Electricity cost expectations

You, & I, are paying about the same amount!
You have to "PAY" to sleep good at night!
Are your "AC" units "Window/wall" units, or more likely, "Splits".
We have 3 "splits", and one "Wall" units.
We just switched out an old 12,000 BTU "Wall Unit", for an 18,000 BTU "Invertor" unit, with no increase in energy.
The size, and efficiency of each unit is important.
If you can set te "Sleep" mode, to shut the unit off after you are sleeping that will help as well.
You will now see a bunch of post from people who "Claim" that their bill is only 800 pesos a month, or, "You can get by with "Fans", or,or,or!
I didn't come here to sweat like a dog all the time!
Each "AC" unit will cost between 2 and 3,000 pesos a month to use.(AND, Only from about 9 pm, to 6, or 7 am, except if I have a "Nappy Time!)
I know, because that's how much I save when a unit is not in use for a month, like when I am away.
Getting a quiet,(Windows closed, no dogs barking all night long, no "MUSICA") Clean, no dust coming in, low humidity, (No Sweating for US!) nights sleep is worth a few hundred to me!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

RD$16k sounds excessive. Lets try to analyze why your bill is so high. Assuming you get your electricity from one of the edes the current rate for kWh that exceed 700kWh is RD$10.86 per kWh. For a RD$16k bill at RD$10.86 you are using about 1473 kWh per mouth which is a lot by any standard. That works out to about 50 kWh per day.

I would like more info on the AC. What is their BTU rating and SEER if you have it handy. Do you have hot water heater and how many.

To give you an idea, I use on average 600 kWh per month on the hot months and on the cooler months around 450 kWh on average. The bill for the high months hoovers around RD$5k and in the cooler months its about RD$4k but I try not exceed the 700 kWh trigger of all kWh billed at maximum rate.

As an example the bill for 699 kWh:

• 75 kWh x RD$4.44 = 333.00
• 125 kWh x RD$4.44 = 555.00
• 100 kWh x RD$6.97 = 697.00
• 399 kWh x RD$10.86 = 4333.14

Total = RD$5918.14

And 701kWh:
701kWh x 10.86 = RD$7612.86

Notice there is a RD$1694.72 jump in the bill for just 2 extra kWh. You want to avoid going over 700 kWh if possible.

NotLurking

my in laws here in POP have AC in all bedrooms. admittedly they only run one now, since the last kid moved out. their power bill is usually somewhere around 10k pesos. sometimes as little as 8k and sometimes as much as 16k. depends on the time of the year and who stays in the house, i suppose. they are not the types who do any king of energy saving, thou. and there are few fridges and freezers there plus some other stuff that uses lots of power.

our bills are somewhere between 2.5 and 3k. no AC. and i try to be green...

so 16k does not sound out of this world to me...

NotLurking said:

RD$16k sounds excessive. Lets try to analyze why your bill is so high. Assuming you get your electricity from one of the edes the current rate for kWh that exceed 700kWh is RD$10.86 per kWh. For a RD$16k bill at RD$10.86 you are using about 1473 kWh per mouth which is a lot by any standard. That works out to about 50 kWh per day.

I would like more info on the AC. What is their BTU rating and SEER if you have it handy. Do you have hot water heater and how many.

To give you an idea, I use on average 600 kWh per month on the hot months and on the cooler months around 450 kWh on average. The bill for the high months hoovers around RD$5k and in the cooler months its about RD$4k but I try not exceed the 700 kWh trigger of all kWh billed at maximum rate.

As an example the bill for 699 kWh:

• 75 kWh x RD$4.44 = 333.00
• 125 kWh x RD$4.44 = 555.00
• 100 kWh x RD$6.97 = 697.00
• 399 kWh x RD$10.86 = 4333.14

Total = RD$5918.14

And 701kWh:
701kWh x 10.86 = RD$7612.86

Notice there is a RD$1694.72 jump in the bill for just 2 extra kWh. You want to avoid going over 700 kWh if possible.

NotLurking

Click to expand...

