Picture this. It's late June, Bekasi is scorching, and midday feels like standing in an oven. You top up Rp 200,000 of token on Monday, which usually lasts a fortnight. This time, by Saturday morning the meter is beeping and the balance is down to the low teens of kWh. You check the app and find daily use has nearly doubled compared with previous months. Only one thing changed: the AC now runs from noon until dawn.
So before you blame the PLN tariff or suspect a broken meter, let's audit first. The goal isn't to switch off the AC and swelter; it's to know exactly where your token money goes, then cut it without suffering. In a two-storey home on a 2200 VA connection, the culprits are almost always predictable, and the good news is they can be tamed.
The audit principle: don't guess. Note the kWh on the meter morning and night, test each big appliance one by one, and you'll know exactly which one is the number-one power draw in the house. Once you know, you go after that first instead of scattering small savings everywhere.
Know the Biggest Power Draws First
Not every appliance eats electricity equally. The ones that blow the token are only a handful, and most of them make heat or cold. In a two-storey house the order of suspects looks roughly like this:
- The AC, in first place. A 1 PK AC pulls around 750-840 watts when the compressor runs. With two units (upstairs and down) running long hours, this alone is more than half your bill.
- Water heater. An electric water heater can draw 350 to 900 watts. Used briefly, sure, but with a whole family showering warm morning and night it adds up.
- Water pump. An automatic pump at 125-250 watts cycling on and off, especially if a small leak keeps it running without you noticing.
- Fridge. Only 80-150 watts, but it runs 24 hours non-stop, so the monthly total is still significant.
- Lights and the rest. With LEDs, a whole house might be just 100-200 watts of lighting. Small, easy to overlook, and not the main offender.
So if you want to save seriously, start with the AC and hot water. Chasing already-LED lights is like picking up loose change while the wallet leaks elsewhere.
How to Audit: Read kWh Per Appliance Yourself
This is the step most people skip, even though it's easy. You only need the prepaid meter already in your house and a bit of patience. Here's how:
- Record your daily baseline. Every morning at 7, photograph the remaining kWh on the meter for 3-4 days. The difference between days is your daily use. If it drops 12 kWh a day, that's your reference number.
- Test one appliance. One evening, turn nearly everything off, then run a single AC for one hour. Note the kWh before and after. That's that AC's hourly use, usually 0.6-0.9 kWh for a 1 PK unit.
- Repeat for the water heater and pump. Same method. In one evening you'll have a full map of who eats how much.
- Work out the cost. Multiply each appliance's kWh by the tariff. The non-subsidised 2200 VA rate in 2026 is around Rp 1,444.70 per kWh (check your receipt or the PLN Mobile app, since it can change).
A real example: a 1 PK AC running 8 hours a day at, say, 0.75 kWh per hour is 6 kWh a day. Two units make 12 kWh, times Rp 1,444.70 is about Rp 17,300 a day, or Rp 520,000 a month from the two AC units alone. Now you know why the token vanishes so fast.
| Appliance | Typical power | Est. cost/day |
|---|---|---|
| 1 PK AC (8 hours) | ± 750-840 W | ± Rp 8,000-9,000 |
| Water heater (30 min) | ± 350-900 W | ± Rp 1,500-3,000 |
| Water pump (intermittent) | ± 125-250 W | ± Rp 1,000-2,000 |
| Fridge (24 hours) | ± 80-150 W | ± Rp 2,500-4,000 |
Taming the AC: Settings That Actually Matter
The AC is now confirmed as the top draw, so this is where the fix is felt most. Not by switching it off, but by using it smarter:
- Set 24-25°C, not 16°C. Every degree lower makes the compressor run longer. 24°C is still cool and far cheaper. The habit of setting 16°C then reaching for a blanket is doubly wasteful.
- Use an inverter AC properly. An inverter saves most when left running steadily at a fixed temperature, not switched on and off every hour. Frequent on-off forces the compressor to surge power again and again.
- Use the timer. Set it to switch off 1-2 hours after you fall asleep. Past midnight the air has cooled and you're sound asleep; the AC no longer needs to run full tilt until dawn.
- Close the door, seal the gaps. An AC cooling a room with the door wide open is really cooling the whole floor. The cold leaks out and the compressor keeps working.
- Clean the filter regularly. A dirty filter makes the AC gasp and draws more power. Clean it every 1-2 months, especially in the dry season when Bekasi dust is everywhere.
