Electric Ireland [esb] vs Airtricity

clint_silver

some might remember me from airtricity energy monitor post before xmas.

Fella from ESB knocked at door last night.

ESB offering up to 11% off their daily rate til march next year.

I rang airtricity, can they match? no, but we'll do 8%, but its 8% off a lower rate. Yet airtricity have a higher daily rate standing charge (32 cents) then ESB (28.93) So did the maths.
Of 1.3kw used in last bill, including the daily rates and discounts, airtricity came in at 208, ESB came in at 204. If it wasnt for the daily rate, airticity were cheaper so ESB here we come.

whether you switch or not, if youre with airtricy and outside the first 12 months of your contract, ring up and ask for a better rate, you should get 8%off, although do the maths and ESB should be slightly less.

daheff

i thought the standing charge was a standard rate applied across all providers?

moodrater

And how do we bargain hunters avail of this offer, its not on the website did you get a number, code, flyer etc?

clint_silver

daheff wrote: »

i thought the standing charge was a standard rate applied across all providers?

so did I until last night. I confirmed with both companies this morning.
prices are EX-vat and are from straight urban price plans

esb daily rate= 28.93cents
https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/price-plans/low-user-standing-charge.jsp#ex-q3


airtricity daily rate= 32.01
http://www.airtricity.com/ie/home/products/current-offers-2/airtricity-standard-electricity/

clint_silver

moodrater wrote: »

And how do we bargain hunters avail of this offer, its not on the website did you get a number, code, flyer etc?

when i rang airtricity, asked for accounts, id'd myself and said can I get a better rate, she said yes, I can give you 8%. that was it.

when I rang esb and asked for current rates, they offered the 11% same as the salesman did.

jay phelan

I'd never go to Airtricity. My mother and sister switched and they have been scorched by them. ESB isn't madly cheap but it's a lot better on my bank funds that's for sure!

clint_silver

jay phelan wrote: »

I'd never go to Airtricity. My mother and sister switched and they have been scorched by them. ESB isn't madly cheap but it's a lot better on my bank funds that's for sure!

your usage will be the same no matter who youre with. its a maths exercise after that, your (wattage use * cost per watt) + (daily rate * days in the month).
I dont know how you can say you wouldnt go to airtricity if they were cheaper.

Coupon King

clint_silver wrote: »

your usage will be the same no matter who youre with. its a maths exercise after that, your (wattage use * cost per watt) + (daily rate * days in the month).
I dont know how you can say you wouldnt go to airtricity if they were cheaper.

Obviously (jay phelan) is going by word of mouth and the fact it is known that Airtricty are appalling to deal with.

Is it really worth all the hassle of changing suppliers, to save just a few cents?

babo9

If you know your usage stats just use
http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-gas-electricity-prices/electricity/

V.handy, Gives all the rates from all companies and factors in switch over discounts too.

foodaholic

babo9 wrote: »

If you know your usage stats just use
http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-gas-electricity-prices/electricity/

V.handy, Gives all the rates from all companies and factors in switch over discounts too.

How do u find out your usage stats ?
Are flogas any use ?

clint_silver

foodaholic wrote: »

How do u find out your usage stats ?
Are flogas any use ?

your usage stats will be on your bill, either paper or online. It should say something like
last month you used 1300kw @ x cents = Y

Our house is a standard 2 adults, 3 small kids and we used 1300kw in our last bill which I think was november and december so you got xmas in there as well where we might have used a lot more then normal.

Obviously (jay phelan) is going by word of mouth and the fact it is known that Airtricty are appalling to deal with.

Is it really worth all the hassle of changing suppliers, to save just a few cents?

well, I didnt know that fact, when I switched to airtricity a couple of years ago, it took me roughly 10 minutes to do the forms, never had to call them about anything, no bill discrepancies, 1 or 2 outages but that was entire town. Its not like a phone company where theres coverage or billing problems.

If theres an anecdotal story to say airtricity "cost more" then ESB, Id like to see them back it up with stats. they can only charge you the figures I gave you above which the bulk of is based on your usage.

the savings to me are about a 5er every 2 months after vat. I'll take that for the ten minutes it took to fill out the forms last night.

Nice post from babo9, I'll chase up bord gais tonight.

livEwirE

So who is cheaper right now between Bord Gais and ESB, I switched to Bord Gais a couple of years ago but am thinking of switching back?

goalscoringhero

foodaholic wrote: »

How do u find out your usage stats ?
Are flogas any use ?

