when i reno my house few months ago, i made the decision to install the more expensive Inverter type air cond units (Daikin) for 2 rooms (1hp) and living hall (1.5hp) with the idea that it will help save my electricity bill in the long run.

so far, the last 3 months i've actually moved in and started paying TNB bills, i realize, something must be wrong cos i'm paying quite an expensive bill.

the first time the bill came, it was on the high side, but i thought i didn't made any payments for the couple of months of reno works, and it was like CNY that time, loads of friends came for visit, the lights, A/C and everything was turned on constantly...i bare with it.

second time the bill came, still on the high side...again i tot maybe i didn't practice enough energy saving measures..and i begin to monitor my daily usage, i begin to switched my electrical appliances off (not leave it on standby) when i'm not using and try not to switch on those non-energy saving lights (florescent lights) when not necessary. i paid the bill.

'before anyone start shooting me saying switching off those electrical appliances like TV & Astro doesn't help conserve alot of energy, hear me out, cos i was watching one of those discovery/learning channels on Astro and apparently, they makes up to like 10% of your total bill, so i begun to do that, i'm not exactly sure if that's the case ok?'

this time, the bill came and amazingly, this bill is even higher than the first two months!!i'm absolutely dumbfounded. for a period of 31 days, total unit used was 803KWH! total bill came to RM260.45

now, i'm living in an apartment <1000sq ft. me and my wife. my baby kid (1.5yrs old)comes by to stay with us from Friday-Sunday evening. he sleeps with us in the same room. my appliances includes:

1) Home Entertainment system
2) Fridge (LG side-by-side)
3) Microwave
4) Cooker Hood
5) Oven
6) A/C (2 x 1hp & 1 x 1.5hp Inverter type)
7) Water Pump x 1
8) Water Heater x 2 (storage type not instant type)
9) Bathroom Exhaust Fan x 1
10) Alarm

both me & the wife works normal hours..so nothing is switched on during the day. only from 6-7pm onwards.

of all the appliances above (pretty much all) i can only think of Fridge & Alarm system which is ON 24x7.

i only switch on water pump & 1 water heater 90% of the time and not for long, maybe a couple of hours per day.

i spent about 3-4 hours a day (weekdays) watching TV.

we switch on 1 A/C at any time. if we're in living hall, then the hall A/C will be switched on. when we're going to sleep, hall A/C Off, and Room (1 room) A/C switched on for the entire night which is roughly 8hours. so in total, the A/C will be switched on about 12 hours aday. the other 1hp A/C was never switched on.

i'm not entirely sure what is the normal electricity usage per household? cos i spoke to a few colleague of mine and all of them were actually quite shock at my high electricity bill. one guy with a retired mom at home who watches tv 24x7 pays less than RM150 per month.

for a comparison, my bill is almost the same as my parents' in law double storey house. and they both not working so at home day & night with a 2hp non-inverter living hall A/C at full blast during the day and 1 x 1hp non-inverter room A/C switched on during the night when they sleep. they have 2 fridge running 24x7. major difference is they dun have cooking hood & oven and their electrical supply is 1-phase, while mine is 3-phase, 63A.

how much (in terms of KWH) will the A/C consume (per hour or per day)? inverter vs non-inverter type?

what about the fridge? how much does it consumed?

i'm beginning to have a wild suspicion that perhaps some of my neighbors are tapping into my electrical cables... the A/C & the Fridge is what is suspect to be consuming most of the electricity. plus the occasional water pump & heater. but the thing is, the A/C is supposed to be energy saving type...how come still used up so much power?

i just did another check on the meter today, from the time the last reading was recorded till today, 15 days in total, i've used something like 372KWH, which is about 25KWH per day!!

i just need to know if this is normal? the first thing i'm gonna do when i reach my apartment after work today is to check the meter again. compare it with the reading i took down this morning. see if there's a huge jump. then i will try to check the reading again tomorrow morning.

btw, no need to suggest me those energy-saver devices...those are full of crap...

i've thought about doing that, only thing is it means my fridge & alarm will be out of power

alarm i'm not so worried...only thing is the fridge.

if i go to TNB with this complaint they will layan?? seems quite far fetch they will actually send a team to investigate given the fact they quite happily accepting my payments.

thanks for the suggestion anyhows...i will check the meter once reach home later. see if there's a significant rise.

thanks for your input & comments..really useful tips...yes my A/C is at 18deg most of the time that's cos i feel hot all the time i too was wondering if switching the A/C on at 18deg cud cos the inverter thingy no operating as it should. i shall try to practice the habit of going 24deg from now on

the side-by-side fridge, yes i do admit is big. but not too big. even tho it takes up more space than i wanted, i've always wanted a side-by-side. and my wife absolutely love the design. so nothing i can do about changing it. and i do believe its not one of those energy efficient type fridge. especially now that you mentioned non-energy eff fridge cant be sold to countries under EU..cos i couldn't even find the fridge i have in the LG website.
but the again, there's nothing i can do about the fridge.

like i mentioned, i've begun to switched all applicances (with exception of fridge & alarm) off when not using since last month.

