ESB rant.........kinda.......

galwaytt

OK, so we moved house last Sept, and into our new one. ESB bills in both places 'til yesterday, which I was paying. New occupants in our 'old' house now have the account in their name, which is fine, and we called in the final meter reading, and paid the bill.

Coincidentally, I have been struggling to find why, since last Sept, our new house has a higher ESB bill. Bigger house, granted, but same no of people, unoccupied rooms light off always, LED lighting outside (3) and LED's in hall (3), maybe 3 incandescant bulbs, tv, fridge, heating sys (gas) on........and bills consistently Eur 60 per bill higher.........

Another beef, which I meant to bring up, is that the night rate meter is a complete and utter waste of time. When you work out the extra cost, and the rate of discount on the units, it is profoundly stupid to even contemplate it, imho. Never again.

But, today the SO tells me that she looked at both bills (and both houses are beside on another, btw...) and tells me that the rate, per unit, on the new house is HIGHER, than the rate on the old one.........wtf

So, she rings up ESB, finds out that because of we have a night rate meter in our new house, we are PENALISED for daytime use, and have to pay and extra ?? cent per unit !! Are these guys for real ??? :mad: :mad:

So, to recap: you pay extra for your nightrate meter, you do all you can to stay off peak time usage..........and you pay EXTRA per unit for daytime. So, where is the incentive to do our bit for the grid/economy/climate ?

So, we asked the question.......how do we take the meter out? Oh, that's easy, she says..........it'll cost you Eur 180 to remove it ...!! So, more money then...........!!:mad: :mad: :mad:

ESB lady also told the SO that unless you're a heavy demand user, that night rate is uneconomic for the majority of people........

Taking all that on board..........would that go any way to explain, perhaps, why some people's geo bills are high - that they've been hooked up to an inappropriate-rate meter ?? It begs the question..........

Silverfish

Sounds to me like the issue is with the previous occupants of your current house, as that rate / meter may have been more economical for them?

Not too up to speed on ESB bills though

Can't you just switch to a day time rate meter?

Hoagy

The ESB have been getting a lot of stick about this recently, but it's not actually their fault.

The final decision on electricity tariffs is taken by the CER
CER decided that since the single tariff unit rate is based on an average of night and day generation costs, those on dual tariffs were benefiting twice.
Similar changes have been brought in in the UK.

It's now more economical to have a separate meter for storage heating.

bauderline

Thanks Galwaytt,

That's a useful heads up on that one. I wonder if it is possible to do projected bills for various tariffs based on estimated usage day/nite before you opt for a particular system. Doubt ESB would offer it....

baud.

galwaytt

Well actually, it is the ESB's fault. I don't have storage heaters, I had it installed as, like on the continent, I wanted to take advantage of lower-unit costs for things like running the washing machine, dishwasher etc, and, occassionally, the tumble dryer, late at night.

I looked at the ESB bills again this morning and I also see that they charge an extra Eur7.00 per month..........for the luxury of having a night rate meter.

So, you pay extra to buy the meter. You pay extra rent for the meter. You are charged extra for any day time units you do use (which is unavoidable), and if you want to remove the meter..........it's extra again.

For clarity, having a night rate meter means you (effectively) have two meters - one for daytime, one for nightime - but it is one single unit these days iirc......., so it's not a case of not having a daytime meter - I do, but I'm getting penalised to use it, by having the nighttime one.........

I also had a work colleague check their last ESB bill. For two months at end of 07, to run 2 storage heaters (the only things on that meter)........cost Eur 173.00. That is a shocking price - it'd be cheaper to run oil.......

I also checked someone else's ESB bill for a house in Tuam and..........they have a different price per unit, again. They are being charged almost the 'premium' day time rate, but they have no night-rate meter.........

So, 3 houses, 3 different rates per kWh. That's not right.