On day A, open the door to your meter and take down the number.
On day B, open the door to your meter and take down the number.
Subtract number A from number B.

cfeeneyinterior

Just got a whopper of a bill so I'm off shopping around again. Is this the Value saver option on their website or do you have to call them? Shows a 11% discount there...?

neiphin

cfeeneyinterior wrote: »

Just got a whopper of a bill so I'm off shopping around again. Is this the Value saver option on their website or do you have to call them? Shows a 11% discount there...?

off who ?

Berberis

I'm a tad confused here. The thread title mentions Electric Ireland verrsus Airtricity but then goes on to mention it was offered by ESB.
Are Electric Ireland and ESB the same/one company

Berberis

Tried that bonkers compare site.
I use close to 6000 Kwh per year on a rural price and just finished the board gas 1 year discount for switching over last year.
Bonkers says my best saving is with Airtricity 2 yr contract l save €153 a year while the Electric Ireland I save only €89

clint_silver

Berberis wrote: »

I'm a tad confused here. The thread title mentions Electric Ireland verrsus Airtricity but then goes on to mention it was offered by ESB.
Are Electric Ireland and ESB the same/one company

Yes. Esb is electric Ireland. I got off the phone to bord gais this evening. They were cheaper again. So for the 1.3kw usage for the last 2 month bill they came in at 198e with all discounts applied. Esb(electric Ireland) are 204 and airtricity are 208.
Prices are ex vat. Discount applies for a year with bg.

Rashers72

Switched to Airtricity about 4 months ago. Did all the research beforehand and really thought they were the cheapest. The total of their last 2 bills (just under 4 months) is 50% of my previous annual bills. I am putting it down to extremely high usage over winter, but I thought we were careful. And we have gas for cooking and heating.
Will wait till I have done a full 6 months before I can say for definite which is best. Tied into an 24 month contract with Airtricity....:(
That comparison site was interesting......

Jesus Wept

Sick of trying to work out which is cheaper, it's like the hassle of trying to get the best deal when ordering a pizza. Tools.

banchang

Rashers72 wrote: »

Switched to Airtricity about 4 months ago. Did all the research beforehand and really thought they were the cheapest. The total of their last 2 bills (just under 4 months) is 50% of my previous annual bills. I am putting it down to extremely high usage over winter, but I thought we were careful. And we have gas for cooking and heating.
Will wait till I have done a full 6 months before I can say for definite which is best. Tied into an 24 month contract with Airtricity....:(
That comparison site was interesting......

Were these based on actual or estimated readings ?

Walker34

Hi,
I just switched to Airtricity from Board Gas Energy and I done it the worst way possible......I let a sales rep into the house one night when he called to the door, and when he left I was signed up for a one year contract.

I was sent out the free monitor which is a great piece of kit in my opinion.....I used to try to do similar calculations using my digital clamp meter which was a waste of time really, it gave only vague inductions of what the usage/cost was.I subsequently discovered I could have bought one on eBay for €60 without the contract.

A riend told me he was with Airtricity and when his one year 16% carrot was due to expire he rang Board Gas who offered him the same deal to go back to them. When he rang Airtricity and told them he was leaving them for board Gas they said they would extend the deal for another year.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

Esel

Walker34 wrote: »

Hi,
I just switched to Airtricity from Board Gas Energy and I done it the worst way possible......I let a sales rep into the house one night when he called to the door, and when he left I was signed up for a one year contract.

I was sent out the free monitor which is a great piece of kit in my opinion.....I used to try to do similar calculations using my digital clamp meter which was a waste of time really, it gave only vague inductions of what the usage/cost was.I subsequently discovered I could have bought one on eBay for €60 without the contract.

A riend told me he was with Airtricity and when his one year 16% carrot was due to expire he rang Board Gas who offered him the same deal to go back to them. When he rang Airtricity and told them he was leaving them for board Gas they said they would extend the deal for another year.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

Pretty sure you can cancel within seven days (or more?) when you signed up as a result of a cold call.

uck51js9zml2yt

FG Will extend the discount after the first year if you phone them

Ogham

According to this http://www.moneyguideireland.com/electricity-prices
Bord Gais are looking the cheapest if you don't want to be tied to Airtricity for 2 years.

