Korea electricity bill

Usage is split across tiers. Korea does not pick a rate based on your total and apply it to the whole month. Each tier has its own price per kilowatt-hour.

Outside July and August the boundaries sit at 200kWh and 400kWh. The first 200 kilowatt-hours cost ₩120 each, the next block costs ₩214.6, and anything above 400kWh costs ₩307.3.

So the top rate is more than two and a half times the bottom one. Going from 390 to 410kWh costs far more than going from 190 to 210, even though both are twenty kilowatt-hours.

The base charge steps up with the tier too — ₩910, ₩1,600, ₩7,300 per household. Crossing a boundary can therefore raise both the energy charge and the base charge.

In July and August the boundaries move to 300kWh and 450kWh. The wider summer tiers allow more air-conditioning usage before the higher rates apply.

For example, 400kWh costs ₩83,530 in an ordinary month and ₩72,860 in July or August — a lower bill for the same usage.

Note that it applies to July and August only. A September heatwave is billed at the normal boundaries, under this tariff.

A Korean bill lists four charges and then two additions. The calculator above uses the same order, with the Korean label next to each one so you can match it to the paper.

Base charge (기본요금) is a flat monthly fee set by your tier. Energy charge (전력량요금) is the tiered part above — usually most of the bill.

Climate levy (기후환경요금) is ₩9 per kWh and funds renewables. Fuel adjustment (연료비조정액) is ₩5 per kWh right now and changes every quarter with fuel prices. Neither is tiered; both apply to every kilowatt-hour.

Then VAT at 10% and the power industry fund at 2.7% go on top of that subtotal. Both are calculated from the subtotal before rounding.

Above 1,000kWh there is a separate super-user rate. It is charged in winter and summer and is much higher again. If your usage is anywhere near that, the estimate may be lower than your bill.

An apartment management fee is not this bill. In most Korean apartments electricity arrives inside the monthly management fee (관리비) along with water, heating and shared costs. This calculator uses the residential low-voltage tariff; an apartment billed under a high-voltage contract can use a different calculation.

The TV licence fee is on the bill but not here. It is a flat ₩2,500 a month collected with electricity, and you can ask to have it removed if you own no television.

Comparing your room’s area with the area listed on an air conditioner or dehumidifier? Those calculators are on the Korean side — start from the square meters you get out of the pyeong converter.