Actually here in Alma Rosa II (Edeeste), billing is the following:

First 200 kWh is at RD$4.44
200-300 KWh is at RD$6.97
300+ kWh is at RD$10.86

Example my bill for Jan 2013:

Cargo Fijo: (seems to very per area)
31 dias, RD$144.59 RD$144.59
Energia:
75 kWh X RD$4.44 RD$333.00
125 kWh X RD$4.44 RD$555.00
100 kWh X RD$6.97 RD$697.00
100 kWh X RD$10.86 RD$1086.00
48 kWH X RD$10.86 RD$521.28

Total$ 3336.84 (for 448kWh)

I have a 3 bedroom apt, only 1 AC (Samsung 12k split, older non invertor style), 2 flat screen TV's, all florescent bulbs installed, hot water tank, American style washing machine, PC, laptops, ceiling fan, etc.. When I don't use my AC bill comes up to 1200-2000 pesos a month, with some a/c are 3000 or so, summer time about 4000-4500.

So with 3 a/c units I would expect around 13,000-15,000 or so. You might want to invested in the newer style A/C split invertor units, which help lowering your monthly electrical costs.

Thanks

tcast305 said:

Actually here in Alma Rosa II (Edeeste), billing is the following:
Example my bill for Jan 2013:

Cargo Fijo: (seems to very per area)
31 dias, RD$144.59 RD$144.59
Energia:
75 kWh X RD$4.44 RD$333.00
125 kWh X RD$4.44 RD$555.00
100 kWh X RD$6.97 RD$697.00
100 kWh X RD$10.86 RD$1086.00
48 kWH X RD$10.86 RD$521.28

Total$ 3336.84 (for 448kWh)

Click to expand...

Exactly the same rates I posted. All the edes by law have the same rates.

NotLurking

You give the power company 1,200USD in three months????? Your using a like 100USD a week on "juice" DAMN!!!!
Did you ever take a accounting clase in college or high school and learned about " Debits and Credits"?The apartment I pay for in Alma Rosa II is a 3bed 2 bath apartment and the cost of cooking gas, water, and lights run me around 100USD a month for everything.

If my ex wife tells me the bills for all three when up in the month of June like 50 bucks because she was HOT at night then in July I have to take 25 dollars from the money she uses for gas and 25 from her salon money to make up the 50 I lost in June( BTW this is an example)

Sit with your family and hold a meeting and discuss how to lower this bill as a family. Children should only be allowed to watch 5 to 6 hours of TV a week. My daughter is only allowed 5 hours of TV a week. No reason for your children to have their own AC in their rooms, because heat does not affect little people like it does some adults.

Food, gas for your car, light bill, etc all can be lowered no matter what country you live in, but it has to be done as a family because IMO 1200USD for three months is throwing money away big time. 5000USD a year for a light bill???? You could get a decent "Rolex or Concord" watch for this type of money.

NotLurking,

You're right, just noticed the last statement that all is billed at the high rate after 701 kWh, my bad.

Thanks.

That sounds about right. 2 bedroom in Santiago, pretty much never turn off the A/C when IM home.Like CC said, I cant sweat when IM sleeping and I like A/C during the day when IM home watching TV, computer, entertaining etc to take the humidity, noise away.Like the ole saying goes "if you have to ask you probably cant afford it". Its a must have luxury for me.
Average between five and six hundred fifty U.S a month.
I could cut down, for example when IM out during the day I do not turn off the A/C on hot days. I like to return home to a chilly meat locker, and I don't run around turning stuff off, bad habit I guess

MJSantoDomingo said:

JMB - that has been my reaction as well - "damn, that bill is just to high!" But from reading some other posts, it seems that it could be right - so yes, usage by family has to be discussed.
And since the ACs seem to be the biggest factor in the bill - that is an area I want to work on.
For example, I think every degree on the AC probably costs more the cooler you set it, because the AC has to work more and longer to keep the room at that temp. And maybe timers can be added to the ACs so they turn off after a while, etc...

Click to expand...

FIY, the average home without AC uses about ~18 kWh per day which is about 540 kWh per month. A conservative home will use from 13-15 kWh per day for a 420 kWh average usage. your usage is over 3 times the norm and really needs to be addressed.