just ran a check on TNB website..my charges are based on Domestic tariffs.

i have various types of lightings. down lights with energy saving bulbs, florescent lights, spot lights and those hanging and ceiling mounted light fixtures. most with energy saving bulbs, not all. most of the time, i only switch on the down lights. spot lights almost never switched on. and i only switched on the lights when someone's there. if there's no one in the kitchen, i dun switched the on.

i like being in the dark. especially when i watch tv at night. light switched on during the night is quite minimal i would say.

shud i be switching off the electric thermos during the day? that is another appliances' switched 24x7. and mine is 5l if not mistaken. maybe i will switched them off from now on when not using. microwave & oven is rarely used. but when oven is used, its usually for 1-2 hours.

my wife need to sleep with a night light. so we switched on the bathroom light but kept the door close. i think that is not very energy efficient. do you feel if i use those plug in to socket outlet type night light will conserve more energy than switching on the bathroom ceiling light (energy saving bulb)??


for your info, i didn't get to choose what type of electrical supply i want. i don't think anyone get to choose when u buy property. you can upgrade from 1-phase to 3-phase with proper application. but not sure if you can downgrade.

it comes like that. what can i do?

if that's the case, you paying RM100 for 10hrs a/c use per day previously, now you paying RM50 for same period with Inverter a/c? that's 50% saving!!

so means i need to switch the A/C on for long hours then only will make use of inverter tech? jialat la like that...reach home from work must immediately switch on A/C til the next morning??

gov subsidy more if your usage is <400KWH per month. they sub less if usage >400KWH

and that's actually my goal...total usage about 500KWH per month. seems far fetch considering it was 800KWH on the last bill

i cant believe bill to be RM100 or so...i originally tot that would be the case, but now, i'm paying more than RM250 per month for the past 3 months.

just to justify:

Fridge - i've set it to the lowest temp since i started using it. i cook almost on daily basis (breakfast & dinner) so the size is just about right for my stuffs.

Cooker Hood - only switched on when cooking..if not cooking will immediately switch it off cos its damn noisy

A/C - since last night, i set it at 24c & fan speed no.3. previously 18c at fan speed 5, pretty much the max...i will continue to maintain it at 24c from now on

water pump - i need a water pump becos i have a crazy big size shower rose. its 350mm x 350mm. without the water pump, cant really feel the effect of rain shower. that's why i need a water pump. the water pump has a device which will switch off when no water passes thru it. besides, i switch off the main switch after i use them.

water heater (storage tank type) - 2 or 4 or 8 person nothing to do with having storage tank or not. the main idea of getting a storage tank is becos i can conceal the tank above the plaster ceiling. my bathroom is about 38 sq ft. the actual shower area is 3x3 ft. if i were to use those instant water heater type means
i will have a huge enclosure inside the 3x3ft area not to mentioned those hose running from here to there.
i wont be able to use shower rose but have to live with the stock handheld shower head that comes with the water heater.

besides, having the water heater & all pipings concealed means i have a more surface area. and the entire bathroom looks cleaner, and bigger.

again, as i mentioned, the water heater is SWITCHED OFF whenever we're done with the shower. it's never kept switched on more than couple of hours a day. i know all about the high electricity consumption of the water heater, and i do think logically, the heater will try to maintain the temp so it will keep boiling. so i make it a point to switched it ON only when we need to take a shower & switched it OFF immediately after use.

btw, the 'tank' is only 35liter. just about enough for 2 person. its the 2nd smallest tank capacity in the range.

bathroom exhaust fan - this is only installed in Bathroom 2 which is not used 90% of the time. the only time it is used is when my baby kid is around and its probably switched on 30mins per day for 3 days a week.


now, just to highlight & update, i did a check immediately after i reach home from work yesterday. i left home for work at about 12pm yesterday, and reached home at 7pm. between then, no one was at home and nothing was switched on except for:

Fridge
Alarm
thermos water kettle

and the usage? 1KWH in 7hours. this kinda make me think that the fridge is not so bad after all.

last night was a pretty normal night for both of us, the usual cooking (1.5 hr of oven & hood), clothes washing, TV and A/C usage with the exception we were out for a movie between 830pm to 1130pm. this morning, when i left for work at about 11am, the total usage was 14KWH.

if this is my average usage, the meter should be reading less than 500KWH per month. so i honestly, don't know where the extra 300KWH is from.

i will check the meter again after work later. and then check again the next morning. and will monitor the usage over the weekends. the high usage could be from the weekends.

This post has been edited by daryl.k: May 13 2010, 12:46 PM

wow...ur house like cybercafe...so many desktops....

but the thing is, ur running 1 non-inverter a/c at 18C for 10h per day...and yet, paying RM150 average...

if i substitute your desktops with rest of my appliances, shud be around the same...i wash clothes everyday, 1 wash per day, each wash is about 2+hrs...i iron probably 2-3 times a week for a couple of hours each time...

which puzzles me even more now...why are my bills so high while others with similar usage is on average...

eerrrrr...just to double confirm, none of yous with low electricity bills...u know...'messed' with the meter right?? cos i was recommended to do so but i did not take up the option...