I've yet to see an attic in Cancun, PM, or, Playa.. and I think PM is the same tariff as Cancun since its part of the same municipality, but I'm not sure. The moisture problem here is that it literally seems to come UP from the ground into the concrete and then you have paint and plaster "jumping" off of your walls and of' course the accompanying mold and smells from the moisture in the walls... If you've ever lived on a first floor here you'll probably know what I'm talking about. After years of fighting it with sealants and everything else you can think of he's found that leaving the AC on greatly reduces the problem... and when I say low I mean he has the temp set at 80ish and low speed fan.. so its not as if its constantly running the compressor. I've suggested he might get a few dehumidifiers, but those would require someone to empty the collected water everyday which isn't really practical.
I would be comfortable with anything up to about twice what I'm paying for electricity in the summer ($50/month); above that, and I'd start looking for ways to cut it back, just because I like being frugal, generally. People have different levels of pain they will accept before they start paying attention, and for most with big electric bills I suspect it's just not really a matter of concern for them. Having been tipped off by various websites that electric costs were an issue here, when I arrived I began reading my meter, daily, just to see what was up. We were then using 3.5 KWH/day, because it was still relatively cool and we weren't using the ac at all. I watched the consumption climb, as the warmer weather set in, to 17-20 KWH/day and saw that there wasn't much cause for concern. I've mostly just amused myself by learning more about this subject- electricity costs in Mexico- and find that most of the locals know less than many of us on this website do about the subject: the locals whinge about the costs, even when their bills are actually rather low- like mine. So, it's a bit of a national past time, it seems. I consider that it makes sense for the Mexican Government to both encourage conservation, and to assist the poor, by rewarding small consumers with greatly reduced rates: that large consumers are picking up the tab doesn't offend me in the least. ____________________ Some of you in apt management, or who may be active in your condo association, can probably tell me whether the costs of electricity- for lighting, area cooling, and running the pumps on the swimming pool- end up making a big contribution to the condo fees here. There is also a possibility that high energy costs for business, such as restaurants, make a large contribution to the fact that things are not really as cheap here as the low wages would suggest they should be, but I don't know how the commercial rates stack up against those of other countries.
Here is a break down of US electric prices.... The highest rate I saw was for Hawaii and its about what the DAC rate is here... the average cost per KWH in the US in general is just under 12 cents. Commercial power in the States is actually cheaper than residential according to this information. Some people seem to be under the illusion the power is cheap in Mexico... its not.. just try using the same KWH that you used "back home" and see what your bill is. You would never be able to heat and cool a 3000 square foot house in Mexico without having a heartattack. Edit: According to this site the "average" home in the US used 920 KWH per month in 2008.. so if that was your usage here you'd be in the DAC class so figure ~$3.2 pesos x1840KWH per cycle.. your bill would be $5,888 pesos or (with today's exchange) about $476/2 = $238usd per month... (and honestly the 920KWH a month figure seems low to me but that's what the site says) That same usage "on average" (12 cent per KWH) in the US would only be about $110usd per month! See corrected figure two posts below with tax...
Those figures sound about right to me, Life. It would be interesting if it were possible to look at average consumption in those places in the states that are as hot, on average, as Cancun. (Not sure there are any, but south Texas and south Florida might come close.) The unsubsidized electric rates per KWH are the highest, here, that I've ever seen- close to 20 cents, U.S. The highest I've paid anywhere else, including in the U.S., has been 10 cents. But even in the U.S. people quickly moved away from the fad of "all electric" houses. In Vietnam we were averaging 1,000 KWH of consumption per month, annually, in a much bigger apartment: the same in China, which was cooler, but we had electric heat! In both places we were paying 10 cents per KWH. Here, we use much less, but we chose our apts here partly with electric usage in mind, looking for smaller places, somewhat sheltered from the sun, knowing both those factors would figure significantly in consumption.
According to the CFE site its right at $3 pesos ($3.025) this time of year.. so its a tiny bit less than my figures... meaning its $225.34 a month for the US average of 920KWH a month... before the fee's and taxes (which I forgot before) so you can add 11% IVA and 5% DAP which brings the corrected total to: $261.39usd A MONTH! & as you said V, that's a national US average not specific to hotter areas, which I'm sure have higher averages most of the year. Bottom line... it ain't cheap in Mexico.... :mexicoflag:
Just to give you a general idea, I live in the Tampa, Florida area in an all electric home, approx. 2,000 sq.ft, one story, high ceilings. From the Tampa weather blog, here's an excerpt of the type of weather we experienced last month (heat index running an average of 105 F daily). "The mean temperature in Tampa was 84.3 only 0.6 degrees below the all-time high of 84.9 set back in 1932. There were 22 days in July where the max reached or exceeded 90 and 3 days where it reached 96 so three times July 2010 reached within 2 degrees of the all-time high temperature of 98 recorded back in 1942. There were 22 days with max temperatures at or exceeding 90 while the coolest it got in Tampa in July was 73 degrees recorded on 3 mornings." My electric bill for July for 1588 kWh was $184.74, an average of 53 kWh per day. This is running whole house air conditioning 24/7 set at 78 F.
That usage would cost you $5572.29 pesos in Cancun using the above prices... about $451.19usd! I'd bet too that your home is far better insulated and more energy efficient than the typical place here is...
That's scandalous! Lets face it though, it's not just electricity is it. It's cars, internet (50mb in England for the same price as 1.5mb here - yes 50mb!!), sky tv, electrical goods, healthcare, you have to buy drinking water! etc. etc. the list goes on. However the sun is shining, the beaches are nice, and the beer is cheap.
Really makes your head spin when you think about it.. how can people survive here making so much less than they do in the US or UK when prices for most everyday items are considerably higher?... meanwhile the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim, gets richer on the backs of those very people...
Aren´t we missing a point by focusing on how outrageously priced electricity is? I thought we´re all supposed to be conserving- thinking about what we could do, individually, to reduce our carbon footprint. Living in enormous houses, and cooling every square foot of it in a hot climate is not doing that: living in a small apt and cooling a single room is- though I´m still opting for airconditioning, so I´m not doing all I could, obviously. Without getting ridiculous, it is important that we begin to scale back on the demands we are making on the environment: raising the price of energy is a well established means of getting people to use less of it (it worked for me!). ______________________ On the subject of the high cost of things, generally, here, that must be a combination of factors: we could accuse the high taxes, but they are no higher than those in most developed countries, and people here are more adept at avoiding them: we can´t blame high wages, obviously. It could be energy costs, to a degree, and what seem to me to be high rents on business premises; but, I suspect as big a culprit is a culture which does not value efficiency, and this raises the cost of every good and service produced.
