Electricity Prices

[bigston]

Hello all
we are in the process of moving to the area and im getting widely conflicting information about the cost of electricity
I would expect that if one chose to live inside with 2 air conditioners on all day and night, that the cost would be significantly higher, but for a 2 bedroom villa, not huge, with aircon, in the living area and 2 bedrooms mainly used at night ,
what would be an "approximate estimate " of the overall power bill each month .
thanks so much for any insights.

[bigston]

Further to that, I would need to factor in the cost of running a pool system as well
thank you

[Big Boy]

We live in a similar configuration although I rarely use a/c in my bedroom at night. We NEVER use a/c during the day. Our largest bill in the last 12 months was 3,400 (one month only) Baht and the lowest was about 2,200. Our average monthly bill is about 2,800 Baht

[Big Boy]

We do not have a pool.

[HarryVardon]

I have a similar house but no pool. The highest electricity bill I have ever paid is under 2,000 Baht. Normally 1,600-1,700.

[Big Boy]

HaHa - same, same but different. You will always get these differences, and yes, our other electricity usage is pretty high - 3 TVs, 2 computers, 2 fridge freezers, electric cooker, 9 fans (3 industrial sized), etc., etc.

[Nereus]

Depending a bit on the size, a pool will cost around 1,000 Baht / month to run. Too many other variables with a house, such as type of construction materials, insulation, roof type, aspect to the sun, shade trees, etc., etc.

[HarryVardon]

I have 3 fridge/freezers plus a separate freezer, 3 TV's, at least 2 fans on all day, induction cooking and air-con in 3 rooms of which one is used several hours a day, a computer that is on all day, at least 4 lights in house that are switched on all day, etc. I must admit that the sun does not shine into the house and I pay the bill directly to PEA (there is no intermediary). My bill only ever reaches 2,000 after having visitors staying at the house and thus using more air-con.

[Scout]

I have a pool and similar situation as you describe, and pay direct to PEA. Cost per unit runs about 4.35 baht per unit. I take meter readings daily, have for nearly 6 years and enter the readings into a complex Excel spreadsheet I developed to charting and math analysis (because I have the time, interest and love analyzing data). I’d guess during the hot season you’ll have bills into the mid 5000 bt range, maybe more, and during the cool season you’ll see bills in the low to mid 3000 bt range. My large salt water pool with chlorinator runs 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in early evening, 4 hours total. There are a lot of variables, only a few of which you can control, but I think you’ll be in the range I outlined above.

[STEVE G]

With electricity charges in Thailand, the thing to be aware of is that the price per unit goes up on a stepped scale depending on the amount you use, so you can double your bill without doubling the usage.
That's why you hear such wildly different stories about how much people pay, the rates are here:
https://www.pea.co.th/en/electricity-tariffs

[Scout]

Absolutely right Steve, but in actuality I would guess that most, if not all, Farang homes will fall into the “Consume over 150 kWh. per month” range, which means their rate will be at least 3.25 baht per unit and at most 4.42 baht per unit. Because this is a marginal rate, their overall monthly rate will be somewhere between these rates. My pool alone uses about 10 units per day (about 300 units per month), and this only after I invested in a high quality chlorinator and also over time confirmed a safe minimum number of daily runtime hours to minimize my electricity costs while also ensuring the pool doesn’t greenup. Most Pool maintenance contractors will try to insist the pump run at least double the time that mine does as this allows them to do less work, less often, and to supply / pay for less chemicals (salt and acid primarily). Anyone with a pool villa wanting to reduce electricity costs, the first place I’d advise for them to evaluate is how many hours their pump is running versus how many hours it really needs to run. A good pool company, such as GDL, can take the volume measurements of your pool and calculate how many grams of chorine per day the chlorinator needs to convert, compare that with the nameplate output of your particular chlorinator and tell you how many hours the pump / chlorinator needs to run. My experience says to then configure the pump to run about half to 75% of this figure to safely avoid the pool greening up. Provided the Pool Maintenance person keeps enough salt there should be no problems. Pool maintenance people notoriously like to run the pool low on salt, my chlorinator warns when salt level is too low, I had to train my pool guy so that he knows to add salt because I am paying attention and will know if he is not.

[malcolminthemiddle]

………. my chlorinator warns when salt level is too low,...…...

How does your chlorinator warn you? Thanks.

[Scout]

It displays “Low Salt” on the control panel display.

[bigston]

Thanks to all for your replies, i guess it will be a case of monitoring the usage and adjust where necessary if possible.
I haven't noticed the word " Solar " mentioned, is it not an option, due to price or reliability.