In a previous post you mentioned that your ACs are 18,000 BTU with an estimated SEER of 10 the power use of this unit would be 1.8 kWh but lets be a bit more conservative as assume a power usage of 1.5 kWh. You said you have 3 units, assuming all 3 units are of the same type (not uncommon), your total power use for the 3 ACs is 4.5 kWh. If you run the ACs from 9PM to 6AM, that is 9 hours per day of usage. The total use for 30 days would be roughly 270 hours at a cost of 4.5 kWh that's 1215 kWh per month. At the current electricity rate that is 1215 kWh * RD$10.86 = RD$13,194.90 or basically it's in agreement with your current bill if we exclude the rest of your electrical usage.

It's quite clear that the AC is the main offender on such a high bill and usage needs to be reduced. I recommend installing programmable timers on each AC unit. Program the timers to turn the unit on at 9PM for 2 hours then off for the following 2 hours then on for the next 2, the program ends at the time you usually get up in the morning. This would easily cut your bill in half and you and your family wont feel deprived of AC.

NotLurking

if you are looking to lower the bill just few things can help.
for instance we have an electric heater. i like my showers hot and i do not specifically skip on that. but i only turn the heater for half an hour or so,just before showering. that's good enough.
if you have an electric clothes dryer think about changing it to gas. if your washing machine is too small you need to run it more often for a larger family. i find that our big washing machine is a blessing here, because i can wash bigger loads if needed.
we warm up most things on a stove rather than microwave. partially due to constant electricity problems but once you get into the habit it can save you a bit of cash.
some people talk about storing lots of water containers in the fridge but i cannot be bothered, personally. i store all starches there and that keeps it filled.
i will not give any tips on AC, we do not have one. we have fans and we only run them at night. the breeze bothers me so i'd rather be hot, frankly, than have the wind blow in my ears.

lastly, i admit that when we have guest i do walk around the house and switch off the lights they left on, the fans they had running while out of the rooms and so on. possibly less about the actual use of power and more the force of a habit, because with guest the water heater is on for longer and they plug all sorts of stuff in and i do not care about that...

What are you paying per KW/h?

MJSantoDomingo said:

Ok - I have complained about how much the electricity bill is each month - and I want to know if I am right.
We have a three bedroom in SD. AC in each bedroom used only at night when sleeping - though try to not to during the cooler months of the year. Yes - sometimes the kids watch some TV after school - and everyone watches some TV at night. Sometimes the kids forget and leave a light on in a room, but not too often. But the electric bill has been around 16,000 pesos a month for a long time - sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little less. But that is roughly $400USD a month for electricity. I looked through other topics that talked about electricity costs - and it seems that I may be on the high side. So - I would like to know what other people are paying for a similar 3 or 4 bedroom place in SD or any other city area for comparison. If others are paying dramatically less in a similar situation, then I will have to find the problem.

Click to expand...

MJSantoDomingo said:

Ok - I have complained about how much the electricity bill is each month - and I want to know if I am right.
We have a three bedroom in SD. AC in each bedroom used only at night when sleeping - though try to not to during the cooler months of the year. Yes - sometimes the kids watch some TV after school - and everyone watches some TV at night. Sometimes the kids forget and leave a light on in a room, but not too often. But the electric bill has been around 16,000 pesos a month for a long time - sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little less. But that is roughly $400USD a month for electricity. I looked through other topics that talked about electricity costs - and it seems that I may be on the high side. So - I would like to know what other people are paying for a similar 3 or 4 bedroom place in SD or any other city area for comparison. If others are paying dramatically less in a similar situation, then I will have to find the problem.

Click to expand...

My guess is that you are on the Gringo Meter.

Our bills WERE over $20K per month. NO one could figure it out except that I kept track of the meter. Guess what.... ran like HELL when everything was turned off.

Went Solar. 8 people on property. Our main house and two apartments ALL with full kitchens and such. TWO pools. My bill has NOT gone over 600 Kw in since my last change. NO AC has been used, been TOO cold. Both apts. have elec. hot water heaters, ours is LPG.

Keep in mind that it is not ONLY doing the Solar, it is going room by room and seeing what is using power.

Do Search and find VERY GOOD threads concerning solar and threads that can help you save power.

AIR COND. THIS TIME OF YEAR?

It sounds about right to me, due to the three AC's running. I would still check to make sure nobody else is hooked up to my line though.