First Gas and ESB bill of the Year

delop

Just got my First GAS & ESB bill of the new year....

Standard 3 bed house built in 1992
GAS €200
ESB €100

this is killing me, thats like the price of renting a Box room out that I dont have :-(

This is, me thinks very unfair, and there is nothing i can do about it, thats what is so frustrating...

I also have been cold over the winter trying not to use much of either service, didnt work though ( Sent in an updated meter reading 2 weeks ago also)

My usual Gas bill was around €120 -150 highest ever €170
My usual ESB bill was around 60-75 never above 90

How has everyone been fairing, I guess Ill have to vote for A non FF party next time , but I'd doubt they would be any different...

I do hope people this time will develop a Civic spirit, or become politically motivated... I know its time for me....

It would be great to get a services Lobby Group in the vain of IrelandOffLine going... I just aint clever enough to do dat :-(

mikemac

Got my ESB bill and it was not an estimated reading as I met the meter guy when he called around

It was €95.63 which was more or less what I was expecting.
I don't pay gas

There are a lot of things I'm outraged by in modern day Ireland but ESB bills are not one of them.

The_Conductor

Electricity 120, Gas 286

Just over 400 in total.......

Really makes investing in a heat sink a reasonable proposition (particularly with the SEI grant).

kizzyr

I haven't gotten mine yet (but really can't wait:rolleyes: ). However I am expecting it , especially the GAS bill, to be huge. I've lived in this house since 2001 and every January the GAS bill is massive. The first time I called the GAS board and they told me that it was because they only did meter readings once per year and so this was to pay for any underestimating they had done during the year. I (grudgingly) accepted this. Last year or the year before I noticed my bills over all were higher than normal and again I called the GAS board. The reason I was told was that they were now doing accurate readings for every bill. I thought that this would cut out the massive January bill but it would appear now. So I guess we just chalk it up to yet another way we are being ripped off, mark it down on our ever increasing list of questions to ask the politicians when they call begging for votes and get out to vote in the summer and make sure we get Bertie, Mary & Co. out.

FX Meister

I don't give a ****. I don't have gas and I have a back boiler and an endless supply of wood so I get my heating for free. FACT

The_Conductor

FX Meister wrote:

I don't give a ****. I don't have gas and I have a back boiler and an endless supply of wood so I get my heating for free. FACT

There is no such thing as "free". You may have a lot of wood growing on your property- but there is a cost associated with harvesting, seasoning and storing the wood, along with an economic cost associated with using the land for the purpose of growing the wood. It may be difficult to quantify these costs- as most of them are not monetary, but they are costs nonetheless. Its just easier for people with electricity/gas to put a value on their utilities.

S.

Sponge Bob

He must have a wind propelled chainsaw , how does the FX get away without using lekky one may well ask ????

aphex™

ESB need the money so they can run those flash ads on the tv.

If you can find a fuel source that isn't controlled by megalomaniacs then go for it.

ciaran76

I got mine too but I have a 2 bedroom house and was only built last year.

My Gas bill was €130 and my ESB was €49. I checked my ESB meter and it was bang on as it was an estimation. I do have a gas cooker too aswell as heating so thats why I think the gas was so high.

There is only 2 of us in the house so that might be why ours is a bit lower too ?

um7y1h83ge06nx

4 bed semi-detached with 4 of us living here:

Gas ~€230
ESB ~€150

Works out at €95 each.

I can see where the ESB is going, a Digiweb receiver and wireless router on 24/7. PCs on a lot too, downloading stuff, and all the usual.

The gas I'm not so sure. I think someone must have left it on accidently, as we tend to always use it on the timer, an hour in the morning, and a total of 2 hours in the evening, with the thermostat set at 4 out of 6 on it's scale.

Sponge Bob

I sh1ts you all not when I say that those gas bills for semis are starting make my oil bill for a detached look reasonable ......by comparison. Gas used to be noticeably cheaper until about 2006. Now I reckon its dearer.

as for the 24/7 stuff , can you not put them on a timer plug that shuts down at 2am and resumes at 6pm when everybody comes home ...obviously by agreement not force . Thast what I do with my BB gear ??

delop

And from what I hear from London is that they are getting free Gas at the moment...