The upper floor is usually the greediest. Roof heat soaks down into the rooms all afternoon, so the upstairs AC works harder than the one below. That brings us to the next trick.
Block Heat From Outside, and the AC Load Drops
A good chunk of the AC load can actually be trimmed before any electricity flows, simply by keeping heat out. These are cheap wins that get ignored:
- Thick or blackout curtains on windows hit by the midday sun. Radiant heat coming through the glass is real, and heavy curtains cut a lot of it.
- Close the curtains from morning on the side of the house that catches the glare. Better to stop a room heating up than to cool it after it's already stuffy.
- Ceiling insulation on the upper floor. A layer of aluminium foil or glass wool under the roof holds back the heat soaking down into the rooms. It noticeably eases the upstairs AC.
- Open windows in the evening. Once the outside air is cooler than inside, air the rooms out before turning on the AC. Half an hour of natural ventilation is sometimes enough to feel comfortable.
Suspecting the Meter or a Current Leak
If you've audited and the usage still looks strange, something may be leaking. Try this: turn off ALL appliances and unplug everything, then watch the meter. If the kWh keeps dropping while everything is off, there's likely a current leak in the wiring or an appliance with failing insulation. That's not just about waste, it's a safety issue, so call an electrician.
As for the prepaid meter itself, it rarely miscounts; usually it's our own usage that crept up quietly. But if in doubt, you can report it to PLN for inspection. Before that, confirm your audit results, because nine out of ten "broken meter" cases turn out to be an AC running longer than anyone realised.
Setting a Token Top-Up Rhythm So You Don't Get Caught Out
Once you know your daily use, topping up the token becomes easy to plan. Say you use 12 kWh a day in the dry season; that's about 360 kWh a month, or roughly Rp 520,000. Rather than topping up Rp 500,000 at once and being shocked at how fast it goes, some people prefer a weekly Rp 130,000-150,000 top-up so usage stays visible and they never run out at midnight.
The key is to budget for the token by season. The dry season is clearly heavier than the rains because the AC runs more, so a higher electricity budget this month is fair. It isn't that you've gone wasteful; the weather is simply demanding.
Audit in short: the AC is the biggest draw, with the water heater and pump backing it up. Set the AC to 24-25°C plus a timer, block outside heat with curtains and insulation, check for a current leak if usage looks odd, then set a token top-up rhythm based on the daily use you measured yourself.
A Home That's Cool by Design Is Different
The audit and tricks above apply to any house. But most of the AC load is actually decided long before you install the AC, back at the design stage. A house with ventilation and orientation thought through stays cooler naturally, so the AC doesn't have to work as hard, and your token lasts longer.
Rumah Emerald 70 at Kingspoint Residence, for instance, is a two-storey, 70 m² house with a layout and airflow designed so the house doesn't trap heat easily. It sits on Jl. Raya Perjuangan, North Bekasi, in a growing area near access to Summarecon Mall Bekasi, so it's both comfortable to live in and well placed. A home that's cool to begin with makes dry-season token worries much lighter.
If you're digging into monthly costs, also read our guide on monthly electricity costs for a 2-storey home for the full picture, and for a strategy to keep a house cool without leaning on the AC, there's a piece on cross ventilation for a 70 m² two-storey house that keeps a home cool all day.
Common Questions
Why does the electricity token drain so fast in the dry season?
Because daytime temperatures are higher, the AC runs longer to reach your set temperature and its compressor cycles on more often. In a 2-storey house the upper floor is worst, since roof heat soaks down into the rooms. Add the water heater and pump running more often and the token gets eaten quickly.
How much does the electricity token cost for a 2-storey 2200 VA home with AC per month?
A rough guide at a tariff of around Rp 1,444.70 per kWh: two 1 PK AC units each running 8 hours a day use roughly 12 kWh a day, or about Rp 520,000 a month for the AC alone. A whole house with a fridge, pump, and lights usually lands in the Rp 600,000-900,000 range during the dry season. These are estimates; measure your own meter.
How do you audit electricity use in a 2-storey home?
Note the kWh reading on the meter every morning for a few days to learn your daily use. Then test per appliance: turn everything off, run one AC for an hour, and check the difference. Repeat for the water heater and pump. From there you'll know the biggest power draw and can focus on cutting that one first.
Want a 2-storey home that's cool by design?
The Kingspoint team can walk you through the layout, orientation, and ventilation of Rumah Emerald 70 in North Bekasi, so the AC load and electricity bill stay lighter. Ask away, free, no pressure.
Ask the Kingspoint Team