Cost of Living in BGC - Meralco Electric Bill ⚡ 2 Bedroom Condo Uptown BGC, Philippines 🇵🇭

[@BGCDreams]

Please feel free to share this vlog with anyone who wants to learn more about power consumption and electric bills living in Uptown, BGC. btw sorry I did leave out mentioning an important appliance - The fridge! We're using a Whirlpool 6WM16NIHGG 16.3 cu ft capacity fridge and it's rated at 180 W power consumption and we leave it running 24/7

[@user-zx5fc5th1p]

This gave me hope. Scare me away from buying a condo after hearing peoles shocking electric bill. Thank you for giving us all the details in kilowatts! I would have never known how to check. It truly is the type of AC.

[@BGCDreams]

You're welcome and I'm glad you found this vlog useful 😊 Indeed, going with A/C inverters is the way to go to save on costs

[@snowtyboy]

Nowadays the weather is cooler around 23c at night, i slightly open my window and turn on my electric fan. Never use my aircon at night. Ref also consumes a lot of electricity so my ref is also an inverter type.

[@BGCDreams]

Good call there going with inverter fridge as well 👍👍 Yeah, I'm trying my best to avoid aircon usage at night and so far it seems to help reduce the electric bill quite a lot 😊

[@hjon9119]

hi guys, the vlogger was not using AC that much, He made that clear in the video

[@rayNYCnMakati]

Congrats on your channel! You guys are quickly becoming my favorite channel. Thank you for posting this very informative vlog. My two cents (and I believe others may have made similar comments), but in addition to inverter aircons, it is worth the investment to purchase an inverter ref and inverter dryer. I run my bedroom aircon at night and my highest Meralco bill thus far is about 4500 PHP. My unit is about 78 square meters and we cook a few times per week and use our washer and dryer about two times per week. The inverters appear to make a significant difference in power consumption. Again, thank you guys for your excellent vlogs. Jay - I really appreciate how much easier you appear in front of the camera. It is not easy to “put yourself out there”, but you make it appear more and more effortless with each succeeding vlog. Congrats again and all the best!!

[@BGCDreams]

Wow, 4500 PHP doesn't sound too bad at all! Great job in getting the bill down to that levelAlso, thanks so much for the awesome support 🥰 For sure, being on camera is never easy for me (unnatural) but I'm just so humbled that there are people who are enjoying the content so we'll do our best to keep going 💪 Your kind words definitely help ❤ Cheers and all the best!

[@house2homeplus511]

Yeah nice video....one tip is put a timer on the water heater if you can....water heater burns the most current

[@BGCDreams]

Great tip!

[@griffin2765]

Thanks, this is great info. Can you do a breakdown on your internet, streaming services, and cellphone bills?

[@BGCDreams]

Yup, we have a video of the internet, which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/invKdIqQd76IbLc In regards to cellphone, I'm using a prepaid load, so it's something on the order of 90 pesos per week. If I need landline, I rely on Jenny for that For streaming services, we just have basic Netflix and that's pretty affordable, I think even their Premium plan is only like 549 pesos, or less than $10/month. Cheers!

[@josp2387]

Thanks for posting this! Super informative!

[@BGCDreams]

You're welcome! Glad you found it useful

[@irmaabenes4023]

I am not sure why electricity in the Philippines is so expensive. One vlogger Mergim was shocked to learned that his electric bill was so outrageously high. Just make sure, to pay attention to your electric bill every month. Stay safe. Best regards to Jenny and your kuya.

[@BGCDreams]

Yeah, electricity can be pretty pricey here in the Philz, so we watch our consumption closely. So far, so good... 👍

[@md929]

@@BGCDreams unplug that water heater under the sink. Not needed except for the shower. Even the shower heater is not needed during the hot summer months.

[@Jrmyf77]

We stayed in Leyte over the summer at family’s home and the kWh rate was 3-4 times the rate we pay in Ohio. Our family almost fell over backwards when the bill for 19,000 pesos came for electric. We’re mostly have window units there, but they’re small.

[@BGCDreams]

Whoahhhh, that bill is so crazy! 😅😅😅🙈 I hope you guys found the main culprit and were able to reduce that greatly. I did hear from Jenny that the PHP per kWh rate in the province (Leyte) is like 2x what we pay here in NCR. So, I guess in someways, it's really hard to "cut back". All the best to you guys out there!

[@loyldforger]

most power source in philippines are unfortunately still imported coal, gas, so if world wide price increase, even without a winter, phil electricity rate also incease during winter.

