place look like it's decorated for Christmas) but I generally only run the A/C for a couple hours in the evening and then let the overhead fan run all night. Of course the more I use the air-con the higher the bill goes up, but no where close to double what it has been previously.

[masuk]

Weather has heated up, A/C working harder.

Fridge will be working harder too.

EDIT. What temperature do you have set on the A/C? Does it ever attain that? Do you have bills from last year this time to compare?

A common thing when the refrigerant gas runs low and the A.C. struggles to cool the air - it doesn't stop and doubles your power bills.

Also, be realistic about the temperature setting. 27C is normal for most.

Are the air filters clean? In a Chiang Mai climate, they might need removing and hosing clean every few weeks. If you use the 3M microfilters, I find these are very dirty within 2 weeks.

[monkey4u]

Check out your electric meter on the pole

We had to replace our one as it was running at twice the speed from overuse

Reason being, Thai's don't use much electricity so they install a cheaper meter

We bought the more robust meter and all is fine in La La land for now

[jacko45k]

Always a good idea to get your units serviced ahead of the hot season.

My electricity bill jumped last month, and I expect it to be up a little higher again this month..... my bedroom walls get hot this time of year.

Fridges will work a bit harder too although no need to use the water heaters on the shower.

[bankruatsteve]

The OP says renting. Is your bill based on metered units from the apartment or is it from the PEA? Check your bills to see if the KWH units have also doubled.

[slipperylobster]

Yep...ours too. Of course temperatures where we live are in the mid 30's...compared to mid 20's six weeks ago. And the nights are alot warmer. Makes sense. In rainy season, it should ease off a bit. (Less direct sunlight on concrete walls).

Yep...ours too. Of course temperatures where we live are in the mid 30's...compared to mid 20's six weeks ago. And the nights are alot warmer. Makes sense. In rainy season, it should ease off a bit. (Less direct sunlight on concrete walls).

Also, I am spending more afternoons in the house....whereas before, we would be out.

Edited April 2, 2015 by slipperylobster

[ronaldo0]

If you don't service them every 4-6 months they will end up not working as well as they should and use more electric as they work harder to try and cool the room.

[h90]

Weather has heated up, A/C working harder.

Fridge will be working harder too.

EDIT. What temperature do you have set on the A/C? Does it ever attain that? Do you have bills from last year this time to compare?

But if the AC is big, but low on gas, it uses unreasonable electric but still cools sufficient.

[rbmcn]

I suggest you (1) find the meter and photograph the numbers; (2) turn off all electric outlets and check the meter activity, periodically. If you find any meter activity someone is bleeding off your supply downstream from your meter. If no illicit activity, either one of your electrical units going crazy or your landlord is screwing with you. In my humble opinion.

[ToddinChonburi]

24 is pretty low for the day time need to adjust from day to day. I run 24 at night but during the day could go up to 27. Would not hurt to get it checked and make sure there are no leaks. Humidity drops during the day and rises at night so you should be able to adjust temp. Air should come out nice and cool. Low freon will make compressor kick in and out to soon.

If bill double from last year then something is wrong. Call for service.

[how241]

As said this is now the hot season so use/cost of electric will be going up. When was the AC last power cleaned?

+1....Clean the a/c, once or twice ever year, depending on your usage. Cleaning cost about 500 baht.

[ukrules]

The bills will vary around the year depending on the outside temperature. It's all related to A/C.

My lowest bill is around 4500 which came in February, last month is was 7,500 and I know it will rise to 8000 or so for April / May.

This cycle repeats every year. I set the living area A/C units to 25 during the day and around 20 in the bedroom when I sleep.

Turning the A/C off will result in a very low electric bill. It's all down to what makes you comfortable.

[Mudcrab]

Why did you change the gas? Leaking?

[PeCeDe]

Weather has heated up, A/C working harder.

Fridge will be working harder too.

EDIT. What temperature do you have set on the A/C? Does it ever attain that? Do you have bills from last year this time to compare?

Thanks for these good questions.

* Got the bills from last year (same period, same setting: 24 Celsius)

It is intermittedly "blowing" and often in silent mode. The temperature is not unreasonably low.

Bills really doubled.

24C sounds a little low for me but maybe you need it for health reasons etc., I set mine at econ 28, but even so to have the A/C serviced is a good idea.

[marios]

Check the meter if it is running wild. This may signify undetected leakage to earth. Is earth fault relay compulsory in Thailand? This is a sinister case, if so, which may endanger life.

If you can access your meter do what others have suggested, switch on your appliances one after the other and check meter behaviour. If nothing suspect arises then it has to be some bleeding off to other consumption points outside your household. Since ac usage has not been noted to have increased then the notion that low gas maybe responsible, is not the case, I think.

[Rogergreybeard]

Gee makes me feel lucky my landlord paid for cleaning of my aircondationer and when it was not working properly he had it fixed again,i have my own separate metre outside my door i pay 5 baht per unit, happy with that, but i run the aircon for health reasons but still happy with my average bill and great landlord

[KittenKong]

I live in Jomtien. We only have two seasons: hot and hotter. Sometimes it rains but the temperature is still either hot or hotter. I dont like being hot so in my 65sqm condo my air-con runs more or less all year 24/7, set at about 28 degrees. I also have a couple of ceiling fans running 24/7.

I also have a PC running 24/7, a big TV, water heater, oven, washing machine, fridge-freezer.

Since I replaced my old no-name air-con with a modern brand-name inverter unit my bills have been reduced to well under a half of what they used to be. Maybe under a third.

I don't notice a big difference in the bill over the year. Maybe 30% at most. March's bill was 1,600B which I pay directly at the official PEA rate.

My new inverter paid for itself in little over a year. YMMV