Electricity subsidy - more money than sense

[SiuMaiTaiTai]

We're not using air con in the bedroom either, it hasn't felt hot enough really. Am I adjusting to the HK heat or is it just not at the peak of summer yet? I remember using it start of June last year.

[bookblogger]

I'm lucky that my village house is shaded by a massive old tree, so the flat doesn't really heat up in the daytime.

[East_coast]

are you using standard split type air condition units in all the room? Are they inverter type or non-inverter types?

There are a few things you can do to dramatically reduce your electricity bill

• Fit double glazing
• Inverter controlled Aircons
• Class 'A' Fridges
• Instant electric 3 phase water heaters

And turn the temp up a few degrees

[carang]

It is weird. when i read in bed every night i feel cold. but as soon as i go to sleep i start overheating. Many nights i have to change my top.

It is hereditary. my mother says she is the same...and my brother says he is too.

[carang]

East coast: all great ideas if you own. if you rent you are kind of stuck.

[carang]

BB: which floor do you have?

[bookblogger]

Me, top floor with rooftop.

[carang]

Hmmmm our top floor is like a sauna by noon if we turn all air cons off....when we do turn them back on it takes hours to cool the rooms down.

[bookblogger]

The other side of the coin is that my flat was really cold this past winter.

[100LL]

With this HK$ 185 you can measure the actual power consumption of your stuff. It's available in Sham Shui Po, Apliu Street. You can set the price in HK$/cents per kWh/unit so it even shows you the amount you are paying.

Brennenstuhl Wattage & Current Meter - QVS Electrical Supplies | Electrical Wholesaler



I know it's only useful for the appliances that have a plug, but better than nothing.

For the stuff that doesn't have plugs you would need to use a clamp meter, but you will have to cut open the cable (or temporarily disconnect from junction box) so you get one wire exposed. A job for somebody who knows what he is doing/an electrician.

The Brennenstuhl thingy (also called a "Kill-A-Watt" after an American device that does the same) is a good start. You could plug it between the socket and the boiler for a start, and see what that thing actually costs you. Same for the fridges. I wouldn't be surprised if one of your appliances is a bad boy.

With your electricity bill, I would definitely pick one of them up in SSP next time, just out of curiosity.

Of course you can also theoretically calculate which appliance consumes how much electricity with the numbers from the manufacturer, but nothing beats an actual measurement. For instance one of the gaskets of your fridge might be broken, or something else wrong, and they consume 4x as much as they should but you will never know without measurement. And the typical electricity consumption in air condition brochures is usually based on a set of prerequisites like temperature at 27C and auto mode and the pipe between outdoor and indoor unit at a specific length. Any deviation from this changes the consumption profile drastically.