Electric Bill Increasing By The Month

[Jeff Bangkok]

I have been in my condo for seven years now with electric billed direct from the utility (not condo billed). My air-cons have always been serviced every six months, but like others in this thread, my bill has jumped to shocking levels this year. Past hot seasons have not been close to these bills.

I just found this thread and am requesting the electric company to check the meter. At this point I am hoping it is the meter. I still maintain a home in America that is twice the size of my Thai home, and my electric bill in America is less than half.

[billphillips]

My usage is for an aircon 24/7 in the bedroom + all of the usual daily needs, including a tabletop oven used on most days, comes to around ฿1600 at this time of year. Up from ฿750 in the cool season.

Something is wrong with your billing.

PS .... keep your aircon at an achievable target, say at around 26 / 28c.

[lopburi3]

I have been in my condo for seven years now with electric billed direct from the utility (not condo billed). My air-cons have always been serviced every six months, but like others in this thread, my bill has jumped to shocking levels this year. Past hot seasons have not been close to these bills.

I just found this thread and am requesting the electric company to check the meter. At this point I am hoping it is the meter. I still maintain a home in America that is twice the size of my Thai home, and my electric bill in America is less than half.

Do you use electric heating in that American home? Or need the cooling you need here? As said much difference with the temperature set - I find 28 comfortable for sitting at computer but if I had to keep 25 things would get much more expensive.

As for this year the extra costs of fossil fuel over river water may have some effect - and we have had some very hot weather (much less rain which cools things down).

[StevieDee]

As the OP of this topic I thank everyone that replied with advice. I am now waiting for the electric company to come in the next week or so to check my issue. Since the original post I had the 1 and only aircon unit we use professionally serviced and topped up as suggested. As stated before there's just the 2 of us, with a routine regarding utility usage, (washing machine, cooker, fans, TV, aircon etc) and my last bill for June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units compared to 2,370 in February for 685 units. It's impossible for our usage to increase that much regardless of the outside temperature increasing. Will post with the electricity board report when completed.

[IMHO]

As the OP of this topic I thank everyone that replied with advice. I am now waiting for the electric company to come in the next week or so to check my issue. Since the original post I had the 1 and only aircon unit we use professionally serviced and topped up as suggested. As stated before there's just the 2 of us, with a routine regarding utility usage, (washing machine, cooker, fans, TV, aircon etc) and my last bill for June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units compared to 2,370 in February for 685 units. It's impossible for our usage to increase that much regardless of the outside temperature increasing. Will post with the electricity board report when completed.

Agreed. If you only have a single AC, it's very hard to believe it + your fridge have increased their combined electricity consumption by 12,500 watt hours/day - those are the only two appliances whose consumption varies upwards with increased prevailing temps.

[RichCor]

As the OP of this topic I thank everyone that replied with advice. I am now waiting for the electric company to come in the next week or so to check my issue. Since the original post I had the 1 and only aircon unit we use professionally serviced and topped up as suggested. As stated before there's just the 2 of us, with a routine regarding utility usage, (washing machine, cooker, fans, TV, aircon etc) and my last bill for June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units compared to 2,370 in February for 685 units. It's impossible for our usage to increase that much regardless of the outside temperature increasing. Will post with the electricity board report when completed.

Agreed. If you only have a single AC, it's very hard to believe it + your fridge have increased their combined electricity consumption by 12,500 watt hours/day - those are the only two appliances whose consumption varies upwards with increased prevailing temps.

OP,

Have you identified which meter is yours and watched it working (spinning).

Have you then turned off ALL of the Electrical at the CU and verified that the meter is stopped.

Have you tuned on the Electrical at the CU but temporarily disconnected ALL of the appliances, then observed the meter continue working (??)

It could be one or two of your appliances or something/someone leaching off your metered supply.

[lopburi3]

You are talking about 55% increase in usage - but a huge increase in price of x2.08

My usage increase was 37% in that time period but cost was only x1.35

Feb 1391 units B6535

Jun 1898 units B8800

[IMHO]

You are talking about 55% increase in usage - but a huge increase in price of x2.08

My usage increase was 37% in that time period but cost was only x1.35

Feb 1391 units B6535

Jun 1898 units B8800

You're quite right there... 2370 Baht for 685 units sounds too cheap, but 4,930 Baht for 1062 units sounds about right. The MEA calculator agrees: http://www.mea.or.th/aboutelectric/index.php?l=en&tid=4&mid=280&pid=116&ctForm=form11

@OP are you sure the 2370 Baht bill isn't one from 3+ years ago?

[StevieDee]

Apologies was looking at 2 bills and put the cost down from 1 and the units from the other. Should have read :-

June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units

February was 2,559 for 570 units.

I still cannot accept that, loosely speaking, my bill has doubled in 4 months with similar monthly usage as always, with 1 aircon unit, just because it's a bit warmer outside.

Will soon find out when the electric company come to inspect the issue.

[IMHO]

Apologies was looking at 2 bills and put the cost down from 1 and the units from the other. Should have read :-

June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units

February was 2,559 for 570 units.

