System Type, Stand Type, Wall-mounted Type in Order
This summer, predicted to bring a 'record-breaking heatwave,' electricity bills for a family of four using air conditioning for nearly 10 hours a day are expected to exceed 140,000 KRW per month.
Since the electricity rate has increased three times since October last year to 28.5 KRW per kWh, if households do not reduce air conditioner usage compared to before, they may face a 'cooling cost bomb' bill this summer.
However, reducing air conditioner operating time by an average of 2 hours per day can save monthly electricity costs by at least 8,320 KRW to 23,380 KRW, depending on the type of air conditioner.
On the 25th, Yonhap News reported the results of a simulation requested from Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) on changes in electricity bills according to usage time for different types of air conditioners, including wall-mounted, stand-type, and system-type units.
For a family of four using an average of 283 kWh per month, when using an air conditioner for the average 7.7 hours per day (according to a 2018 Korea Gallup survey), the monthly electricity bill was 122,210 KRW for system-type (usage 530 kWh), 103,580 KRW for stand split-type (usage 479 kWh), and 75,590 KRW for wall-mounted split-type (usage 408 kWh).
According to the 2019 Household Energy Panel Survey by the Korea Energy Economics Institute, the electricity cost per kWh is highest for system-type air conditioners at about 1.1 KRW per kWh, followed by stand split-type at about 0.8 KRW per kWh, and wall-mounted split-type at 0.5 KRW per kWh.
If each household operates the air conditioner for an additional hour, using it for an average of 8.7 hours per day, the electricity bill rises to 133,900 KRW for system-type, 112,710 KRW for stand split-type, and 79,750 KRW for wall-mounted split-type.
If air conditioner usage increases by 2 hours per day to an average of 9.7 hours, the electricity bill rises further to 145,590 KRW for system-type, 122,210 KRW for stand split-type, and 83,910 KRW for wall-mounted split-type. When running air conditioners 2 hours longer daily, monthly electricity bills for stand and system types exceed 100,000 KRW, except for the wall-mounted split-type.
Conversely, reducing air conditioner operating time by an average of 2 hours per day can save monthly electricity costs by at least 8,320 KRW to 23,380 KRW, depending on the air conditioner type.
KEPCO plans to ease the electricity bill burden during summer (July and August) by raising the upper limits of the three-tier progressive rate brackets. Specifically, the first tier will change from 0?200 kWh to 0?300 kWh, the second tier from 201?400 kWh to 301?450 kWh, and the third tier from 401 kWh and above to 451 kWh and above.
However, as cooling device usage increases and the progressive brackets change, the rate of bill increase becomes steeper. If monthly electricity usage exceeds 450 kWh, which falls into the third-tier progressive bracket, the third-tier rate (307.3 KRW per kWh) and the basic charge (7,300 KRW per household) apply, resulting in a significant increase in the bill.
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