My Utility Bills in the Philippines

[stevewool]

Did you miss a 1 off the front of that unit rate Steve ?

Not at all Graham , thats what it says on my gas bill,

[Dedworth]

Did you miss a 1 off the front of that unit rate Steve ?

That's what I thought - our 2014 is 12855kwh and I'm always turning the 'stat back

[stevewool]

Wow, either i am the worlds tightest git, and i use candles comes to mind or my bill is wrong,

[andy222]

It's been 6 months now here in Davao City so I reckon a good enough time to evaluate my 'utility' costs.
Hope it's useful.

It looks like our monthly electricity bill has settled down to around a predictable P2000
Except for a few days recently, which have been relatively cold and cloudy (just like today), these past few weeks have heralded summer and with the mercury rising and we've succumbed to using the aircon in the living area from time to time so I'm guessing the next bill could be anywhere between P2000 and P2500. Especially as we have a house full of kids now (school summer break).

Our water bill is very low and varies between P300 - P400 per month.
So that's a fairly predictable cost now.
The monthly cost of purified drinking water seems to be about around P200 -P300 depending how hot the weather gets.
I've noticed a bit of a hike in consumption with the kids here now though.

The 12.4kg gas bottle we bought way back on 29th November for I think P735 needed to be replaced yesterday.
Oddly we only had to pay P635 for the replacement 12.4kg bottle, so I'm not sure if there was a deposit involved before. I asked the question but didn't get a straight answer. (not too uncommon here)

I think the 12.4kg bottle holds around 25 litres of LPG. We use the gas solely for cooking.
I tend to cook quite a lot on the BBQ. The coconut husks I use as 'firelighters' are free and coconut shell charcoal costs me P150 for a 25kg sack. I have a home made 'Charcoal cooker ring' which can be used as an alternative to a gas hob which I've used a few times too.
We have a regular English style LPG fuelled cooker that has a 4 ring hob and large oven. We rarely use the oven except for English style roasts which I only cook monthly.

My next project is to build a small Pizza oven that I can also use to bake bread.
Basically I haven't found any decent Pizza's here.
Pizza Hut and Shakeys are just OK, but I reckon they're expensive.

The local S&R Shopping (Philippines version of Costco) do some really big family sized Pizza's for just under P500
Good value and great taste too.

I'd still like to build a oven though.

Most foodstuffs here are cheap and especially at the local markets which on average are half the cost of the supermarkets.

Toiletries and laundry stuff tend to be quite expensive.

I'm not running a car so can't comment on the runnings costs.
My transportation costs are extremely low based on using the jeepneys with use of taxi's when we need for whatever reason.
Yesterday we took a taxi home from shopping as we had a lot of heavy stuff including 25kg rice.

My best estimate of total monthly transportation costs would be in the region of P800
We tend to get out and about pretty much everyday hence that higher amount.
The best aspect of the jeepney being the ability to hop on and off exactly where you want and when you want.

Still having fun here

Probably the best move you ever made Terpe. Apart from marrying your wife.

[Rory]

We have a duel fuel bill of £50 a month here in the UK and i have been paying that same price for 3 years.I get the meter readers coming round but not been a bill for a long time.There is only 2 of us here and we use very little gas with having electric shower and cooker.
Compared that to an apartment we had in Pardo/Cebu for 1 year before my wife came over here. 5,000 peso a month for electric at least with air con on most of the time and electric ring for cooking. Nothing much more but the normal items, fridge and tv to add to the bill very month. We were paying more for electric in Cebu than we pay for electric and gas here now.

[grahamw48]

Easiest way to save money in the Phils is to knock off the aircon.
I have never used it any of the houses or apartments I've had there. Fans only.

[Rory]

We only use fans when we stay with family over there. No fan or Air con and i find it impossible to sleep.

[jonnijon]

Yorkshire, might have known

[London_Manila]

P15000 per month even at today's rate hike of say P13 for Manila works out at a whopping 1150 kWh
That's a whole lot more than most families here in the Philippines bring home.
Certainly getting close to 50 percent of the total income for those in great paid jobs even in Manila

Let's forget the costing side, let's just look at energy usage.
Even today that's a lot of energy getting consumed.
Where on earth did that energy go?
Was the AC was running flat out 24/7?
Was there a powerful water heater running?

How much energy do you consume here in UK? And what are the main factors to account for such differences between the usage in UK and Philippines?

Putting the consumed monthly 1150 kWh into UK costing terms at today's cost of say 14p per kWh that would cost £161 per month, £483 per quarter, £1932 per year.

£40 per month UK electricity usage comes out at 285kWh
Based on that 14p per UK unit.
P15000 per month even at today's rate hike of say P13 for Manila works out at a whopping 1150 kWh
That's a whole lot more than most families here in the Philippines bring home.
Certainly getting close to 50 percent of the total income for those in great paid jobs even in Manila

Let's forget the costing side, let's just look at energy usage.
Even today that's a lot of energy getting consumed.
Where on earth did that energy go?
Was the AC was running flat out 24/7?
Was there a powerful water heater running?