Its time for us to start building some nuclear stations seeing as how we are using nuclear power covertly anyhow.,...

um7y1h83ge06nx

Sponge Bob wrote:

as for the 24/7 stuff , can you not put them on a timer plug that shuts down at 2am and resumes at 6pm when everybody comes home ...obviously by agreement not force . Thast what I do with my BB gear ??

Good idea, silly I never thought about that. The only pain is that we work different shifts. Still, from the router logs, no-one seems to use it between about 1a.m. and 8a.m. And I have a timer and all handy.

Thanks for that good suggestion Sponge Bob!

purplealien

Just got my esb bill - €250 for a 3 bed semi God only knows how much the gas bill is because i've the heating on all day everyday.:eek:

pjbrady1

Yes, Gas is getting expensive, lucky we have our alternative heating of electric heaters ....... generated by the ESB, burning Gas, to heat water, to turn a turbine, to generate electricity, go onto the network and associated losses, and finally flow through the element of our heaters.

To the theme music of the centra ads (Centra - for the way we live today)
ESB - cause you've nowhere else to turn, Just think of that every time you see the flashy ads.

RuggieBear

€110 ESB for 1 bed apt

Uuuh Patsy

I have a good solution. Emigrate somewhere nice a warm like Oz.
You'd be better off getting out now before the poo hits the preverbial

delop

Why do ESB have adds anyhow? I know there is a company called airtricity but they cant really cause a problem for ESB

My whole confusion/lack of education problem, is understanding a semi state company...

Am I correct in thinking that they are not out to make a profit, and if they do its plowed back into the business for the future benefit of the Taxpayer?

But Ive heard that last ye they proposed a Standard service Hike and it was just rubber stamped, but who wins from the extra profit?

Very confused :-(

Zambia

Uuuh Patsy wrote:

I have a good solution. Emigrate somewhere nice a warm like Oz.
You'd be better off getting out now before the poo hits the preverbial

Are you taking this warmer climate option? Its a bit drastic to emigrate over a ESB bill...

dam099

Uuuh Patsy wrote:

I have a good solution. Emigrate somewhere nice a warm like Oz.
You'd be better off getting out now before the poo hits the preverbial

Depends where you go, if its very warm you may end up paying a lot for air-conditioning, my gas and electric combined are still lower than what I used to pay for electrity before when using air conditioning.

CodeMonkey

In 2004, ESB had a turnover of over €2 billion. With over 1.8m customers ESB is now one of the largest service providers in Ireland.

Quote from their website. Someone I know who works in ESB told me that the average salary in ESB is like 70-80k now but all employees are warned to not talk about salary to people outside of the company. ESB is making way too much money from their customers and the rates keep on getting up.

kizzyr

Well the good old Gas bill arrived today (for 3 bed semi built in 1999) and it amounted to a wonderful €219.00:eek: Just makes me glad that the winter hasn't been cold and so I haven't had the heat on that much......which makes the bill that much worse I suppose. Dreading the ESB one now.

DonJose

Blame those feckin Unions and the Government for the high wages. A pack of Homer Simpsons earning €142,000 a year...

"Deloitte recommends a partial break-up the ESB to encourage more competition. but Natural Resources Minister Noel Dempsey has ruled out such a radical measure, saying its not suitable for the Irish market."

http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/1002/esb.html

dame

I don't know why more houses aren't built to take advantage of the natural and renewable sources such as solar energy. Yes, even in Ireland there is a lot we could make use of. Look up "Passive Solar House" and see all the stuff that appears; water-heating, trombe walls, big windows on south-facing (small on north), conservatories with convection to rest of house, heat pumps, etc. I think the developers don't put too much thought into these when designing housing estates. They just want to fit as many houses in as possible and don't try and arrange them to be south-facing even. If I ever build my own house I'll be using everything possible to reduce energy costs.

i know for a fact that lots in rural parts dispose of their rubbish in their stoves with back boilers. no refuse collection bill cheaper heating costs. btw b4 anyone points a finger i dont even have a stove!

