High electricity bills and high meter reading...

thefeatheredcat

LaLucy wrote: »

The flat is always cold and the storage heaters don't seem to work. There is a portable gas heater here too

Storage heaters eat electricity, as well as using washing machines and driers in the day time as well as immersion switches. You need to get onto your landlady to get the heaters fixed or at least checked out.

I've heard that some of those portable radiators are great for heating although I don't know from first hand experience. It may be worth looking for one of those and check for cost effectiveness as could save you some cash. If the heating doesn't work then you should request for your landlady to buy one.

Is the bill in your own personal name or in the landlady's? I assume that the old esb a/c of previous occupiers was closed or transferred into your name? I'd be a bit dubious if it's in your landlady's name and your paying for her or someone else's electricity!

LaLucy

So anyone know why there are 2 day prices and 2 night prices? It says meter readings then next to it quantity and price with 2 for day and 2 for night. There's a big difference between them too. Heads wrecked

LaLucy

starbelgrade wrote: »

On top of that advice, I'd also urge you to consider changing electricity suppliers - Bord Gas are definitely cheaper & I believe Eirtrcity are too.

A man from airtricity came around tonight and it does seem cheaper. We will only be here a few more months then contract up and might try get a place with an open fire. I'm kicking myself that I didn't call them with the exact reading when we moved in. If there is arrears I will be contacting the landlady for it because I will not be paying it!

Davy

LaLucy wrote: »

So anyone know why there are 2 day prices and 2 night prices? It says meter readings then next to it quantity and price with 2 for day and 2 for night. There's a big difference between them too. Heads wrecked

The kwh rate per unit change. Cant remember when it changed, but thats what that would indicate to me

MOH

LaLucy wrote: »

So anyone know why there are 2 day prices and 2 night prices? It says meter readings then next to it quantity and price with 2 for day and 2 for night. There's a big difference between them too. Heads wrecked

Did the rate change during the period covered by the bill? If so they'll split it, and show the amount charged at each rate.

sisa147

Hi there, I have similar problem with my bills. My bill states that I am on pricing profile 2 which means that I use Night Saver Plan. I assume there are 2 different meters one for day and one for night usage. I never check my meters as they are located in the hallway and only landlord or ESB has the access and the box it's always locked. The problem I have is that my night usage according to my bills is 3 to 4x higher then my day usage. Night usage starts from 11pm till 8am in wintertime.. and from 12pm till 9am summertime... but I live in small studio apt. and do not use many appliances during night hrs. I go to bed before 11pm and always switch everything off during night even heating. In the mornings I only use shower and kettle and *light in winter.. and maybe half an hour of heating at most. I use most energy during day.. when I come back from work.. cooking, washing..pc.. etc... otherwise I always unplug everything when I go out. So how come I use so much more energy at night when everything is unplugged?

Davy

sisa147 wrote: »

Hi there, I have similar problem with my bills. My bill states that I am on pricing profile 2 which means that I use Night Saver Plan. I assume there are 2 different meters one for day and one for night usage. I never check my meters as they are located in the hallway and only landlord or ESB has the access and the box it's always locked. The problem I have is that my night usage according to my bills is 3 to 4x higher then my day usage. Night usage starts from 11pm till 8am in wintertime.. and from 12pm till 9am summertime... but I live in small studio apt. and do not use many appliances during night hrs. I go to bed before 11pm and always switch everything off during night even heating. In the mornings I only use shower and kettle and *light in winter.. and maybe half an hour of heating at most. I use most energy during day.. when I come back from work.. cooking, washing..pc.. etc... otherwise I always unplug everything when I go out. So how come I use so much more energy at night when everything is unplugged?

Its possible, that your meter is on the wrong timing. You need to see your meter, when you look at it, the arrow will be pointing up during the day to Peak rate. Its one meter, with two readings, that switches according to a timer. This can be set by ESB Networks staff if you call them.

One question though, do you have storage heating? That would be using electricity at night rate while your sleeping.

sisa147

Davy wrote: »

Its possible, that your meter is on the wrong timing. You need to see your meter, when you look at it, the arrow will be pointing up during the day to Peak rate. Its one meter, with two readings, that switches according to a timer. This can be set by ESB Networks staff if you call them.

