NingNing 28 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 Hi all.. need some REALLY HUGE HELP! OMG.. i just got news from my future MIL. my SO has been paying almost S$290 for our utilty bills every time, for the past 1 year. i had no idea until this time my SO not around so she came to ask me for the money. ( both parents retired, no money.) the flat is a 3room. the huge bulk comes from the electricity. WTF!! will re-wiring help? is there such thing as electricity leaking? is there anyone i can get to test? i remember that time in the news paper there was something like options of day time cheaper than the night and night time cheaper than the day.. plan A and plan B.. etc.. or was i dreaming? the news came around the time of the top-up card scheme for electricty. the flat is about 20 years old le.. does it need to be re-wired? usually whats the market rate? what is done during the re-wiring? whats the power point called? pls if anyone can help, PLEASE HELP!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joel Ng 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 Hi all.. need some REALLY HUGE HELP! OMG.. i just got news from my future MIL. my SO has been paying almost S$290 for our utilty bills every time, for the past 1 year. i had no idea until this time my SO not around so she came to ask me for the money. ( both parents retired, no money.) the flat is a 3room. the huge bulk comes from the electricity. WTF!! will re-wiring help? is there such thing as electricity leaking? is there anyone i can get to test? i remember that time in the news paper there was something like options of day time cheaper than the night and night time cheaper than the day.. plan A and plan B.. etc.. or was i dreaming? the news came around the time of the top-up card scheme for electricty. the flat is about 20 years old le.. does it need to be re-wired? usually whats the market rate? what is done during the re-wiring? whats the power point called? pls if anyone can help, PLEASE HELP!! first of all, how many ppl staying in the flat? do you switch on air-con every night? you need to understand the daily utilised which contribute it. To rewiring the whole house won't help.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NingNing 28 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) first of all, how many ppl staying in the flat? do you switch on air-con every night? you need to understand the daily utilised which contribute it. To rewiring the whole house won't help.. u mean if i re-wire the whole house, it wont help the situation? or unless i understand the daily utilised which contribute it, re-wire also cannot help? sorry my english sucks i cannot understand.. paisei.. please explain.. there are only 3 ppl staying there. air con is only on in one room. from 8pm - 7am tv is on whole day, from 7am - 11pm. how come the bill is equal to my own house where there are 6 of us, 3 rooms on aircon at night. can the tv sap so much electricity away?! goodness! Edited February 20, 2011 by NingNing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
as2011 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) Hi all.. need some REALLY HUGE HELP! OMG.. i just got news from my future MIL. my SO has been paying almost S$290 for our utilty bills every time, for the past 1 year. i had no idea until this time my SO not around so she came to ask me for the money. ( both parents retired, no money.) the flat is a 3room. the huge bulk comes from the electricity. WTF!! will re-wiring help? is there such thing as electricity leaking? is there anyone i can get to test? i remember that time in the news paper there was something like options of day time cheaper than the night and night time cheaper than the day.. plan A and plan B.. etc.. or was i dreaming? the news came around the time of the top-up card scheme for electricty. the flat is about 20 years old le.. does it need to be re-wired? usually whats the market rate? what is done during the re-wiring? whats the power point called? pls if anyone can help, PLEASE HELP!! [/quote it could be one of these reasons 1. old and defective appliances 2. main culprit could be an old fridge with poor door seal 3. wiring may be too small and cause wiring to heat up - extra heat = wasted energy.. BUT it may not be the reason, cos the heat could have started a fire! - its difficult to check, u need an electrician to help u hope this helps Edited February 20, 2011 by as2011 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaskel 2 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 u mean if i re-wire the whole house, it wont help the situation? or unless i understand the daily utilised which contribute it, re-wire also cannot help? sorry my english sucks i cannot understand.. paisei.. please explain.. there are only 3 ppl staying there. air con is only on in one room. from 8pm - 7am tv is on whole day, from 7am - 11pm. how come the bill is equal to my own house where there are 6 of us, 3 rooms on aircon at night. can the tv sap so much electricity away?! goodness! Old fridge, TV and air-con consumed much more electricity than the new models nowadays. Computer or other electrical appliances was on standy-by mode when not in use also do consume electricity. There no such think as electrical leak but there is such thing as mis-calculation by the SP services. You can try to do it manually to see that if really your electrical consumption is really that much every month not. Take manual readings monthly and you able to calculate it by yourself and if really a mis-read by the SP service guy, you can ask for a refund. The meter is just located outside the flat. Hope this will help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edenstrauss 