[@BGCDreams]

Good insights and yeah, there's been a bit of inflation felt over the past few years 😅

[@kelvinyschun]

Awesome statistics! It takes an engineer to examine...my biggest usage are the water heater and refrigerator/freezer (not mentioned). Winter months should be less since cooler unless heater. Do you rent or purchase property? Hawaii has high rates also. Homes look to decreasing with solar and photovoltaic.

[@BGCDreams]

Oh yeah, my bad on forgetting to mention the fridge, one item that's always running 24/7 😅🙈 For this property, we own in, and I guess that's b/c I kinda got tired of hopping around all the time on short-term stays haha Oh yeah, solar power would help a lot but I don't think alternative energy is too popular here in NCR. Outside in the providences, they definitely do rely much more on wind, solar, etc. Cheers!

[@Melitza266]

Informative ! Just wondering how big your rooms are since you are using a 2HP aircon in your rooms . In our house we are just using a 1HP inverter Samsung unit for our 25 Sq m rooms and they are working perfectly well. More power!

[@BGCDreams]

Oh yeah, the 2 HP is probably "overkill" since our bedrooms are so small 😂 I don't know the exact dimensions of each room but they aren't too big at all. Our 2 bedroom is just modestly sized

[@maritesbello7352]

Hi Jay, Thanks a million for this very detailed and informative topic. How about your condo fee and property tax?

[@BGCDreams]

You're very welcome! In regards to association dues and property tax, I'll try to cover those in a separate vlog. The asset dues are kinda rough but property tax isn't too bad (compared to the states anyway). Cheers!

[@screwupkiddy]

What direction is your condo facing? East? West? North? South? That contributes to heat in the condo as well which can influence A/C usage. What times do you typically use your a/c and for how long?

[@BGCDreams]

I guess it depends on which room you're in, so we kinda get hit from all angles 😂 For aircon, it's usually on anytime we're back home from walking and when there's guests over. During this time of year, we probably don't have them running after dinner. However once the summer heat returns, all bets are off and we're even cranking them on during the middle of the night 😅

[@hannaliza2221]

Thanks for sharing 😊

[@BGCDreams]

You're very welcome, thanks for tuning in!

[@meloa4513]

Yeah inverters are such a big deal. In our case we moved to a condo 2x our old one. If you add the HP of all our aircons it comes out to 12 versus 5. We now have two refs, one a subzero. Other appliances about the same but out bill has gone down from 21k/month to about 14k/month. Admittedly the aircon was a big investment at 1M but I think it will pay off.

[@BGCDreams]

Whoah, that's quite a significant reduction in your bill so it looks like going the route of inverter is working out well for you 👍👍 Omg 12 HP in total, sounds like you live in a mansion, grabe idol ka talaga!! 😱🥳

[@meloa4513]

@@BGCDreams admittedly I overspeced a little. In my old condo we just had 3hp for the living room but it was barely good enough and when I had friends over it would get hot. In new place living room was suggested at 5hp, but I maxed it to 6hp, so when I have guests no problem. I suspect that's another thing, if you buy an inverter aircon and make it work too hard it probably isn't as power efficient as it should, a overspeced aircon doest work so hard so it seems more efficient. Waiting for summer to see, this time of year with the weather these days I didn't even bother to turn on the aircon so I expect my Meralco bill to be much lower. Oh also due to building restrictions I had to basically order commercial units so maybe they are more efficient just pricey.

[@Cocoloving]

When i moved to one uptown a fellow residents first words to me were ' do NOT use air con all the time or the bill will be to high' i followed his words for months, until one month in summer i decided why not lets see , when the bill came i nearly passed out.

[@BGCDreams]

Oh man, so sorry to hear that! Yeah, from my understanding the units out in One Uptown don't come outfitted with inverter type air cons by default, so the electric bill can get quite pricey with even just "normal" usage. Hopefully you'll have the chance to upgrade to a more energy efficient model soon 🙏 I really wish the developers would have thought about this before hand and not skimped on the stock deliverables...

[@rephillips56]

My concern is brownouts. I’m happy with a 12,000 Peso bill.

[@BGCDreams]

That's a very valid concern. Luckily in BGC, brownouts aren't too common

[@alyccaeve]

No brownouts even in the baddest storm, internet and water is consistent too unlike the rest of the metro

[@GREGTV2581]

Ganda ng condo mo idol ang gara yayamenen 😁😱

[@BGCDreams]

Maraming salamat po idol pero low key lang kami

[@jejudo3000]

Do you leave water heaters on all the time?