I still cannot accept that, loosely speaking, my bill has doubled in 4 months with similar monthly usage as always, with 1 aircon unit, just because it's a bit warmer outside.

Will soon find out when the electric company come to inspect the issue.

Yeah right - that split in units/per month is even less believable - it's now suggesting over 16,000 watt hours/day increased consumption. Unless that one AC you have is a monster 100K+ BTU unit, there has to be another explanation

[Briggsy]

Look at the units history on the bill. The unit price varies according to world energy prices and usage tiers.

[lopburi3]

If you can provide the air conditioner specs am sure someone can figure out the max that it should consume for the period you say it is being used. But remember in Feb it probably did not have to run compressor more than a few minutes but in Jun it probably ran all night if set at blanket temp. As that seems to be your major electric expense such a change would make a huge difference in your bills.

[RichCor]

If you can provide the air conditioner specs am sure someone can figure out the max that it should consume for the period you say it is being used. But remember in Feb it probably did not have to run compressor more than a few minutes but in Jun it probably ran all night if set at blanket temp. As that seems to be your major electric expense such a change would make a huge difference in your bills.

OP, what is the make/model and type of your AC unit? What is the room size (area) it is cooling?

It would be interesting to see what outside temperatures your AC unit functions in, and how inside/outside temperature relates to the unit's power consumption, and how often and how long the compressor cycles per hour.

Compressors that are constantly running, or constantly starting have higher power usage.

Understand Cycle Time of air conditioners

bijlibachao.com | Jay Chheda | May 25, 2015

[Pib]

Apologies was looking at 2 bills and put the cost down from 1 and the units from the other. Should have read :-

June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units

February was 2,559 for 570 units.

I still cannot accept that, loosely speaking, my bill has doubled in 4 months with similar monthly usage as always, with 1 aircon unit, just because it's a bit warmer outside.

Will soon find out when the electric company come to inspect the issue.

A 5C temp increase outside...like from Feb to Jun can make a big difference in a person's A/C electric bill. And if your A/C is dirty, especially if the outside unit (a.k.a., condenser/compressor) has reached an excessively dirty stage your A/C electric can go up quite a bit.

[StevieDee]

If you can provide the air conditioner specs am sure someone can figure out the max that it should consume for the period you say it is being used. But remember in Feb it probably did not have to run compressor more than a few minutes but in Jun it probably ran all night if set at blanket temp. As that seems to be your major electric expense such a change would make a huge difference in your bills.

It's a Mitsubishi model FDC306CEN3, (capacity cool 7.1, input cool 2.96, current cool 15.0 = as per sticker on compressor), and is only used at night for 7 to 8 hours at a set temperature of 26 degrees.

As mentioned before the other utilities we use don't vary that much. There's only the 2 of us here and our routine is pretty much set in stone so cooking, laundry, fans, TV, lights etc get used pretty much the same day in, day out and week in, week out.

Lastly, to add insult to injury, we were away for 5 nights on holiday in mid-June and still had the 4,930 Baht bill for June's electric.

[Tywais]

Apologies was looking at 2 bills and put the cost down from 1 and the units from the other. Should have read :-

June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units

February was 2,559 for 570 units.

I still cannot accept that, loosely speaking, my bill has doubled in 4 months with similar monthly usage as always, with 1 aircon unit, just because it's a bit warmer outside.

Will soon find out when the electric company come to inspect the issue.

A 5C temp increase outside...like from Feb to Jun can make a big difference in a person's A/C electric bill. And if your A/C is dirty, especially if the outside unit (a.k.a., condenser/compressor) has reached an excessively dirty stage your A/C electric can go up quite a bit.

From what I've read there will be about a 10% increase in usage for every 1 degree change in setting or outside temperature on average.

[Pib]

If you can provide the air conditioner specs am sure someone can figure out the max that it should consume for the period you say it is being used. But remember in Feb it probably did not have to run compressor more than a few minutes but in Jun it probably ran all night if set at blanket temp. As that seems to be your major electric expense such a change would make a huge difference in your bills.

It's a Mitsubishi model FDC306CEN3, (capacity cool 7.1, input cool 2.96, current cool 15.0 = as per sticker on compressor), and is only used at night for 7 to 8 hours at a set temperature of 26 degrees.

As mentioned before the other utilities we use don't vary that much. There's only the 2 of us here and our routine is pretty much set in stone so cooking, laundry, fans, TV, lights etc get used pretty much the same day in, day out and week in, week out.

Lastly, to add insult to injury, we were away for 5 nights on holiday in mid-June and still had the 4,930 Baht bill for June's electric.