3 Report post Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) Hi Ning Ning, rewiring is not a solution becox in the first place, PUB charges users for the amount of utilities consumed. Namely, water, gas and electricity. And your inlaws' pattern of utility consumption has nothing to do with the wiring of their flat or how PUB bills them. If rewiring is done but they do not change their lifestyle, then the PUB bill will still be pegged at the current amount. $290 for 3 persons is very high. Based on your inlaws' lifestyle, where u have indicated that: "air con is only on in one room. from 8pm - 7am" --- 11 hours of aircon usage, which to me, is alot because on average we use a maximum of 8 house if we decide to use the aircon --- what type of air con are they currently using? Inverter or non-inverter or those really old type that's installed at the window? For older technologies, there is no energy saving feature. Those types which are installed at the window are killers becox of the huge electricity consumption required to cool the room. My aunt used to choke up close to $400 worth of PUB bills every month when she used this type of aircon. --- Do u think your spouse could persuade them to turn on the aircon only when they retire for the night? Or do they sleep from 8pm - 7am? 11 hours. "tv is on whole day, from 7am - 11pm" --- My goodness! They sure know how to enjoy themselves. Turning on the TV for the entire day is definitely consuming alot of electricity. --- If their TV set is a plasma, it would definitely cost even more than turning on a LCD TV. Plasmas are notorious for giving the viewer a more beautiful picture but they consume more electricity. U will notice that the plasma TV screen radiates alot of heat - try going near a row of them in an appliance store. --- Do u think it's possible for your spouse to talk them out into reducing their time on TV? It's bad for health becox that's an overdose! And the fact that both are at home, I presume that they cook their own meals??? If this is the case, then the gas consumption will increase & the water bills will definitely go up too! After eating, I'm sure they need to wash up their dishes. In addition, make sure that they turn off ALL switches of appliances which are on "stand-by" mode. e.g. TVs on stand-by mode will have a red light without any picture on the screen. Wall fans with remote, washing machines when on stand-by mode, will incur electrical charges. All u need to know if to touch their buttons & u'll notice that they are either warm or hot. Edited February 20, 2011 by edenstrauss Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therat 18 Report post Posted February 21, 2011 you didn't mention about the light? Did they on all lights all days long? I know some elder like to on all lights include toilet. Need to understand their living pattern. re-wiring don't help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoongf 11 Report post Posted February 21, 2011 $290 for 3rm with aircon on everynite is not considered high. The biggest power consumer is aircon, fridge, WATER HEATER, DRYER, OVEN. HALOGEN lights. Aircon filter if not maintained regularly, will cause the compressor to overwork. Storage heater left on also **** power hungry. Some ppl got huge fish tank. their water and air pumps also quite hungry. Wiring dun cause over consumption for long. Old wiring will simply overheat and burn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NingNing 28 Report post Posted February 21, 2011 Hi all!! thanks for the reply. at least i know can save money on the re-wiring! YAY! from ur replies, i think i know who is the culprits. 1) AIRCON!! its the window unit. omg, i didnt noe that they eat so much electricity until u guys told me. i think should change to inverter aircon.. if i get a system 2 but use only 1 aircon, will the charge for the electricity be the same as a system 1? timing when its on wise, cannot be changed. they sleep during that time.. 2) lights, i think this have to change also. they like to on the light. if i want to save on the lights, means have to get the energy saving bulbs? hmm.. seems like got to go ikea to see.. their lights that they on is one switch but it ons 4 lights at one go.. toilet they also like to leave it on. 3) Fridge. its a 5 yr old fridge. sayno superior.. does that eat alot of electricity? how to see if the appliance eats alot of electricity? issit by seeing the voltage or something? 4) TV. omg.. this is the old type of tv. the box one. -.-" they have nothing to do at home, so watch tv whole day.. sometimes sleep also watching.. 5) cooking. My SO is going to ban cooking in the house. his father some times forget to off the gas.. and then run off to smoke.. i sense a disaester waiting to happen. if dun cook can save water and gas. need opinons for the cooking thing for those with 3 in a family. is it more cost saving to buy from outside for dinner than to cook 4 dishes a night plus rice? I just realized something very dangerous that they are doing.. the old flats in each room only has 1 pug. so they have multi plugs on multi plugs. i think need to help them get more plugs. what do i tell the electrician? i want more points? how much does one point like this cost? hope to get a rough gauge because i need to plan how much money we have to fork out for this. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therat 18 Report post Posted February 21, 2011 1) AIRCON!! its the window unit. omg, i didnt noe that they eat so much electricity until u guys told me. i think should change to inverter aircon.. if i get a system 2 but use only 1 aircon, will the charge for the electricity be the same as a system 1? timing when its on wise, cannot be changed. they sleep during that time.. If only use 1 aircon. Why install in system 2? 