sudden Huge esb bills??

helios12

almost 600 for a 3 bed apt ..not happy

WithCheesePlease

Most people in apartments seem to be paying more. I reckon it must be down to the storage heaters. I've turned mine off to see what kind of a difference it makes.

Failing that it takes the guts of 3-4 hours to do a wash in the washing machine in my place. Reckon there must be something up there too...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Considering current bills cover the Jan/Feb or Dec/Jan periods, there can be no doubt that high bills will arise where anybody has storage heaters. They are a disaster! We had a particularly cold snap and I don't think people with electric heater realised how much they used.

hellboy99

My bills were usually round €130 - €150, the last two I've got (one is a final bill, now with Bord Gais ) were both over €200 :eek:

Jay D

Our one is over €600, my friend rang them up and they say it's no mistake, those are the new rates but no fecking way am I convinced!!

from a max of 160 at xmas to this!!??

wtf!!

marbar

i got a strange one for Jan
it was only 33 quid, but i wasn't living there at the time...

Fratton Fred

The average wage of an ESB employee at Poolbeg is €110,000 per year.

they have to pay their stupidly high wages somehow.

edut, oops, make that €122k in 2006. add in a few extortionate pay rises to bring it up to date and it is probably nearer €140k

http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/2150/

stovelid

I take issue with the word lately as it infers that the ridiculousness is a recent development.

javaboy

Moved from After Hours.

nedoo

Was talking about this at the weekend with my folks in Sligo, all their friends got huge bills €600 + for the Christmas period and just after. No mistakes, put down to lights, christmas decorations, cold spell with more people at home etc. Mine was about €60 over the norm for Dublin, but then again, I have Gas heating and cooking.

AnonoBoy

Switch to Bord Gais.

Jay D

No Christmas lights here, fecking none of that ****, I'm completely furious at what is clearly robbery!!

our record bill was 791euro in college.. never paid. how the hell could 3 lads rack up that like.

WithCheesePlease

Same topic brought up here...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055507147

MysticalSoul

Jay D wrote: »

Our one is over €600, my friend rang them up and they say it's no mistake, those are the new rates but no fecking way am I convinced!!

from a max of 160 at xmas to this!!??

wtf!!

Were any of those two bills estimated by any chance? It was extremely cold in early Feb with all the snow etc.

Cabaal

mentioned numerous times before, please use the search option

buckieburd

Our last one was 420! Only two of us in the house, we were really careful since then and the last one was 270. Robbing feckers, i thought the bills were supposed to be going down not up!

mel123

i got a massive bill, nearly 500 quid. turned out that for the past year they never read the meter. i emailed them, admitting that i should of checked but i didnt because i trusted they were providing me with a service which included reading my meter 4 times per year (or whatever it is). anyway they couldnt have been nicer, ringing me back, then getting someone else to ring me back, and i got offered 20% discount, and told the bill woudl be split over the next 12 months so i wouldnt have to pay it in full.
maybe their customer service is getting better because of bord gais
in this instance it was defo worth complaining

oddone

As far as I'm aware I didnt receive my last bill in the post, I forgot about the ESB and received a reminder stating I owed them 530e in total (2 bills worth),
this seemed very high even though its for four months

I am just wondering does everyone pay them on time, seeing as I hadn't paid for two months without a problem, is there any advantage in paying your bill when expected to? Or are you likely to be cut off if you are persistently late?

Fnergg

This is some advice I provided in relation to high electricity usage on another forum some time ago. It may be useful to some of the posters here:


My advice is (a) make sure your immersion hot water tank with a lagging jacket if it doesn't already have a heat retaining covering (all new ones do) and (b) switch it on for no more than a half hour before you require hot water and make sure it's switched off afterwards. A timer is ideal for this. .

The type of TV you have could make a big difference. For example, a traditional 21" CRT screen TV running for 40 hours a week will cost about €4 per two-months. A 42" plasma on the other hand will cost €23 for the same period.

If you have any plug-in heaters my advice is to throw them out or else use them only to heat up a room for 30 mins or so and then switch them off. They are very heavy users of electricity.

Other than that, the only other appliances I would keep a close eye are the washing machine (use only for a full load), the tumbler dryer (ditto), and make sure all appliances with standby mode are fully switched off at the mains after use.

You mention your last bill was based on an actual reading. Are you certain about the previous one? If that was estimated then the units you actually used during the previous billing period but which were not charged for because of the under-estimate are now being charged on your present bill.

Look at the number of days you have been billed. Some winter bills cover more than the usual 60 odd days and could be 70 days or more. That can make a huge difference at this time of year.

If you are still mystified try switching off all appliances and look at the meter. The revolving dial should come to a stop after a couple of minutes. If it doesn't it means there is still something causing it to revolve and if you can't isolate it call in an electrician and have him check your installation. You might have a wiring fault.