My neighbor a few sois down had her daughter from the U.S. visit for about a month who stayed a bedroom with A/C...a room that never gets used unless guests are staying in it....the daughter used the A/C at night and for some during the day...probably around 12 hours worth over each 24 hour period...it was either a 12K or 18K BTU fixed speed (not inverter) Mitsubishi A/C (almost brand new)...but I'm thinking it was a 18K BTU since its a large bedroom...not sure what temp the A/C was set at when in use. Dear Daughter also got Dear Mom to run one of the downstairs A/C more than usual during the day. The daughter has now left and the neighbor just got her electric bill that reflects the great majority of the daughter's period of stay. The bill increased approx Bt2,500 (approx 536KWH at Bt4.66/KWH) compared to the neighbor's normal usage. Dear Mom is also expecting another higher than normal bill next month which includes the remaining portion of the Dear Daughter's visit.

[Pib]

Apologies was looking at 2 bills and put the cost down from 1 and the units from the other. Should have read :-

June was 4,930 Baht for 1062 units

February was 2,559 for 570 units.

I still cannot accept that, loosely speaking, my bill has doubled in 4 months with similar monthly usage as always, with 1 aircon unit, just because it's a bit warmer outside.

Will soon find out when the electric company come to inspect the issue.

A 5C temp increase outside...like from Feb to Jun can make a big difference in a person's A/C electric bill. And if your A/C is dirty, especially if the outside unit (a.k.a., condenser/compressor) has reached an excessively dirty stage your A/C electric can go up quite a bit.

From what I've read there will be about a 10% increase in usage for every 1 degree change in setting or outside temperature on average.

And for every one degree Celsius change in setting of the desired "inside" temperature can change usage by 3 to 5%.

As per study by ACEEE (American Council of Energy Efficiency Economy), increase of each ^oC can save 3-5% of units consumed.

And if the inside or outside unit is too dirty, then KWH usage can shoot up.

For me here in Bangkok my biggest electric bills are Apr, May, and June and my monthly bill actually covers part of two month since the meter is read on the 13th of each month. That also when you usually see the most whining/posts on ThaiVisa along the lines of, "my electric bill just shot up....what's going on!!!". What's going on is it got hotter outside...less cloudy days...more hours of direct sunlight...higher humidity...etc.

I just got my bill for 13 Jun thru 13 Jul yesterday...it's down about 10% from last month...and it will stay pretty constant until around Oct/Nov when it will drop some more....with Dec, Jan, and Feb bills are my lowest bills.

[lopburi3]

It's a Mitsubishi model FDC306CEN3, (capacity cool 7.1, input cool 2.96, current cool 15.0 = as per sticker on compressor)

Thanks - but will have to be someone with more knowledge of Europe specs as this is not designed for Thailand and from Google results is made for Russia. It is also Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rather than Mitsubishi Electric (which most of us in Thailand buy).

[Pib]

It's a Mitsubishi model FDC306CEN3, (capacity cool 7.1, input cool 2.96, current cool 15.0 = as per sticker on compressor)

Thanks - but will have to be someone with more knowledge of Europe specs as this is not designed for Thailand and from Google results is made for Russia. It is also Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rather than Mitsubishi Electric (which most of us in Thailand buy).

The 30 in the number above stands for the cooling capacity in watts....30 means approximately 3,000 watts in this case which equates to 10,236 BTU....a small size A/C for a smaller sized room. The 6 in the model just represents the series.

[jamra]

Hi

I Have just seen my Electric Bill increase by 62.5% from 5 bhat per kilowatt to 8 Bhat , this is astronomical increase ! I am fuming .

anyone know the legality of condo builiding being able to mark up the charge from the utilities provider ?

at this rate I have worked out that one off Elon Musks power walls would pay for its self within 24 months , but I need somewhere to put solar panels .

[lopburi3]

The cost for my 1607kwh today was 4.57 baht per unit total direct to home here in Bangkok. I suspect Condo increased price in line with the increase of basic electric per unit cost last month (which has greatly increased) and not taking into consideration that the fuel charge is now much lower so actual cost per unit has not increased. You should be talking with condo group.

[jamra]

Yes 8,000 bhat for 1 months Electric ! . its hard to get a group together as many units are owned by the company , so lots of short term residents .

[Pib]

Yes, PEA/MEA rebaselined their rates by rolling-in the old Fuel Traffic (Ft) into the basic rates per KWH and resetting the Ft pretty close to zero. The Ft can now be negative or positive depending on fuel prices. In fact the latest Ft was slightly negative. End result the base rates increased and the Ft went back to a baseline of pretty close to 0 but the overall price remained basically unchanged from the old overall prices.

Our homes electric account is in the wife's name and we get billed directly from MEA...our monthly bill runs from the the 13th to 13th. Our 13 Nov bill including all fees/taxes was Bt8577.16 for 1869 KWH which equates to Bt4.59/KWH. Now the new rates went into effect 16 Nov so almost all of our 13 Dec bill was covered by the new rates...our bill was Bt8438.08 for 1835KW which equates to Bt4.60/KWH.

Yeap, paying Bt8/KWH is pricey especially when previously you were paying Bt5. I expect your bill may cover some of the common area electric cost unless that is covered in another charge. Then again maybe condo management just decided to increase profit by raising the electric price within the condo building...Merry Christmas said the Grinch.

[jamra]

Yes I think they just decided to raise prices as they see it as a source of income ! greedy T@£%ts