2) lights, i think this have to change also. they like to on the light. if i want to save on the lights, means have to get the energy saving bulbs? hmm.. seems like got to go ikea to see.. their lights that they on is one switch but it ons 4 lights at one go.. toilet they also like to leave it on. Yes, get those energy save bulbs. Ikea bulbs good meh? 1 switch control 4 lights. Basically 1 on , all on. 3) Fridge. its a 5 yr old fridge. sayno superior.. does that eat alot of electricity? how to see if the appliance eats alot of electricity? issit by seeing the voltage or something? 5 yrs old ago. Don't have the energy label things. more information refer to this 4) TV. omg.. this is the old type of tv. the box one. -.-" they have nothing to do at home, so watch tv whole day.. sometimes sleep also watching.. 5) cooking. My SO is going to ban cooking in the house. his father some times forget to off the gas.. and then run off to smoke.. i sense a disaester waiting to happen. if dun cook can save water and gas. need opinons for the cooking thing for those with 3 in a family. is it more cost saving to buy from outside for dinner than to cook 4 dishes a night plus rice? For the cooking, you can engage cater service during weekday. I just realized something very dangerous that they are doing.. the old flats in each room only has 1 pug. so they have multi plugs on multi plugs. i think need to help them get more plugs. what do i tell the electrician? i want more points? how much does one point like this cost? hope to get a rough gauge because i need to plan how much money we have to fork out for this. This is very dangerous. Possible of overloading. If you want to add more points. If the unit is old and last wiring is more than 10 yrs ago and they plan to stay there for good. I would suggest do a proper re-wiring for the plugs and switches. This is a table I had. Just for your refer only. Different electrician might have different quote. Don't use it to benchmark. Supply & run new light points $40.00 Shifting of light point $40.00 Supply & install 13amp single power point $55.00 Supply & install 13amp double power point $65.00 Shifting of switches $35.00 Change existing power points or switches $30.00 Supply & install 15amp power point ( Air-con ) $100.00 Supply & install 20amp power point ( Isolator ) $200.00 Supply & install 2 way switch $40.00 Supply & install dimmer control switch $55.00 Supply & install 15 amp water heater point $100.00 Supply & install SCV point $110.00 Supply & install telephone point $55.00 Supply & install door bell point $40.00 Supply & install ceiling fan point $90.00 Supply & install 3 core wires $30.00 Supply & run speaker cable ( normal cable ) $55.00 Supply & install distribution board $250.00 Supply & install distribution board $300.00 Supply & install distribution board $350.00 Supply & run sub main cable $120.00 Earth bonding $80.00 Submission & testing fees ( optional ) $350.00 Installation of lights $10.00 Installation of door bell $10.00 Touch up old wiring $150.00 ======= no wonder $290 per mth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eurypylus 0 Report post Posted February 21, 2011 1) AIRCON!! its the window unit. omg, i didnt noe that they eat so much electricity until u guys told me. i think should change to inverter aircon.. if i get a system 2 but use only 1 aircon, will the charge for the electricity be the same as a system 1? timing when its on wise, cannot be changed. they sleep during that time.. AC with inverter are costly to maintain, but if you are talking about running it all day, might as well go for it. 2) lights, i think this have to change also. they like to on the light. if i want to save on the lights, means have to get the energy saving bulbs? hmm.. seems like got to go ikea to see.. their lights that they on is one switch but it ons 4 lights at one go.. toilet they also like to leave it on. Invest in LED light bulb if necessary. This will cost you a few thousand, but its the greatest energy saver. 3) Fridge. its a 5 yr old fridge. sayno superior.. does that eat alot of electricity? how to see if the appliance eats alot of electricity? issit by seeing the voltage or something? Look for the label with wattage. 4) TV. omg.. this is the old type of tv. the box one. -.-" they have nothing to do at home, so watch tv whole day.. sometimes sleep also watching.. Time to switch to LED tv lah. 5) cooking. My SO is going to ban cooking in the house. his father some times forget to off the gas.. and then run off to smoke.. i sense a disaester waiting to happen. if dun cook can save water and gas. Gas and water will not cost as much as electric. For safely purpose, you may with to look for stove with safely valve. need opinons for the cooking thing for those with 3 in a family. is it more cost saving to buy from outside for dinner than to cook 4 dishes a night plus rice? Difficult to say lah, if they eat seafood every meals, of course its going to cost a bomb. Cooking at home may be more healthy, as most hawker food contain more MSG then one normally use at home. I just realized something very dangerous that they are doing.. the old flats in each room only has 1 pug. so they have multi plugs on multi plugs. i think need to help them get more plugs. what do i tell the electrician? i want more points? how much does one point like this cost? hope to get a rough gauge because i need to plan how much money we have to fork out for this. If their flat's socket outlet is wired in ring circuit, it will be easy to spruce an extension. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