How much energy do you consume here in UK? And what are the main factors to account for such differences between the usage in UK and Philippines?

Putting the consumed monthly 1150 kWh into UK costing terms at today's cost of say 14p per kWh that would cost £161 per month, £483 per quarter, £1932 per year.

Based on that 14pence per UK unit then £40 per month equates to 285 kWh per month
That's not so much higher than my Philippine usage.

But it's far far away from your 1150 kWh usage.

Yes i had 2 air con units running nearly 24/7
It was summer time over there and the condo was like an oven inside
Fans are pretty useless for me they just blow warm air at you
If i did not have aircon at night then for sure i could not sleep
I admire you hardy bunch who can endure that constant heat i cannot
Here is my personal rule of thumb on heat

13 degrees up to 20 is fine and good for working in
20 degrees is about perfect
25 degrees and over is uncomfortable and lethargy starts
30 degrees and over is constant sweating and feeling dirty
35 degrees and over is unbearable and no energy for anything

[fred]

Yes i had 2 air con units running nearly 24/7
It was summer time over there and the condo was like an oven inside
Fans are pretty useless for me they just blow warm air at you
If i did not have aircon at night then for sure i could not sleep
I admire you hardy bunch who can endure that constant heat i cannot

Living in a big posh condo is the same as owning a big flash car...Costs more to run.
Not only that but structures made of concrete are just huge heat sincs..CHB`s are like batteries that store heat which is released all day long and in the evening.
Trying to fight that heat wit A/C power is expensive... 15K expensive!
When Im in Manila,I need the A/C on a lot too.
Our native style home in the province though works in a completely different way...Its cool inside and little need for A/C.

[Terpe]

Our original idea was to experience condo life in downtown Davao.
We looked at a lot, but didn't find anything to suit us at all.
Most of the ones we looked at were like ovens inside until ALL the A/C units got going.
Not for us.

Here in our little village we are surrounded by green areas and trees.
Mostly a nice breeze.
From around 3:30 pm the temperature cools down enough for a bike ride or a stroll.
At night it drops to around 23 - 25
With the windows open we normally enjoy a nice movement of air. Usually a small fan helps.

It's summer here now and it can get very hot during the day. If there's no breeze and it gets very humid we'll turn on a small A/C on to cool down the house.
We can sit outside and enjoy the warm evenings and a family meal.

Yes, it's true the heat in the Philippines is a very significant issue that needs considerable thought.
Especially when relocation is in mind.

I've met a few folks who find it too much.
They almost never leave their house and cold beer to go anywhere. Well except a meeting at their regular watering hole. They must be happy or they'd leave I guess ? I can't help wondering if they must get bored.
When you ask them where they have visited in the Philippines it's mostly nowhere.

Strange bunch IMO
Friendly enough though, and if I'm passing by will always greet me and invite me for a cold one.
I've done so a few times but it generally ends up with the regular hardliners almost getting to blows over the usual politics and religion.

[Michael Parnham]

Never use Aircon, it will kill you before the heat will. Always open front and rear doors or windows allow the breeze to pass through, it's very nice!

[London_Manila]

Never use Aircon, it will kill you before the heat will. Always open front and rear doors or windows allow the breeze to pass through, it's very nice!

What about mosquitoes and moths not to mention any intruders.......

Totally unscientific and just my personal thoughts but i always think that pinoy males seem to die young of heart complaints or a stroke and i put that down to the heat and eating too much salt
Maybe too much alcohol can be added as welll

In the excessive heat your heart is working much harder to try and cool you
I took a heart rate monitor to the phills and my heart rate is much elevated over there (beats per minute)
blood pressure was raised also
On returning to an aircon cooled room my heart rate came down back to normal blood pressure dropped as well
Surely that constant sweating is good for no one

[Michael Parnham]

What about mosquitoes and moths not to mention any intruders.......

Totally unscientific and just my personal thoughts but i always think that pinoy males seem to die young of heart complaints or a stroke and i put that down to the heat and eating too much salt
Maybe too much alcohol can be added as welll

In the excessive heat your heart is working much harder to try and cool you
I took a heart rate monitor to the phills and my heart rate is much elevated over there (beats per minute)
blood pressure was raised also
On returning to an aircon cooled room my heart rate came down back to normal blood pressure dropped as well
Surely that constant sweating is good for no one

We had insect screens, no bars on the windows, never had hardly any insect problems at all. When I first moved to Philippines I soon learnt that ants ect disappeared if you wash and dry pots and put them away and all food in airtight containers unless its food that needs to be in the fridge, also Maritess used to mop and clean the whole apartment every morning after breakfast whilst I made myself busy cleaning bathroom or windows and the rear of the apartment where the washing machine and drying area was, we just got into a routine and everything was nice and shiny just like here at home in the UK!

[grahamw48]

You've got it Michael.

[Michael Parnham]

You've got it Michael.

Thanks Graham, simple really!