If it does stop as expected then take a meter reading every day around the same time for a week or so. That will give you your daily usage and knowing which appliances are in use you should be able to pinpoint the heavy users and hopefully be able to make economies.

Remember also that electricity prices increased by 17.5% from 1st Aug last and the impact is only now being felt when customers are getting their high usage winter bills.

Regards,

Fnergg

Fnergg

oddone wrote: »

As far as I'm aware I didnt receive my last bill in the post, I forgot about the ESB and received a reminder stating I owed them 530e in total (2 bills worth),
this seemed very high even though its for four months

I am just wondering does everyone pay them on time, seeing as I hadn't paid for two months without a problem, is there any advantage in paying your bill when expected to? Or are you likely to be cut off if you are persistently late?

Why bring two bills on yourself when it's easier to pay each one as it comes? That's the main advantage.Yes, you are likely to be cut off if you are a persistent late payer.

Your electricity cost you about €4.40 per day. Not that bad for a winter period.

Regards,

Fnergg

Fnergg

mel123 wrote: »

i got a massive bill, nearly 500 quid. turned out that for the past year they never read the meter. i emailed them, admitting that i should of checked but i didnt because i trusted they were providing me with a service which included reading my meter 4 times per year (or whatever it is). anyway they couldnt have been nicer, ringing me back, then getting someone else to ring me back, and i got offered 20% discount, and told the bill woudl be split over the next 12 months so i wouldnt have to pay it in full.
maybe their customer service is getting better because of bord gais
in this instance it was defo worth complaining

Believe me, Bord Gais would never give you such generous treatment but then the ESB has a reputation for excellent customer service. Nothing to do with the entry of Bord Gais into the market.

Customers should always check their bills for estimated readings. If the actual reading on the meter is significantly different to the estimate used contact your supplier and ask for an amended bill.

Regards,

Fnergg

John Mason

mine was the usual €80. but i did get a huge gas bill

dudara

Threads merged

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I honestly don't know how some poeple run up such large bills. My last one was €218 up €14 on the prevoius one. 4 adults in a 5 bed house, electric cooking, washing machine and tumble dryer going every day. Heating is coal and oil but everything else is electic. People need to look at their usage. Yes the unit price went up but not by the percentages quoted here for bill increases. Metere are read 4 times a year max and mine are never far off. Customers should maybe look at their bills more carefully and see if estimates are correct. It's very easy over the phone the submit an amended reading.
But it all boils down to the fact that a €500+ bill is huge and people have burned the units and should look at their lifestyles.

Xcellor

We have 4 bed house just my wife and myself. Heating is oil burner. We were getting bills of 115 for two month cycle and I complained to my wife hehe. Last bill was 80 euro. Install energy saving bulbs and turn off all lights not in use. Don't have a plasma tv, have LCD preferably. We have old CRT which I am wishing would die so I'd have an excuse...

oddone

Fnergg wrote: »

Why bring two bills on yourself when it's easier to pay each one as it comes?
Your electricity cost you about €4.40 per day. Not that bad for a winter period.

Regards,

Fnergg

As I stated in my post I didnt receive the first bill in the post as normal
and had forgotten about it until i received a reminder saying I owed the last bill plus the latest one.

grafter12

If you are still mystified try switching off all appliances and look at the meter. The revolving dial should come to a stop after a couple of minutes. If it doesn't it means there is still something causing it to revolve and if you can't isolate it call in an electrician and have him check your installation. You might have a wiring fault.

If it does stop as expected then take a meter reading every day around the same time for a week or so. That will give you your daily usage and knowing which appliances are in use you should be able to pinpoint the heavy users and hopefully be able to make economies.

I purchased an energy monitor from E-bay a few months ago to see what my usage was like and to see what quantities devices use. I have found that my ESB bill has come down slightly as I am now more careful about what I use and how I use it. e.g. Only boil one cup worth of water when making a cuppa as the monitor showed me the hugh consumption of the kettle, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wattson-electricity-monitor-diy-kyoto_W0QQitemZ330316951956QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Gadgets?hash=item330316951956&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Davy

Kettles are one of the worse things in a house for an electricity bill. You never realise ho many times you use it over a 2 month period. Try putting a counter beside it, see many times you click it in 2 months :pac:

Kettles are quite powerful as well sum just above 3kw. People how use the kettle a lot could try out something like Breville Hot Cup or Tefal Quick Cup.

She Devil

Since ESB put their rates down again by 10% Bord Gais had to lower their prices again also by a further 10% So now you can get your electricity for 24% cheaper from Bord Gais! why pay more!!!
Think its stupid not to make the big switch!



PS BG are also semi state, only company at the moment making a profit for the government !