One question though, do you have storage heating? That would be using electricity at night rate while your sleeping.

First of all thanks for your reply, I thing you might be right with the storage heating.. not 100% sure though..there are two power switches next to my heater.. and I have no idea which one to use.. I assume one is for night usage and other for day right? but if I am on night usage than there is no problem.. as it's cheaper.. best thing will be to speak to my landlord he should know.. but thanks anyway..

Davy

Do you have 'input' and 'output' controls beside boxish type radiators?

MadMickeyMonk

Anyone with unexplained high bills need to take stock of how many appliances in their house have elements and motors. Elements use most so even that 10 min shower in the morning uses up nearly as much power as 2 hours tv... Electric showers,kettles,washing machines that dont use piped hot water,tumble dryers,ovens,cooker,fridge,microwaves,fan/convector heaters. These are all the biggest culprits. Also dont forget anyone with a back boiler in their fireplace.. your pump is on when your fire is lit which could be 10 hours a day.

Lucyx

I'm just wondering if this seems excessive to anyone else.

I live in a one bedroom apartment and I only have electricity, no gas.
I have the night saver thing for heating the water and storage heaters which
I rarely have on. The heater in the bedroom is probably only on two hours each
evening or less. My bill for the last 2 months is 200euro. This seems loads to me.

I'm wondering would the water heater be using lots of power during the night.

Cabaal

Is it estimated or a meter reading?

If its a meter reading bill then odds are previous bills were underestimated, if you want more accurate bills then best to submit meter readings each month yourself

Lucyx

Cabaal wrote: »

Is it estimated or a meter reading?

If its a meter reading bill then odds are previous bills were underestimated, if you want more accurate bills then best to submit meter readings each month yourself

Its a meter reading and its only my second bill and I know the previous bill was a meter reading too and theres definitely nothing carried forward.

I'd love to know what other people are paying bi-monthly for their ESB in ESB only homes.

looksee

Yes, that is too much, we're paying at most €120 for 2 months, for a 4bed semi. No electric heating but electric showers and the usual other stuff.
We had a situation recently with a daughter in a student flat where they were getting ridiculous bills month after month. It eventually turned out the meters were mis-labelled all over the block with each pair of meters getting the other's bills. We are not sure what the other guy was doing with all the power but cannabis plants were mentioned.

dudara

Threads merged

dudara

Fnergg

Lucyx wrote: »

I'm just wondering if this seems excessive to anyone else.

I live in a one bedroom apartment and I only have electricity, no gas.
I have the night saver thing for heating the water and storage heaters which
I rarely have on. The heater in the bedroom is probably only on two hours each
evening or less. My bill for the last 2 months is 200euro. This seems loads to me.

I'm wondering would the water heater be using lots of power during the night.

I think the problem here is the water heating. You should not have it on all night. Switch it on about 30 minutes before you need it and then switch it off afterwards. Better still, get a timeswitch fitted to do that for you.

Overall, you are paying €25 a week - €3.50 per day - for all your energy needs. Seems OK to me but cut back on the water heating and you will see a reduction.

Regards,

Fnergg

Penny1624

This is probably a stupid question but does anyone know if it possible to get monthly bills from ESB? I find it much easier to budget for bills that come every month than bi-monthly bills

Fnergg

Penny1624 wrote: »

This is probably a stupid question but does anyone know if it possible to get monthly bills from ESB? I find it much easier to budget for bills that come every month than bi-monthly bills

It isn't possible.

