EGAT offers tips and tricks for cutting your monthly power bill
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) recently listed the top 10 power consumers at home and offered tips on what people can do to reduce their electricity bills.
It said that apart from purchasing items with the No 5 label, people should also choose air conditioners that are in line with the size of the room. When using the aircon, people should ensure all doors and windows are tightly shut and the temperature is set at no lower than 25 degrees Celsius. Just keeping the aircon one degree higher can cut electricity consumption by 10 per cent and cleaning it every six months can save energy by 47 per cent.
With refrigerators, people should avoid leaving the door open longer than necessary and the temperature should not be set too low. Users can cut their power bill by about 49 per cent if the fridge is not too packed and kept at least 15 centimetres from the wall.
Using 7W E27 LED bulbs instead of the 13W compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and turning them off when not in use can cut bills by 57 per cent.
Running fans at the first level and unplugging them when not in use can save energy by 43 per cent.
To further cut their electricity bills, people can iron a large number of clothes in one go and not use too much water. Using the remanent heat after unplugging the iron can save 43 per cent of electricity.
With televisions, apart from using one with a No 5 label, keeping it unplugged when not in use can save energy by 51 per cent.
Komkrit Tantrawanich, secretary of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), said on March 16 that the cost of power from May to August will possibly rise by 24.77 baht per unit. This will result in household bills rising by 3.76-4 baht per unit.
However, houses that use less than 300 units per month will pay the same rate as January to April.
