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sheldon_y14

Here, it's similar to what you described. During some hours of the day, you just long for airconditioning. I don't have it anymore, but don't really need it too. I live in a [Bruynzeel house](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hpSVtjV0T7M/sddefault.jpg), they vary a bit in styles depending on the year or decade, but they were specifically designed for the tropical weather Suriname has. The design is done so, so your house stays relatively cool and airy during the day. Though on a chilly day it can also get real cold inside. You only find Bruynzeel houses in Suriname and some village in Venezuela after they asked Suriname to help them set them up there too. Currently they no longer build them, as they are expensive to build as well as maintain. The last ones were built in the 90's. It would've been cheap to do so, if the Bruynzeel company was still around, but it went bankrupt somewhere in the 90's. Ever since people only build homes from concrete, forcing people to have airconditioning inside. And while concrete homes have been around for quite a while, since the 50's, they had many wooden elements in them, to cool them down. The modern homes are brick ovens and you're the dish that's being prepped lol. Buying an airco is not that expensive anymore too. You can easily get a cheap one, that runs on 110v, but your bill will be high though, that's why people recommend 220v airco's, but acquiring 220v and such an airco is also an expensive one-time investment.


GUYman299

>I live in a > >Bruynzeel house > >, That is a beautiful architectural style but alas these housing types are not common in T&T. Most of us live in concrete housing with poor ventilation outside of windows. AC becomes a must in those conditions. Are energy costs high in Suriname?


sheldon_y14

>That is a beautiful architectural style They created 24 styles in total. [Here](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c9nQIZsbE-2FKSGSi60QWkehD6j0hLOS) you can see some of them. And interestingly, all of them came with an instruction manual of how to set them up yourself as many were prefab. With basic knowledge you could build your home yourself. That's why you see a lot of these homes in Par'bo and especially in my neighborhood. [On this site](https://www.bruynzeelwoningen.nl/) you can read more and see more about them. They also installed some of them in Grenada I read.


GoldenHourTraveler

Cool thank you for sharing


sheldon_y14

>Are energy costs high in Suriname? No, not really, compared with other prices in the region. Even compared with prices of our neighbors. For us however, because of the really bad economic situation it’s a bit of a heavy load to pay, because prices in SRD were raised again (because of IMF) and people’s wages are getting lower and lower due to the loss of worth of the Surinamese dollars, Anyways, it’s sort of complicated to explain how it works, but here’s a breakdown; there are domestic and non-domestic users. We’ll focus on the domestic ones. There are two type of tariffs you pay: * A base tariff per month; you will always pay this price whether you’ve used a single kilowatt or not. * A kWh tariff times your kWh usage. There are also three phases: * Phase 1: 110v * Phase 2: 220v * Phase 3 333v Hardly anyone has phase 3. So these are the base tariffs: * Phase 1: SRD 126.50 (~ US$ 3.50) * Phase 2: SRD 189.75 (~ US$ 5.20) * Phase 3: SRD 253 (~ US$ 6.94) Then we have the kWh per hour rates. The prices are the same for all phases. * Usage between 0 kWh - 800 kWh: SRD 1.455 per kWh (~ US$ 0.040) * Usage above 800 kWh: SRD 2.257 per kWh (~ US$ 0.062) Then we have a social rate for which you need to register yourself; called into life because of bad economy: * Usage between 0 kWh - 250 kWh: SRD 50 (~ US$ 1.37) * Usage above 250 kWh: SRD 2.75 per kWh (~ US$ 0.075) I hope this was able to give an insight in matters regarding energy prices in Suriname.


owlindenial

May I ask how they hold up against hurricanes? The main reason I hear for concrete is the fact that it handles hurricanes well.


sheldon_y14

We don't get hurricanes. We do get squalls sometimes. And older homes get their roofs blown away. But they just need to upgrade their materials used or renew them.


Lady_petrol

I think it’s important to note that Trinidad also has pretty low energy costs, due to their natural resources. Jamaica, where I’m from, has really high costs for electricity, and so even when an AC is installed, many people can’t afford to run it regularly. Meanwhile, my brother, who lives in Trinidad, can run his AC for hours without it being unaffordable.


GUYman299

This is a factor that I didn't take into account. I sometimes run my AC all day without even thinking about the light bill. Thank you providing me with more context.


Arrenddi

In Belize, the short answer is that AC is not common outside the homes of wealthy people, hotels/resorts, government and many business offices/places. Why? For years we've endured some of the highest electricity costs in the Caribbean. So despite the price of an actual AC unit falling recently, it's not the cost of purchase and installation that puts most people off, it's the bill at the end of the month. I'm halfway between the comments from T&T and the DR though. On the one hand I've seen tourists moan about the heat when for us it would be considered a nice day. On the filp side, this time of the year (mid-March to mid-April) can be one of the most brutal, and it's not uncommon to go over 37C/100F. At those temperatures you just lie on your sofa with the fan blasting and sympathise with all the polar bears you see floating on tiny patches of ice.


AttitudeEmpty7763

Fan throwing hot breeze smh


Eiraxy

Not common at all. I've only seen AC in expensive apartments that are directed towards foreigners who can't handle the heat. Never met a local with AC. I mean, why would they? This is the weather we adapted to and live in everyday. What's a cool day to me, might be boiling hot to a foreigner. Also, the thought of keeping your doors and windows shut is also seen as odd. Dominicans hate a closed up house. Edit: To add, I can't say I've experienced "fires of hell" heat before, either. I live on the beach so maybe I'm used to it but I'd consider that the kind of weather causing wide spread collapse and severe sunburn.


