STREET WISE
The heat's on, and so's the air con
Now that a heat wave is hitting the capital, home-owners are turning on their air-conditioners. But given the higher electricity price, which was increased again last month, households are also trying hard to keep their consumption low to minimise power bills.
One survival strategy is to turn on air-conditioners only at night for a comfortable sleep. During daytime on weekdays, people do just fine since their offices are equipped with air-conditioners. But what about daytime during the weekend? Their option is to visit shopping centres. Any number of shops and activities await in a refreshing cool temperature. Shopping centres are huge power consumers. Just imagine that you need a 9,000BTU air-conditioner for a 20-square-metre room - how much power do you need for a 10,000sqm mall? While a household with one air-conditioner pays about Bt1,000 a month, just imagine how much a big mall must pay in monthly electricity bills. Given that the unbearable heat has arrived sooner than usual, city people are inclined to turn on their air-conditioners more often. So do people in rural provinces where air-conditioners are more affordable these days. No wonder the Energy Policy and Planning Office announced that national electricity consumption had set a new historical peak yesterday. On that day, we consumed 20,745 megawatts, surpassing the old record of 20,538MW set last year. That is ominous given that April - when temperatures rise to the annual record high - is almost upon us. Indeed, power consumption has been on the rise since January. In that month, the peak was 18,879MW, before rising to 19,696MW in February, and 20,745MW in March. The Energy Policy and Planning Office predicted that during this year a new peak could be set, probably at 21,657MW. The office said that for every degree increase in temperature, power consumption rises by 200-300MW. Now, the office is campaigning for all households with air-conditioners to have their cooling units cleaned, in the belief that clean air-conditioners consume less electricity. That should save power consumption all over the country, where there are six million air-conditioners. While many shoppers and commuters are grumbling about the anti-Thaksin protests which are forcing Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery Centre and Siam Centre to shut their doors for two days, the authorities must be smiling now. The closures mean a huge cut in power consumption, considering the size of these monolithic monsters. If the protests continue into April and the malls once again shut their doors, the 20,745MW figure will probably remain this year's champ.
achara_d@nationgroup.com
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