Singapore Expats

Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Discuss about life in Singapore. Ask about cost of living, housing, travel, etiquette & lifestyle. Share experience & advice with Singaporeans & expat staying in Singapore.
Post Reply
x9200
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10073
Joined: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 4:06 pm
Location: Singapore

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by x9200 » Thu, 31 Dec 2020 6:36 pm

Thanks PPF! Very interesting...Is it retail that dominant that the prices tend to pick up strongly only after 12-14 o'clock? But then on Sundays there is hardly any peak. Or majority of the business starts their working days only after 11? I am in manufacturing and we start around 9, but manufacturing is ca 20% of GDP and 4 next top contributors (ca 60%) are more office (->aircon) based so this may explain the trends.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/112 ... by-sector/

User avatar
ProvenPracticalFlexible
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 491
Joined: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 8:50 pm
Answers: 1
Location: East Coast

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by ProvenPracticalFlexible » Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:35 pm

Difficult to say, and this year is probably a bit special due to remote working still being the norm. But kids come back home from school and home aircons go on, etc. So the demand peaks might be very short as it seems. But not important enough to change behaviour as most don't have that pricing model in their bill.

User avatar
abbby
Manager
Manager
Posts: 1977
Joined: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 3:00 am
Answers: 2
Location: Tiny Island

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by abbby » Sun, 03 Jan 2021 7:49 pm

Thanks for the link, it's useful.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

x9200
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10073
Joined: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 4:06 pm
Location: Singapore

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by x9200 » Mon, 01 Nov 2021 9:59 am

Ok, so just to update this thread a bit...

I switched to the wholesale rates from January this year and just switched back to regulated prices.
My typical bill was earlier $220-350. We hardly use any AC and almost never at night. After switching, my savings were ca $5-10 a month (when there were some savings), and loses $100-300 a month.
So this is not all that green and not really predictable especially in recent months.
Perhaps if one uses AC every night in multiple rooms, maybe... but clearly not with our profile.

User avatar
ProvenPracticalFlexible
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 491
Joined: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 8:50 pm
Answers: 1
Location: East Coast

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by ProvenPracticalFlexible » Mon, 01 Nov 2021 10:44 am

x9200 wrote:
Mon, 01 Nov 2021 9:59 am
Ok, so just to update this thread a bit...

I switched to the wholesale rates from January this year and just switched back to regulated prices.
My typical bill was earlier $220-350. We hardly use any AC and almost never at night. After switching, my savings were ca $5-10 a month (when there were some savings), and loses $100-300 a month.
So this is not all that green and not really predictable especially in recent months.
Perhaps if one uses AC every night in multiple rooms, maybe... but clearly not with our profile.
Thanks for sharing this, I was thinking about it, but probably will hold it now.
Though we are more aircon used at night household, thus that might be a bit better for us.
Might have been better some time back but currently prices been getting higher and peak prices especially, and not just here in Singapore.

What is your high usage than if not night time aircon? We are around same typical bill size, and I don't consider us especially energy saving or paying attention to it.

x9200
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10073
Joined: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 4:06 pm
Location: Singapore

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by x9200 » Mon, 01 Nov 2021 11:52 am

That would be 3 fridges and 1 freezer, plus hell lot of IT/gadget infrastructure, all these running round the clock. Peak hours: ironing / washing. We typically draw between 700-1100kWh (closer to 700-800kWh). The bill after switching to WS was never clear to me, but it was some multicomponent list with majority charged at low rate (say most of the time 10-13c/kWh what resulted in a ~$150-160 bill. But for example, for October, we used ~750kWh billed at >44c/kWh. With this sort of fluctuation it hardly makes any sense to rely on it. Unless somebody turns it into a hobby watching how the rates change and reacting by blowing out the fuses at home.

User avatar
ProvenPracticalFlexible
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 491
Joined: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 8:50 pm
Answers: 1
Location: East Coast

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by ProvenPracticalFlexible » Mon, 01 Nov 2021 1:46 pm

I was on the Ohm discount contract, and our consumption is between 1100-1500kWh, and bills were about 200-300 per month, it was a pretty good fix rate discount deal, but now they are out of the market, so seems like not very profitable for them any more.

User avatar
PNGMK
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9076
Joined: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 9:06 pm
Answers: 10
Location: Sinkapore

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by PNGMK » Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:11 am

With three (and maybe more) retailers out of the market it is an interesting time (and expensive) to sign a new contract. My current one at 17c/unit has another 9 months to run fortunately. Personally I prefer locked in prices on most things.
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
You've been arrested? Law Society of Singapore can provide referrals.
You want an International School job? School website or http://www.ISS.edu
Your rugrat needs a School? Avoid for profit schools
You need Tax advice? Ask a CPA
You ran away without doing NS? Shame on you!

User avatar
malcontent
Manager
Manager
Posts: 2613
Joined: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:52 am
Answers: 8
Location: Pulau Ujong

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by malcontent » Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:48 am

I never bothered to change my power provider. For me, I just don’t want any hassle. I wouldn’t want to mess around with a provider that is here today and gone tomorrow. Also, my utility bill is only around 2% of my overall budget, so I have bigger things to worry about 😔
Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it - Niels Bohr

User avatar
ProvenPracticalFlexible
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 491
Joined: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 8:50 pm
Answers: 1
Location: East Coast

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by ProvenPracticalFlexible » Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:55 am

The mess is not really much of anything for a consumer here.

The bill always continued to come from SP, and now when they are gone it went back to the basic SP service, so it's not like they cut you off and need to reconnect you to the grid or something.

User avatar
malcontent
Manager
Manager
Posts: 2613
Joined: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:52 am
Answers: 8
Location: Pulau Ujong

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by malcontent » Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:34 pm

ProvenPracticalFlexible wrote:
Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:55 am
The mess is not really much of anything for a consumer here.

The bill always continued to come from SP, and now when they are gone it went back to the basic SP service, so it's not like they cut you off and need to reconnect you to the grid or something.
That gives me some comfort.

If I was to go with an another provider, I would just go with the straight % discount off standard tariff, preferably one that can just continue forever without needing to recontract after 1 or 2 years. Any recommendation?
Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it - Niels Bohr

User avatar
PNGMK
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9076
Joined: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 9:06 pm
Answers: 10
Location: Sinkapore

Re: Aircon Usage - Utility Bills - Best Practices

Post by PNGMK » Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:45 pm

I like Sembcorp.
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
You've been arrested? Law Society of Singapore can provide referrals.
You want an International School job? School website or http://www.ISS.edu
Your rugrat needs a School? Avoid for profit schools
You need Tax advice? Ask a CPA
You ran away without doing NS? Shame on you!

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Staying, Living in Singapore”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests