Singapore Expats

Quite amazed about the size of my utility bill for the first couple of months back in Singapore, especially on electricity. Live in a new condo (Reflections @ Keppel Bay) and the electricity part of the bill from SP Services have been beyond S$ 350 for both July and August. Would you consider that normal or high given that we are in 1,000 sqf apartment? I didn't really know what I would expect it to be but I feel it is a bit on the high side.... perhaps not??!!

Mainly depends on the usage of heavy wattage stuffs like Aircons, Refrigerators, Water heaters etc

That seems a bit high! We pay $250 a month average in a 1500 ft2 condo with 4 people and two aircons running at night.

Is this the 'estimated' bill though? If so they may be estimating on a former tenants much higher usage.

I might add that my last place which had a smaller fridge and inverter aircons (Daikin) was only $140 a month.

The estimation only take into consideration the previous two months. They actually on estimate every other month. Look on the back of your utility bill at the bottom were the two graphs of Electricity and Water usage are. You will see an asterisk every other month. That one with the asterisk is estimated reading based on the previous two months.

There will be an median line across both graphs which will show you the "average" reading for a unit of your similar type. YMMV depending on how many occupants, whether you leave you aircon on when nobody is home, etc. My bill is rather heavy comparatively speaking because we don't use any aircon at all, but I have a heavy loading of bodies in the house (8 head) of which 7 are adults. (That's why I'm always up for an Eagles Gathering!)

sundaymorningstaple wrote:(That's why I'm always up for an Eagles Gathering!)

Then make it a monthly thing then? Saint would be pleased to have a regular crowd right?

I belive sometimes many minor appliances but continuously running may contribute to that level. We have the bill in the range $280-320 with rather large computer/network infrastructure (server, printers, switches, home-plugs, ip-camers), one big fridge, plasma TV, probably 30 minor receivers (DVDs, media players, STBs, amplifiers etc) and a small aircone for our kid over night.

In my case they estimate every other month only. So every two months they do an actual reading.
I am averaging $220 for two adults. Trying to cut down on some stuff like drier use. Have a few dehumidifiers running 24/7 though - that'll account for a lot of that.

kookaburrah wrote:In my case they estimate every other month only. So every two months they do an actual reading.
I am averaging $220 for two adults. Trying to cut down on some stuff like drier use. Have a few dehumidifiers running 24/7 though - that'll account for a lot of that.

I doubt the dehumidifiers use much (if they're the ones I'm thinking of).

Aircon is your biggest use - turn the temp setting to 26 deg, economy mode and set it to go off an hour or two before you get up. It makes a difference.

PNGMK wrote:

kookaburrah wrote:In my case they estimate every other month only. So every two months they do an actual reading.
I am averaging $220 for two adults. Trying to cut down on some stuff like drier use. Have a few dehumidifiers running 24/7 though - that'll account for a lot of that.

I doubt the dehumidifiers use much (if they're the ones I'm thinking of).

Aircon is your biggest use - turn the temp setting to 26 deg, economy mode and set it to go off an hour or two before you get up. It makes a difference.

The dehumidifiers are those Novita ones. I was under the impression they'd consume a fair bit? As for aircon, we sleep with it on maybe 5 or 6 nights a month - a fan is enough for the rest.

Dehumidifiers can eat A LOT. They work on the same principles as refrigerators and aircons so for the regular ones it is essentially a compressor with all the related stuff. For the cheap ones they are based on Peltier devices but thhey are also not that friendly.
For example, the tiny Peltier base dehumidifier that comes together with a drycabinet is a 5-10W device and this is for maintaining "dry" the volume of less than 1m3.

Our utility bill(without cooking gas) for 3RM HDB is $150. We use only one bedroom and AC runs only at night.

I think $150 is on the higher side and I think the reason is its our vintage GE 3 door refrigerator that is the electricity guzzler. Rented flat so cant do anything about it. But if it was my own, I would have thrown it away long ago and bought a more newer second hand refrigerator that can be had for $100 or so.

We also have a 42" plasma tv which is supposed to consume more electricity than an LCD/LED, but then we run it only like 4-5 hrs a day, so dont think that is the culprit. Alteast 1 table fans runs in our house atleast 12 hrs and we have that storage electric geyser and not the instant water heater, which could also be contributing for the higher bills.

Yep, I got as 42" Plasma TV as well, as well as a 40" LCD one and I have to admit, the Plasma does use about 3x the power that the LCD on does, but neither were/as as bad as the old 32" CRT one the the LCD replaced. Of course, my washer & dryer get a heavy work and they both are front loaders but with the crowd at my house, the washer still uses a lot of water and we use galah poles outside the kitchen windows and in the front corridor as well, with the dryer catching the overflow which is a lot during the monsoon seasons.

Our 42" Panasonic Plasma is 270W IIRC.

This is our model:
http://www.gadgetsguru.in/panasonic-th- ... -2120.aspx

It seems normal usage is 341W.
It was a 5 yr old TV when I bought it second hand last year for $140. Looked like a great deal to me, although I knew about the higher power consumption, but the screen size and quality appeared to be worth it. Another problem with this TV is that it is 30kgs, its going to be a pain when we are going to move to another rented house in 2 months.

But then getting back to my earlier point, this is typically the number of such devices, so cumulative effect that makes the difference. 340W plasma for a 6h a day adds ~$12 to the monthly bill.