ESB bill - 1 bed apartment

muso

Hello All,

I've just returned to Ireland from abroad and received my first ESB bill. I'm living in a 1-bed apartment with my partner. Heating consists of one storage heater and an electric heater which we need to use as the storage heater does not supply much heat. Apart from that, the immersion is on a timer and we are careful with the usage of other appliances. Our first bill has come in at 220 euro. I personally think that this is extortionate but am unable to judge having not lived here for the past couple of years.

What is the average bill for a 1-bed these days??

Thanks.

Amalgam

Does it have an (E) beside the figures? That does sound high, it could be an estimated bill that will re-balance itself once a reading is taken later in the year.

In$omniac

That sounds very high, my bill just came in at €120.00, but I'm not heating the house with it. I have been told that storage/electric heaters run up the bill and have been warned against using them!

muso

It wasn't an estimated bill and have made no further progress having rung the ESB. It just seems ridiculous! Am going to monitor the meter more closely and see what happens.......

Mr. Presentable

If the heater is one of those bar heaters, cheap to buy but expensive to run, get rid of it and buy a Super Ser or similar.

220.00 per 2 months is about three times what I'd expect. There's no connection charge or other extra on it, is there?

eve

muso wrote: »

...I'm living in a 1-bed apartment with my partner
...Our first bill has come in at 220 euro.

OP, was the apartment purpose built as a one bed? Or was it a larger building that was divided into apartments at some stage? It has happened before where they divide a building but the meters aren't assigned properly and one unlucky person has ended up paying for both their electricity and their neighbours

Also, is the meter somewhere you can access? If so unplug/switch off everything in the apartment and take a look at the wheel on the meter. This may tell you if there is something sapping your power

I live in a 2 bed apartment with storage heaters and Oct/Nov for us was about €110.

muso

Yes, it is a large building split into apartments but has been this way for some time. The only way I could establish if I was paying for the neighbours I'd imagine is by switching everything off and checking the meter? The ESB have nothing to add as the reading was not an estimated one. It just doesn't make sense especially when there's nobody there all day, no dishwasher and no tumbledryer! Also, we do not use a 'bar heater'. We do have a standard electrical heater which we do need to use occasionally but even at that I don't think it would account for the bill.

Thanks for all your comments so far. All help appreciated.

helimachoptor

Sounds expensive, have a 3 bed with large extension. Pretty much 2 tv's on each evening along with laptop chargers/ internet equipment and cooking.

Also have a college student there (gfs sister :eek:) so she would be there soem days too, for the last 2 months it was 150 and thats with the price increase.

eve

muso wrote: »

The only way I could establish if I was paying for the neighbours I'd imagine is by switching everything off and checking the meter?

I would suggest doing this as your next step. If it is very slow or stopped when you have everything off then it's something you are using. Turn things on one a time and try to find the culprit.

.G.

It seems excessive alright.Even the most power hungry heaters don't cost much to run unless on constantly.

At current prices a 2000w heater would cost about 30c per hour to run plus vat.

I'd take a meter reading in the morning when leaving for work,leave on whatever you usually leave on then check again when you come back and see how many units have been used.A unit costs .1597 plus vat so just multiply and you'll have a fair idea of whats been used while you're out and you can see if that tally's with what you have left switched on while you were out

arse..biscuits

I live in a one bed apartment, bill is usually about €70, we rarely need heating though.
There are many possible explanations for your bill.
Do you know what your doing when it comes to checking the meter etc?
First thing to do, as already mentioned, is to turn your power off at your consumer unit, just switch off your main MCB or fuse. Then check if the meter wheel is turning. Try this at different times of the day. If it is still turning your paying for someone else's electricity as well as your own.
If not, then the problem is in your apartment.
You can go to your local electrical wholesaler and ask what monitoring equipment they have. These will basically allow you to see how much power each appliance is using by switching each on one at a time. You should be able to identify the SEU's (significant energy user's).

Are your appliances very old? Might be very inefficient.
Does the fridge door close fully?
Is the fridge beside the cooker? This makes it work twice as hard to dump the heat.
Are you 100% sure the immersion isn't coming on when it's not supposed to? This could easily be the problem.
Is your storage heater on all night? Are you on the correct tariff for using a storage heater?
As I said, I live in a one bed apartment and very rarely need heating, do you have a lot of air infiltration? Feel for draughts around windows etc and block them if you can.