If one were to, say, in theory, tape a very strong magnet to the underside of the indoor meter facing the spinning "CD", one might possibly slow that little bastard right down thereby potentially reducing your ECC bill considerably.

Of course this all heresay and just a theory :twisted:

THE KID

this happens to me all the time, and I consider my landlord to be one the best you'll get...

my electricity bills are almost identical cost, 3-4 months in a row, although some months I have used vastly differently wattage, and used diff appliances, or overseas!

One month, I was overseas for about 95% of the month, and just left the fridge on, and my electricity bill was about $60.

This pushed my tolerance of gradual, moderate corruption of my electricity outage, just a little too far, so I almost (politely) throttled my landlord, until he "re-assessed" the bill with the lovely wife.

Anyway, after 15 or so minutes of "re-assessing", he came to the conclusion that he made a mistake (I didn't press him for how he made such a mistake), and he made the bill $15

Nowadays, he's a bit wary of overcharging me, but I know the game - he is just making up my electricity bills (and the same for the girl in the level above me, who has similar complaints)

You can buy mechanisms which spin the little electricity-current ball faster, but I looked at the electricity box, and I don't think he installed one of those

I just think he has his own electricity (and the lady's above me) wired up with his family's, and he doesn't care, and professes to have them separated

On the scale of things, my landlord is okay, so i stay (landlords can get a lot worse), so the lesson is - they are never perfect, just find one that is not too harsh on you

another related trick is to lease you internet and have the whole neighborhood hooked to your connection, making your bandwidth very slow and choked, and charging others (like you) for a single line

HDAH

a) Your apartment should have it's own meter and you should log the differences every month. Do not enter into a set-up where the landlord has the meter and then presents you with the bill.
b) If you think your power is being tapped - turn all fuses off. If the CD stops spinning - you have no power leaches.
c) Do not leave the rice cooker overnight. They chew power .
d) Use a magnet.

THE KID

Empty fridges run more power too, in NK I filled up all the empty space in my fridge with bottles of water. These where bottles I was never going to drink, it's just the fridge was far bigger than needed for my requirements.

By filling the empty spaces with bottles of water, I cut its power consumption by about half

Question from me in relation to this subject, whilst in NK I had an apartment in an apartment block, this seemed to be run very professionally. Saying a similar apartment in an apartment block was acquired in PP, can you expect more professionalism towards the water and electricity charged, than say if you are renting a second story floor from the average Khmer down the street?

thanks for the advice

will try to turn off the fuses, but like I said, my starting point here, is that my landlord will always shaft me, even though he is quite wealthy (a huge house, in the best part of town, with multi-levels, educated in Europe, and a brand new SUV in the driveway)

It's just a question of degree -

As long as he doesn't steal my stuff, ask me dubiously for advance rent (never done this), or do anything else that pushes the boundaries of my otherwise amicable and friendly demeanor (when pushed, I am worse that his guard dog), then I am cool

Actually, I don't blame him, as I experienced worse from landlords when I was living in the U.S.

The only difference is, over there, the tenant is protected by Residential Tenancies laws, and here, they aint!

My advice again - don't expect perfection from a landlord

Like marriage, it's a love/ hate relationship!

HappyDaysAreHere

All great comments, suggestions, experiences but what if you don't have a meter in your house and it's done from a junction box!!?? this is where we've decided the dodginess has come from - but who gains from that? Think the EDC guys are too lazy to get up there and read it properly but really, how would they know the last readings?? keep a record - hardly, too much logic.

I think i need to work out how to read it and get a 12ft ladder!

I have my own home and my own meter, but yet my electric bills have tripled in that past 2 months, although I have used the aircon some. But for all of you who are complaining, let me tell you something. I get my bill and it is just typical rates some months, but the months that there are more holidays i get what they call, an adjustment on my bill. This has been as high as 400USD during water festival, and last month was a mere 80usd. This is on top of the regular bill -just written in as "adjustment". A complete scam I know, but no matter who I know and call, i end up having to pay it - or else no power!

Welcome to corruption - hey we got ranked as number 4 in the world as most corrupt - go Cambodia!

Can't read your electricity box?

Don't hit the hard liquor and start crying into your Jack Daniels, yet!

Just figure out the general cost of your wattage vs the total of your electricity bill each month.

For example, if you use your air-con in one room every night (ie bedroom), and you live alone, and not use much else, then expect to pay about $40 per month, give or take a few bucks.