Tazz T

Well, the all-Ireland electricity market is supposed to open up this summer (put back from last year:rolleyes: ) so that should make some difference in terms of competition (assuming it isn't put back again).

blue banana

Didn't get ESB bill yet.

Gas €233 for a 4 bed semi. TG there's 4 of us to share it!

kinaldo

Zambia232 wrote:

Are you taking this warmer climate option? Its a bit drastic to emigrate over a ESB bill...

I am! Leaving for Australia on Jan 30 and the thing I'm most looking forward to is not having to worry about these ridiculous bills. Let's just say I've finally cleared them and now they owe me money for overestimating...

chump

I guess because most posters here are against overly paid 'protected' workers and are keen on greater competition everyone will all be voting for the PD's if they have the opportunity at the next election?

Victor

delop wrote:

Why do ESB have adds anyhow? I know there is a company called airtricity but they cant really cause a problem for ESB

They compete against gas, oil, etc.

Am I correct in thinking that they are not out to make a profit, and if they do its plowed back into the business for the future benefit of the Taxpayer?

They are out to make a profit and do. They pay a dividend to the government and have to make up for the infrastructure deficit since the 1980s - there was little capacity added from 1985-2000 and the network wasn't renewed. In that period, we were paying too little for electricity. Even if we paid a small bit more over those 15 years, we wouldn't have had the large hikes over the last few years.

But Ive heard that last ye they proposed a Standard service Hike and it was just rubber stamped, but who wins from the extra profit?

The profit goes towards (a) dividend (b) capital investment and (c) the increases have been stalled.

Deleted User wrote:

i know for a fact that lots in rural parts dispose of their rubbish in their stoves with back boilers. no refuse collection bill cheaper heating costs. btw b4 anyone points a finger i dont even have a stove!

The problem here is the amount of pollution they are adding to the air and not necessarily stuff that can be seen.

chump wrote:

I guess because most posters here are against overly paid 'protected' workers and are keen on greater competition everyone will all be voting for the PD's if they have the opportunity at the next election?

I see the PDs have worked wonders on opening up the market so far.

dame

25% of energy consumption in the UK goes into heating of buildings and water. It's reasonable to assume the figure for Ireland is similar. Insulate, seal drafts, use double glazing, solar water heating panels on your roof, heat recovery systems, lag the cylinder...do everything that can help. They'll pay for themselves with the savings you'll make on your energy bills over the life of the house (which is estimated at 200 years for a conventionally built house). In Scotland only 15% of the possible solar gains are used to heat houses (again probably the same in Ireland). It's amazing to think that we could build houses without the need for any heat source at all! Just do a quick search on say "Passive Solar House Colorado" for example, if you're interested. If you think you can't have a house with no heat source in Ireland, you're wrong! There are so many simple things we could be doing when building or renovating our houses, such a waste not to!

By the way, I've seen new build houses where the builder hasn't put in the full insulation (eg between ground floor and first floor), or in the attic. Sometimes they'll put the full amount around the access to the attic and less farther away. Something to be aware of and insist on.

Scandinavian Homes are doing timber-frame factory-built passive solar houses. Well worth a look for anyone thinking of building and whatever you're building, try and face all your main living rooms within 30 degrees of south. You're just wasting a free energy source facing any other way.

Something you can do immediately is get a thermometer or two and stick them in your house. Put them on internal walls, say one in a livingroom and one in a bathroom. Use these to help get a feel for how much heat you're actually using. 18 degrees (max 20/21) is the ideal recommended temperature for living spaces. At night and in bedrooms this temperature should fall to 15 degrees as we need less heat when we're asleep and under duvets. Now I like my comfort but you'd be amazed how many houses are absolutely roasting. If you put extra heat on the timer for a colder day, remember to take it off again when the weather gets better. If you don't you'll find yourself sticking on more and more heat every time the weather forecast is bad.