[@frankiefernandez9225]

Good Question 👍

[@BGCDreams]

Yup, we always leave the water heaters on and only ever turn them off when we're leaving town on vacation. For the Rheem models we own, they more or less go into "standby ready" mode when there is no water coming out of the sink/shower and will light up/activate again once water is flowing. No issues so far

[@1966bluemax]

I think it’s because electricity is not subsidized in the Philippines unlike in most countries

[@BGCDreams]

Oh great point!

[@poconosgiant3255]

not bad. try hang your clothes for at least half day, then run dryer at lesser time.

[@BGCDreams]

Oh yeah, that works too and I know a lot of people who hang their clothes inside the condo. We're kinda too tamad for that though and it's a great feeling when they come out of the dryer like they're hot out of the oven 😂

[@frankiefernandez9225]

Good info but no matter where you live nowadays everything is going up inflation 😫😫😫

[@BGCDreams]

True! Nothing seems cheap anymore, sadly 😅

[@md929]

Hey bud, just came from the Philippines on vacation. I'm looking to buy a condo in BGC. Maybe you can guide me where to buy in BGC. Seems the electricity is outrageous over there. Saw some videos about people complaining about their electricity which are mainly couple of vloggers who were living in One Uptown I think. Is it a norm there in BGC or building specific? I'm in California but would like to own a condo there in BGC. Maybe you can give me some tips where to look. Maraming salamat po!

[@BGCDreams]

Hey, I hope you're enjoying your vacation out here! In regards to electricity, it's not too bad, I think what you heard is pertaining to One Uptown Residences where the air cons there aren't inverter type, so it can run much higher. That's probably more an anomaly than anything else. Sure, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook and we'll try to help you out however we can. Cheers! 🍻

[@frankiefernandez9225]

👍👍👍

[@BGCDreams]

😊

[@maybellhk]

It depends the lifestyle using electricity. Some foreigner always complaining, they don't use their common sense. Some rent big house then complain in their vlog.

[@BGCDreams]

Yeah for sure, and a big house usually requires really high powered air cons 😅

[@TheBigBananaaa]

👍✅😲✅👍

[@BGCDreams]

[@epik89]

seems like inverter ACs are the main issue here

[@BGCDreams]

Yup, you nailed it! 👍

[@maryrose7152]

How much did you pay for your 2 bedroom condo if you can share with us because we’re planning to move from makati to BGC. Thank you

[@BGCDreams]

I purchased the condo awhile back so not sure if those old prices are still relevant today. I think the current market rate for Uptown BGC would be around 270,000 PHP / square meter but you might be able to do better in the secondary market, maybe around 250,000 PHP / square meter. Good luck and all the best!

[@MarkPuke13]

wow!! thats cheper than my power bill on guam ahahaha

[@BGCDreams]

Whoahhh, sounds good to me!

[@jerrymylove1754]

After living in the Philippines for 16 months. I would say that the least desirable places to live here is the “luxury condos”. I find better experiences with smaller apartment buildings and or homes on the outskirts of the city. The condos are too noisy inside and outside, mediocre amenities, terrible staff, roaches, and just have so many people. I was on the 44th floor and the building’s elevators broke down for days and would do so all the time. We had to walk up that much with groceries and large water bottles. It’s a good thing I am still in relatively good shape. The neighbors can be xenophobic as well.

[@alexchua7936]

Where are you bgc dreams

[@loyldforger]

My answer to you is buy Meralco stocks then you get dividend from them. 😁

[@BGCDreams]

I love a good dividend stock! 🤑

[@abbylee789]

Thank you so much for this comprehensive electric bill video. 🙏🏻 I must say, I was shocked, though, about the water heater kWh 🫣

[@BGCDreams]

You're very welcome Abby, hope you enjoyed the vlog! ❤ Oh btw I misspoke, the water heater is actually rated at 6 kW and not 6.5 kW... Not a big difference, but in this case, less is more 😊 Also, FYI, Rheem also makes a 3.5 kW water heater with the same footprint. When I asked the staff at MC Home Depot, they said you can use either model but the 6.5 kW one will heat faster. Never tried the lower power model but it's another option if you want to reduce power consumption. All the best! 🤗

[@abbylee789]

@@BGCDreams Yes!! Thank you for the shout out 😊 I’m sold! I’m definitely buying the same washer and dryer that you have. Re: Rheem water heater I saw another model from your previous video. But I already asked my cousin to buy the same model as yours two weeks after you recommended it. MC home depot also installed it for free 🤗

[@Hicks-g1m]

BGC BGC I'm sure it's more expensive there yikes 😬

[@BGCDreams]

Probably 😅😂