If, like me, suddenly it increases to $80 for no reason at all, the next month (ie, you didn't use extra wattage, such as laptops or water heaters, etc), then you know something is wrong, dawg.

Then, hit the JD and start crying!

In other words, there are models and paradigms and themes of costs, and you need to find them out.

HDAH

L&A: Whoever's asking for the cash should also have an electricity bill, of course. So you can ask to see it.

If you have a separate meter, you should actually get the electricity bill. I get mine and pay the price that's indicated on the bill (though the landlord's good enough to actually pay at the EDC office when she pays her bill). If the amount on the bill doesn't seem right (based on your usage pattern) then question it. Check for leeches per the above.

If you have a shared meter, you should get an individual one installed for your premises. EDC will come and install one, but you may need to pay $20 or something for the hardware. Meanwhile, though, you should still ask to see the bill. If the landlord's getting you to pay all the electricity then that's hardly fair. You can estimate what your share is based on the landlord's typical usage vs yours, whether you us A/C and they don't, etc. Then if it's out, you can talk with them (or get a Khmer "problem solver" to talk with them about it)...

If you still have problems, call your friends at EDC and ask them to add your bill to ThorazineDC's under the heading "Adjustment".

@Jodha Of The Many Questions , yes you can expect to have individual power meter and professionally run apartment here in PNH - if you choose the right one. The more expensive ones tend to be better, but some of the cheap/small apartment blocks can be managed on the dodgy side. Check with current tenants before you move in, I guess.

@magnet lovers, and people with bills not explained by the consumption on their in-house meters: the bills calculated by EDC are often done on based on the reading of street meters, not internal ones. I found this out when my meter broke inside the house, and they were still able to charge accurately. Also, I have never let them in to my house over the past year but they still bill me accurately. They often do apparently just check the internal ones, if they can get access, but this can be checked against the ones on the street. So if your internal meter tells you that your bill should be about $40, and you get a bill for $80, maybe someone's tapped in on the street before it gets to your meter, and you're getting the bill? Call EDC to come and check.

BC

Thanks BA - LOL! Add it on!

Thanks for the info ...

However, this all sounds immensely complicated ... I will just live with the slightly cynical assumption that my landlord or the neighbor or electricity company is getting the better of me, and leave it there, cos I am too busy to get caught up in the intricacies of getting an "accurate" electricity invoice each month

As long as my bill stays reasonably sane, I'm okay with that

As the AC/DC song goes, it's "Dog Eat Dog" all around, especially in Cambodia, given the lack of rule of law, and other factors.

HDAH

Do receive the bills directly every month and with no meter inside the house AND around 20 meters on the junction box for the neighbourhood, there is no way to decipher which would even belong to ours!

Going with the giving up concept and as long as it stays the same I will just live with it. It's just that control freak part of me that wants to know who, how and why - you'd think after 7 years of living here I'd given up that notion by now.....

Seems to freaking complicated to bother thinking about it.....

problem with your car...call a mechanic...
Problem with electricity - call a plumber?.... LOL

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* N0 25 Street 302, Phnom Penh.
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Put it this way, I have friends whose landlords have done the following:

- robbed their house
- (female tenant) hassled them indirectly for a "date" even while they are married with kids
- (female tenant) been found inside the house, during the day, snooping
- installed dodgy wheels in the electricity meter, which goes faster (charges more)
- refused to return bond, when tenant leaves due to excessive and constant flooding
- etc

My landlord decided to "re-build" half my apartment, just after I moved in, which took weeks to finish, and had day-laborers going in and out of the apartment, with my stuff in there. I asked him why he waited for me to move in, before he started hacking down half the apartment (during which time he didn't reduce the rent), and he told me he used my rent money to do the renovations (!)

Sometimes I go home for lunch, and the landlady (wife) and the dog are inside my apartment, snooping (yes, the dog was also snooping).

I came back from OS once, and he had changed alot of the furnishings, removing chairs, changing tables, etc.

But, like marriage, you have to compromise - it's like watching your wife (or husband) gain 60 pounds - you gotta try and share the love, dawg... it can get alot worse!

Then again, maybe I need to reflect on issues of my self-esteem, and tolerableability (is that a word, I don't know), and perhaps, I just put up with too much ... and should see a shrink.

I have thus bared my soul,
HappyDaysAreHere