Electricity Cost

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Another side note regarding UPS - uninterruptable power supplies. Recently, one of mine that has had the most use - as in so many times to run our cctv system when there were power outages and then to recharge, put out a warning tone. I looked it up in the owner's manual and it said that indicated end of life for the battery. As a chronic DIY guy, I opened up the power supply and found a rather standard 12 volt battery. I removed it, noted the designations on it regarding voltage, capacity, etc. Then I went to Lazada and found an exact replacement very quickly. I took the plunge (you never know with Lazada if what you buy is real or fake) and ordered one. Two weeks later it arrived (from China, where else?). I installed it and, so far, it seems to be the real thing. It cost only about 600+/- pesos delivered. That's a lot less than replacing the entire power supply for 5 or 6 k pesos.

Just a word to the wise.

Yep.

The place where we bought our UPS actually told us to bring it back when the battery dies and they will refill it for 600php - what they meant by refill I'm not entirely sure but as long as it keeps it working I'm not bothered.  

[hk blues]

16 hours ago, spaul said:

Thanks for the tip.

I got a surge protector for my fridge, which is more like a delay switch. I've heard of people's fridges dying because of the power surge that happens when the power is out longer than a few minutes. I actually fried two of my laptop power adapters since I got here last year. My previous landlord told me to unplug everything when there's a brownout because of the power surge. Just got the fridge, so I'm not interested in having to replace it.

Will definitely look into the battery backup for the computer now that my laptop is non-functional. It was old anyway.

We bought a Samsung fridge and asked the sales guy in SM Electrical about a surge protector - he said Samsung units already had a delay timer inbuilt which would suffice albeit not as good as a stand-alone surge protector.  

As for the computer - we went with a surge protector which isn't as good as a UPS but as it's only for my son's gaming It suffices.  If you do go for a UPS just be aware that there are 2 types - pure sine wave was recommended but it's way more expensive, like 2-3 times more expensive.  We did a test using my 'normal' UPS and it did indeed work perfectly in terms of keeping the pc going when power was off but at the same time when on UPS power it did emit a kind of buzzing noise which we were told would be the case.  Apparently this wouldn't happen with a pure sine wave ups.  Just sharing what I was told and my experience. 

 

[OnMyWay]

20 hours ago, hk blues said:

We bought a Samsung fridge and asked the sales guy in SM Electrical about a surge protector - he said Samsung units already had a delay timer inbuilt which would suffice albeit not as good as a stand-alone surge protector.  

I bought a small AVR for for our new Samsung frig.  I was surprised that the frig only draws ~188 watts, so I bought a simple 500 watt AVR.

[Mike J]

22 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I bought a small AVR for for our new Samsung frig.  I was surprised that the frig only draws ~188 watts, so I bought a simple 500 watt AVR.

I assume the Samsung is an inverter model, correct?  We have two refrigerators, both of which are inverter models.  Most of our fans are also inverter, makes quite a difference.

[GeoffH]

11 hours ago, Mike J said:

Most of our fans are also inverter, makes quite a difference.

You can buy inverter fans? 

What brands?

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

You can buy inverter fans? 

What brands?

I was wondering the same.

[Mike J]

11 hours ago, GeoffH said:

You can buy inverter fans? 

What brands?

Inverter fans are available via Lazada.  BUT MY BAD, ours in not inverter according to the ad in Lazada.  It runs at a very conservative 35 watts.  We bought the first one a few years back (picture below).  Six speeds, real wood blades, reverse, timer, completely silent at slower speeds, very quiet even at the highest speed. moves a lot of air, sixty inch diameter.  Solid build, high quality, perfectly balanced blades.  I liked it so much that I purchased three more.  No trouble with any of them so far.  And it is a great looking fan in my opinion.   Looks like they are on sale!  Highly recommend if this is a look you like.  We have two inside, two on the covered deck.

 

 

[hk blues]

 

5 hours ago, Mike J said:

Inverter fans are available via Lazada.  BUT MY BAD, ours in not inverter according to the ad in Lazada.  It runs at a very conservative 35 watts.  We bought the first one a few years back (picture below).  Six speeds, real wood blades, reverse, timer, completely silent at slower speeds, very quiet even at the highest speed. moves a lot of air, sixty inch diameter.  Solid build, high quality, perfectly balanced blades.  I liked it so much that I purchased three more.  No trouble with any of them so far.  And it is a great looking fan in my opinion.   Looks like they are on sale!  Highly recommend if this is a look you like.  We have two inside, two on the covered deck.

 

 

We have 2 Westinghouse units in our living room but with a/c installed they are now purely decorative. Way higher than 35 watts but I can't be bothered climbing up to check! They did a job but not quite enough to replace a/c for me. Similar price to yours but much smaller blades.

 

Edited July 28 by hk blues

[spaul]

Just got my Noreco 1 bill yesterday. Generated System Charge per kWh went from 4.71 pesos in June to 10.17 pesos in July. So I guess they can change the price at will.

[Tommy T.]

22 hours ago, hk blues said:

 

We have 2 Westinghouse units in our living room but with a/c installed they are now purely decorative. Way higher than 35 watts but I can't be bothered climbing up to check! They did a job but not quite enough to replace a/c for me. Similar price to yours but much smaller blades.

 

We have Westinghouse units also. We use one in the living room when it is not super hot and it does a good job of cooling me. L cannot handle breeze from electric fans for some reason, so it goes off when she is in the room. Also, if you are not already aware, wood ceiling fan blades like ours (and presumably yours) tend to droop over time due to heat and humidity. So we turn ours over maybe once annually to undo the droop in one direction until the next year droop fix.