What you could do is pay an amount every month (or more often if you wish) towards your next bill. You can do that online with your Laser card:

https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/your_account/pay/startPayInit.do

Regards,

Fnergg

flo2009

I moved over to Bord Gais about 6 months ago, I thought great 12% discount. The first bill was brilliant about 30 cheaper than the normal our normal being 100-120 euro The last two bills have been both 200 euro, we have changed nothing about how we are using electricity. I have allowed for the cold weather and all the rest but we have never gotten a bill of that much from esb. I cant find out how long our contract is with them, but has anyone experienced what the service is like with Airtricty?? :(:(

tagoona

First off, you THINK you're usage is the same.
Be certain.
Pull out the ESB bill for this time last year. Check the number of units used. Make sure the readings were proper and not estimated.
Now make sure the bill from bord gais is not estimated.
Is the number of units increased after a year?
There may be a faulty appliance some where.
Take a meter reading going to bed and again when you get up in the morning.
After that, it's the usual, make sure the immersion is using.
People will be able to help you here, but only if they have all the details, readings, type of house, heating system etc....

shaca

Thought it was only me.. I got a bill today for €194 and nearly choked. Even taken into account the xmas lights I thought it was awful expensive. This is only the second bill we have gotten but after the last one my husband and I went through all the plugs in the house one by one while he was cheking the meter box to see if anything was really making it spin but nothing was. Made a decision today to be extra vigilant about leaving lights and plugs left on although we are fairly good about all that already.

astrofool

colder this year, so more energy used, the Bord Gais price is 14% below ESB, and based off your metre reading, there's no way they can trick you really.

dudara

Threads merged

dudara

jor el

Lucyx wrote: »

I have the night saver thing for heating the water and storage heaters which I rarely have on. The heater in the bedroom is probably only on two hours each evening or less. My bill for the last 2 months is 200euro.

A 2kW heater, for 2 hours a day, will cost you about €45 per two months to run. If you run it a little more at the weekends then it could be costing you up to €55. That's about 1/4 of your entire bill, on a single heater.

Basically, an electric heater (bar, fan, etc) is a really bad idea, as they're very expensive to run for long periods of time.

ChocolateSauce

Edit

sesna

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

PS. Paying it is not an option- we can't; the last bill cleaned out our savings.

If paying is not an option, then having no electricity and getting used to candles etc should be

Appleguy

Ring the ESB.

If you were out when the meter reader showed up and it wasn't read they may have estimated the bill based on your previous useage.

They will Know straight away anyway.

ChocolateSauce

sesna wrote: »

If paying is not an option, then having no electricity and getting used to candles etc should be

Keep you snide comments to yourself and try being a little more useful in a serious thread.

Ring the ESB.

If you were out when the meter reader showed up and it wasn't read they may have estimated the bill based on your previous useage.

They will Know straight away anyway.

I spent an hour on the phone to them, and they agreed with me that it was an impossibly high bill. They suggested faulty electronics and to contact the landlord. I did, and he suggested I call the ESB.

{^Syntax^}

Think you're bill is bad? Try €11,000 - That's what my last one was!

jimoc

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

Hi All, I need some help and advice regarding our ESB.

Last billing period (two months) we got a bill for 460 euro, which we thought was very high, but maybe plausible as we had the heat on about 18 hours a day. Things we have in the house include lizard tanks, a washer, dryer, lights, three computers which we never turn off (although the heating is the main one- we've had the other stuff on for ages and the bills were never higher than 300 before.)

So we decided to make a big effort to reduce our consumption- and we did. But we got a bill yesterday for 864 euro.

There are only 3 people in the house, so it is insane to think we could be using this much more power than were were in November-December; we didn't buy any new electronics and we reduced our consumption. We've confirmed with ESB it isn't a problem with the input, so it must be something else.

My question is this: What can we do? There is one student and two unemployed people in the house, and this bill is more than our rent. I think it is safe to assume that this bill isn't our fault, so does anybody know if this is the responsibility of the landlord or the ESB?

Thanks

PS. Paying it is not an option- we can't; the last bill cleaned out our savings.

Step 1. go to http://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/energy_efficiency/appliance_calculator.jsp and click on Energy calculator.
Step 2. Select Home Office, computer, put in 3 for quantity and 158 hours for having them on.
Step 3. Sh*t yourself when you realise how much money you are wasting.
Step 4. Put in the rest of the stuff you have on and realise where you're bill comes from and beat your two mates over the head if they don't start turning things off

Also, what type of heating do you have that requires it to be on for 18 hours a day?
We have a 3 bed house with oil heating and 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening keeps us nicely toasty, had to go up to 6 hours in the really cold weather but never 18