Expensive electricity bill?

[Crystalchi1207]

Friend told me the electricity bill in Singapore can be quite punchy. Could you mind to share your view. I'm going to rent 1500 sq ft apartment.

[PNGMK]

$300 per month with aircon on at night.

[bgd]

About $70 for electric, gas and water. Don't use aircon.

[Strong Eagle]

We paid right around $250 to use aircon in one bedroom at night, in the living room every once in a while when we watched a movie, and sometimes in the late afternoon when my office became just too hot for a fan.

Three things really eat up electricity: Your air conditioner, your clothes dryer, and if you have it, an electric stove.

[Reyon]

Depending on your comfort level it may be "impossible" to sleep without aircon. But what i have realised is that not using a clothes dryer really helps. Considering how hot it is here you can get by without one

[taxico]

in singapore, my towels smell better when i use the dryer... so i end up just throwing my clothes in anyway.

the other power hog is a (large'ish) water heater tank.

i realized recently that if i set my a/c temperature at "auto" + 25 or 26 'c (or dehumidify mode), it doesn't guzzle as much juice.

[abbby]

I have experienced a few times in a year at $700+/month for electricity. Mostly used by aircons turned on in several rooms, and dehumidifier turned on 24 hours. It's a west facing unit so I would also the facing of the house is also crucial to how much electricity we consume. After moving away from the west unit, the bills have come down and I've thrown away the dehumidifier.

[jalanjalan]

I haven't used aircon in years. I installed ceiling fans in bedrooms and living room, and my power bill went down by at least half. It feels muggy at first but you quickly get used to it. Only downside is more dust from open windows.

[abbby]

Yes ceiling fans are a good alternative, with a non- west facing house. And they're inexpensive to install.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I haven't used aircon in years. I installed ceiling fans in bedrooms and living room, and my power bill went down by at least half. It feels muggy at first but you quickly get used to it. Only downside is more dust from open windows.

I've never had aircon and I've been here 40+ years. I've always used ceiling fans and flow through ventilation. My kids grew up that way and all seems to be much healthier for it. I've never (literally) had the flu, the kids picked it up during schooling but got over it in day or two most. The first 16 years I lived in old Black & Whites on Seletar Air base with 14' ceilings and big old ceiling fans with open louvers above the windows. always cool. Even my hdb Flat stay reasonably cool as I have a void deck under us and a park on one side and a open parking lot on the other. As mentioned dust is the only issue but a minor one.

[jalanjalan]

I've never had aircon and I've been here 40+ years. I've always used ceiling fans and flow through ventilation. My kids grew up that way and all seems to be much healthier for it. I've never (literally) had the flu, the kids picked it up during schooling but got over it in day or two most. The first 16 years I lived in old Black & Whites on Seletar Air base with 14' ceilings and big old ceiling fans with open louvers above the windows. always cool. Even my hdb Flat stay reasonably cool as I have a void deck under us and a park on one side and a open parking lot on the other. As mentioned dust is the only issue but a minor one.

I remember those old black & whites and always wondered who were the lucky folk who lived there! We used to take the berjaya air flight out of Seletar to Tioman quite a lot when it was still running.
Yea, I catch cold in aircon. Went to visit my former workplace a couple weeks ago and I don't know how I survived that freezing cold for so many years.

[MOCHS]

I’ve had Russian, British, American & Northern Chinese researchers who wear parkas in the lab while the locals get by in shorts/dresses and a light jacket.

I also learned that people from these places are used to indoor heating in the winter and they don’t have to suffer the brunt of the cold so they aren’t use to AC.

Even my American hubby doesn’t sleep in AC except for the first week he was here. He finds it too cold. Now he sleeps with the fan.

You want to save on electrical bills, use 3-tick appliances which are energy efficient. Other than switching off the appliance after use, you can go an extra step and remove the plug from the socket to cut down on phantom/vampire electricity. You can Google what that is.

[hangmann]

I was getting $300-$400 electricity bills until I stopped using my AC in 2020 (1000 sqft, old hdb with not great insulation, prob tons of air seeps out). Now I just open my windows and constantly have a fan on me, I agree it feels much more healthy and natural. Now I silently judge people who want to sit inside a super cold restaurant instead of enjoying the outdoor seating.

What always confused me is how my friends said their power bill was under $100 and they ran their AC a lot. I didn't really believe their ACs could be that efficient.

[Lisafuller]

I have experienced a few times in a year at $700+/month for electricity. Mostly used by aircons turned on in several rooms, and dehumidifier turned on 24 hours. It's a west facing unit so I would also the facing of the house is also crucial to how much electricity we consume. After moving away from the west unit, the bills have come down and I've thrown away the dehumidifier.

Wow, $700 is a lot, how big is your place? Our bill hovers at around $300 for three rooms.

[Lisafuller]

I haven't used aircon in years. I installed ceiling fans in bedrooms and living room, and my power bill went down by at least half. It feels muggy at first but you quickly get used to it. Only downside is more dust from open windows.

We have ceiling fans in all our rooms, and old tower fans which we no longer use as they take up too much space and aren't very powerful. Still find that it doesn't replace an air conditioner, all it does is increase the air circulation, but does very little in terms of blowing cool air.