Monthly electric bill

[geisha]

Hi , just moved into a studio in Jomtien on the 23 rd of December. I've just received the electric bill, 140 units , unit price 6.00 baht = 840 B.

Water 2 units , unit price 35.00 B  = 70 B.

The name on the bill is correct. ( my name) 

i find this a bit steep for 8 days use, as I use mainly my fan and hardly 2/3 hours a day air con, which looks new, if that matters ? At a hundred baht a day, my electric bill will be 3000 B a month at this rate. Am I right ? A few details, single lady, no washing machine, just fridge, TV , evening lighting,and I don't cook. I'm going to. See them tomorrow but I want to be prepared ! I've rented before here, and never had a bill like this.

thank you so much.

[zorro1]

Be prepared for the usual suspects claiming to run 3 air cons and a pool pump for under 1k a
Month.. It's a mystery...

[Mangostin]

Simple solution:

Try to unplug/turn off  every single item that sucks electricity, then go to check your meter, if it's still spinning after having done that, chances are that you just joined the club of a few lucky expats here in Los.

After that, switch off completely your meter, soon you will have someone knocking at your door to complain about it, if it's another expat, please ask him under which alias he's posting on this forum, that probably the same guy mentioned earlier by someone else, which run the 3 air con & pool pump for under 1k....

[KhunBENQ]

There must be a hundred threads about electricity price scattered about all parts of the forum.

Expert knowledge is  mostly in the Electrical forum.

 

Moved.

 

[KhunBENQ]

Are you certain that the bill refers to 23 Dec onward only?

Was someone living in the studio before during last month?

 

 

[sfokevin]

Since you just moved in you do not know what the usage was for the previous 22 days before you moved in was?... the bill is for a 30 day period... maybe the condo owner left the lights or AC on when showing the unit... I would wait for a full month billing when you are in the condo to give a real idea of your usage...

[geisha]

Yes, the date on the bill is just December .

[KhunBENQ]

Overlapping and my idea too.

 

Do you have access to the meter to read it?

Note the reading daily to find out what is going on.

 

6 Baht per unit?

The usual rip off to make some extra Baht (hidden cost).

Original price is about 4 Baht (plus/minus).

 

[RichCor]

This may not help with your approaching meeting, but...   take a meter reading, then exactly 24 hours later take another reading.  See if it squares with what your bill would say your daily usage is (pro-rated).

 

The other posters may be right, it's probably a full cycle bill (month) with just a name change (but not pro-rated to adjust for your 8 days of occupancy). 

[geisha]

Ok,  , will do all that  tomorrow, thanks a lot !!!

[KC 71]

I always find that December and January are the two most expensive months for electric bills


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[A1Str8]

Once my electricity bill was twenty baht because I barely spent time at the place I rented. The manager woman found it so funny, she looked at the bill and it seemed she never had so much fun in her life. 

[Crossy]

That works out as an average load of about 730 Watts which seems a lot for a studio.

 

Fridge and fan (both 24/7) would probably account for 150-200 of that.

 

So somewhere is 500W.

 

How big is the aircon (BTU) and how long do you really use it for (or how big is the studio and we can guess at the A/C). How about your computer laptop/desktop? Hours powered up?

 

For comparison, our average load is 1,700W for a large home but little aircon use (one room overnight at 28C), fridge/freezer, chest freezer, TV all day, two desktop computers 12 hours a day (24 at the weekend), overnight security lights (all lighting is low energy / LED).

 

Good advice above to look at your meter activity.

[Don Mega]

9 hours ago, Mangostin said:

Simple solution:

Try to unplug/turn off  every single item that sucks electricity, then go to check your meter, if it's still spinning after having done that, chances are that you just joined the club of a few lucky expats here in Los.

After that, switch off completely your meter, soon you will have someone knocking at your door to complain about it, if it's another expat, please ask him under which alias he's posting on this forum, that probably the same guy mentioned earlier by someone else, which run the 3 air con & pool pump for under 1k....

 

 

How does one switch of the meter, mine has no on/off switch.

[Langsuan Man]

2 hours ago, Don Mega said:

How does one switch of the meter, mine has no on/off switch.

 

You don't ; you can only insure that all electric using devices are turned off,  much easier if you have a inside circuit box so you can just turn off the master 

[KhunBENQ]

10 hours ago, KC 71 said:

I always find that December and January are the two most expensive months for electric bills


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That's contra dictionary to our experience.

The two coldest months of the year and all three ACs off since months.

Wish I had a heater around New Year.

Bill for April and May is about double to almost triple the current one.

 

[Don Mega]

11 hours ago, KC 71 said:

I always find that December and January are the two most expensive months for electric bills


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I find my electric bill to be more expensive during the hotter months, rather than December/January which are cooler.

 

EDIT: yeah what KhunBENQ said !!

[louse1953]

12 hours ago, KC 71 said:

I always find that December and January are the two most expensive months for electric bills


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I always find them the cheapest.

[rawhod]

1 hour ago, louse1953 said:

I always find them the cheapest.

 

+1

[Don Mega]

4 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

 

You don't ; you can only insure that all electric using devices are turned off,  much easier if you have a inside circuit box so you can just turn off the master 

 

 

As I thought, maybe Mangostin meant to go out to the meter and undo the wires feeding into it. What could possibly go wrong !!

[geisha]

Update on my question. Went to the office and hey checked the last persons bill. The amount corresponded to my check in date of Dec 23  so I don't think they are ripping me off as I saw the bill. She did say 840'sounded a bit steep for 8 days with minimum air con use, and suggested we see a full month amount of January. She also said that at 6 baht a unit it was much more than government meters. So, I'll just check again end of January, and maybe try a daily check with all appliances ( fridge,TV, fan, ) turned off. Thanks again for all your comments and help, cheers! 

[Mangostin]

6 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

 

You don't ; you can only insure that all electric using devices are turned off,  much easier if you have a inside circuit box so you can just turn off the master 

Obviously it was a case of oversimplify the task, for someone which very likely might not be that familiar with an elcb.

Anyone which has it's personal safety at heart, supposed to have at least a basic circuit breaker installed, unfortunately, often that's not the case, even at dwelling occupied by westerners here....

 

[Mangostin]

8 hours ago, Don Mega said:

 

 

How does one switch of the meter, mine has no on/off switch.

If you can't stop the spinning of your meter, than you are a member of the club i mentioned earlier, which it's just not yet aware of being one....  

[Don Mega]

Just now, Mangostin said:

If you can't stop the spinning of your meter, than you are a member of the club i mentioned earlier, which it's just not yet aware of being one....  

 

 

So how do I turn off the meter ?

[chiang mai]

Turn off the master switch at the consumer unit, duh!

[Crossy]

Indeed ^^^. Whilst meters with built-in isolators do exist (usually 'smart' meters) they are not common in Thailand.

 

Turn off your main breaker and ensure the meter stops rotating.

[KC 71]

I always find them the cheapest.

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I guess it depends where you are living

I dont have aircon

But i have hotter showers and occasionally use a fan heater in those months,so the electric bill is higher