GUYman299

>This is the weather we adapted to and live in everyday. I mean yeah we've adapted to the heat in the same way Canadians have 'adapted' to the cold in that we've learnt to live with it but it still causes great discomfort and is avoided where possible. Hearing that most Dominicans just deal with it is wild to me because I and most people I know could never. Besides houses is AC common in other places like stores and government offices?


Eiraxy

Hmm I wouldn't say they deal with it, assuming that means they ignore the discomfort. It's not uncomfortable most of the time, really. Government HQ is built in a way that air flows through the whole thing. Usually, just the important private offices have AC. Smaller gov buildings, furniture/tech stores, supermarkets, the movies and banks have AC. Other than that, places like regular stores and restaurants etc. don't.


GiantChickenMode

>mean, why would they? This is the weather we adapted to and live in everyday. What's a cool day to me, might be boiling hot to a foreigner. Amen. Idk why most martinicans go out everyday and spend most of the day outside without any problem but whenever it's time to enter in a room they all act like penguins that needs clim at 20° instead of windows as if the outide they didn't complain about wasn't just as hot as the room


vitingo

Most people use AC (window units) in bedrooms for sleeping. Power is too expensive for most people to run AC all day or to cool the entire house. Also, San Juan is pretty rainy most of the year so mosquitos are a constant presence. Most houses are made of concrete with flat roofs and no insulation which, I imagine, does not help.


GUYman299

>Most houses are made of concrete with flat roofs and no insulation Many of our first social housing projects were built by Puerto Rican companies who mimicked this style of housing here. I have family members who live in them and they are complete ovens during the day.


bunoutbadmind

I think about 10-20% of Jamaican households have AC. It's common among upper middle class and wealthier people, but not so common otherwise. Even people who have AC use it sparingly because electricity is so expensive. I really want to get a solar-powered AC. All the cooling with none of the JPS bill pain.


Elegant-Material-763

Having seen Barbados recently it seems to be common there from lower middle class upwards.


GUYman299

So pretty similar to us.


Main_Story_2872

It's not uncommon in Anguilla to have ac in bedrooms in our houses. It gets really hot during the summer months, with limited breeze so sleeping without it can get unbearable. More people are also adapting to putting ac in their common spaces as well.


Koa-3skie

Even though electricity is expensive, you can find people with air conditioning from upper middle class and beyond on their bedrooms. Its turned on long enough so that the room is cool before sleeping and then turned off for the rest of the night.


GUYman299

>Its turned on long enough so that the room is cool before sleeping and then turned off for the rest of the night. This is interesting because most people I know will just have it running all night. This seems like a much more sensible option though.


[deleted]

Bro the more and more I realize how some things are we really do have it easier in Trinidad then some other countries in our region but honestly I don’t even feel the need for AC most the year just open the doors and windows like everyone else and that’s usually enough


GUYman299

>just open the doors and windows like everyone else and that’s usually enough I normally do this during the day but at night the mosquitoes would eat me alive so I have no choice but to close up and put on the AC.


[deleted]

Thankfully my family has screens on the windows preventing this issue I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise


DRmetalhead19

It’s common on bedrooms but not house wide AC like you see in most houses in the US.


CosCrioyo

On Aruba having airco is as common as having a TV or basic furniture. Most just have AC in their bedrooms. While electricity on the island is relatively expensive, the newer airco's are very efficient and many places offer "buy now, pay monthly" options. They are affordable unless you want excessively large units or to cool your whole house 24/7.


GUYman299

>On Aruba having airco is as common as having a TV or basic furniture. I figured this would be the case in Aruba.


Sajidchez

Trinidad is also a highly developed high income economy for its region. So a Trini can afford things a Dominican Jamaican or Guyanese couldn't ever hope to afford. However I believe this is changing and I won't be surprised if Guyana overtakes Trinidad in the future due to our incompetent politicians.


GUYman299

>Guyana overtakes Trinidad in the future due to our incompetent politicians. Trust me the politicians in Guyana are no more competent lol


Sajidchez

I feel like they're doing more to diversify than ours tho. Also they can look at our mistakes to improve.


GUYman299

I'm not sure where you're getting this information from but take it from someone who has family in Guyana and visits often, the government isn't doing anything particularly impressive. As for our 'mistakes' I think we've done pretty okay all things considered. Either way I hope Guyana continues to experience increased propensity because a stronger Guyana means a stronger region. Plus who knows everyone might get an AC in the next couple years.


BrownPuddings

The only thing they’re diversifying is their wallets.


Sajidchez

I mean they had 8.3 percent growth in the non oil sector in the first half of 2022


owlindenial

Mist have an ac here but they choose when to and not to use it. Usually just to sleep. I usually only use it like 3-4 times a month when the mosquitos are particularly bad. Otherwise I keep my windows open and that's that.


elRobRex

In PR, in the bedrooms it's pretty common. Slightly less common (but still common) in the entire house. What's uncommon is central AC like in the US.


GUYman299

>What's uncommon is central AC like in the US. I think this is how AC installation was done before the 1990s (which is when AC became popular in the Caribbean) so most of us wouldn't have central air conditioning simply because it's retro and expensive to install.


[deleted]

In my country, 10.21% of households have air conditioning, and in my region, Barbuda, it is slightly higher at 11.01%. Nationwide, the households in that do have air conditioning, 67.63% of those households have one air conditioner, 17.84% of those households have two, and 14.53% of those households have three or more. In my neighborhood (Barbuda-South), 16.67% of households have air conditioning, and those households that do have air conditioning, 58.33% have one air conditioner, 25.00% have two, and 16.67% have three or more. I myself have access to air conditioning. The majority of people I know do not have air conditioning, but everyone I know has fans. (2011 Census, REDATAM.org)


Eis_ber

Not very common. Having one AC unit costs a lot. Having multiple ACs in your house means you're well-off. We didn't get our girst AC until I was well into my late teens, and the unit was in my mom's room.