Mollyd90

Ogham wrote: »

According to this http://www.moneyguideireland.com/electricity-prices
Bord Gais are looking the cheapest if you don't want to be tied to Airtricity for 2 years.

thats who I signed up to about 1 week ago. they were the best option for me. domestic rural, no night meter, direct debit and paperless. was with airtricity for the last year. bord gais units are approx 2c cheaper per unit than airtricity. in the long run its probably only a few pence over the year but its my hard earned few pence!

dolallyoh

great thread, after 2 separate airtricity door stops this week I was wondering why they are so desperate, will switch to bordgas now.

Ogham

You can't believe what these door to door sales people tell you.
They are all quoting "percentages off " - but it is off their standard rates - which may well be a good bit higher than the others to start with. Don't sign up because of door step promises - check the figures .
They are on commission - so will obviously be trying hard to get a sale.

Walker34

Hi,
Even if there was no saving to be made by switching to Airtricity,they gave me a free monitor which finally allows me see what juice I am using and how much it costs.....instantly. For years I would give the meter reader the poker face when he called for the simple reason that I could only take their word on my usage. I even tried to go around the house one day with a clamp-meter taking current readings on various appliances to calculate watts and figure out where the big users were(not a practical solution).

The Airtricity monitor, (which I discovered was available on eBay for €60 anyway) and has a clamp which goes on the incoming cable just at the meter, is a great device. It gives me loads of details which I can use to better manage costs. It makes the monitoring of costs far simpler. The next big innovation is bonkers.ie which is another mine of valuable information.

vibe666

as an ex-airtricity customer, i can honestly say that no matter what discounts they offered on paper, i would never give them my money again.

we were already thinking of switching to them when we got a knock at the door from the local sales rep, so it was an easy sell for him right from the start.

he seemed like a very nice friendly guy and filled out all the forms for us and answered every question we had with the confidence of a man who knew what he was talking about, but we found out over the months afterwards that he had lied through his teeth just to get us signed up and the result was months of phonecalls, emails and letters trying to deal with their customer services department to sort it out, only to have it start all over again when the next bill came in.

thankfully we moved house and told them to feck off and that was the end of that, but i will never give the incompetent robbing bunch of cowboys another cent and i would strongly recommend against anyone else who might be considering going with them, and that's speaking as someone who has been stung by NTL, Chorus & UPC (who are all effectively the same company) and I'm STILL a UPC customer for broadband and phone, so saying I'd never touch airtricity again no matter what is a pretty strong statement.

clint_silver

Conversely, I only had to deal with them once in a couple of years with them and found them great.

I think theres always horror customer service stories for every company. theyre usually in the minority. Ive had similar cust. service problems with vodafone over the years. couldnt wait to get rid of them when eircom finally lowered their prices last year that was coverage related though. vodafone kept sending out the wrong bill, in their favour, I threatened to call the guards on them in the end unless they didnt take me off direct debit.

On the electricity side, not sure what can go wrong, they charge you X per unit, you use the units, the bill comes in, not sure what else can wrong. if youre not happy with the bill, look at the units used. Sounds like the above case was something other then that though.

vibe666

clint_silver wrote: »

I think theres always horror customer service stories for every company. theyre usually in the minority.

unfortunately it seems to be the opposite way around with airtricity, happy customers seem to be in the minority.

there are many threads on the forums that can attest to that fact. on the flip side of that though, they do seem to be a good company to work for from what i've heard, but i imagine that would be if you were working outside of their customer services teams, as they must get dogs abuse on a daily basis.

Nollog

daheff wrote: »

i thought the standing charge was a standard rate applied across all providers?

I asked an Airtricity rep. about that a few months back, and he shot back with:
"ESB and Bord Gais are subsidised by the government, we're not."

I've been with all three, and Airtricity were my least favourite, least clear, and most expensive.
Bord Gais were pretty good, but Electric Ireland are cheaper right now I think.

northdubgal

clint_silver wrote: »

so did I until last night. I confirmed with both companies this morning.
prices are EX-vat and are from straight urban price plans

esb daily rate= 28.93cents
https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/price-plans/low-user-standing-charge.jsp#ex-q3


airtricity daily rate= 32.01
http://www.airtricity.com/ie/home/products/current-offers-2/airtricity-standard-electricity/

Airtricity will be upping their daily rate by 5 cent next month to 32.06. I was told this by an Electricty Ireland rep but rang Airtricity to confirm and the agreed. Just to let yall know..

groom

northdubgal wrote: »

Airtricity will be upping their daily rate by 5 cent next month to 32.06. I was told this by an Electricty Ireland rep but rang Airtricity to confirm and the agreed. Just to let yall know..

0.05c or €0.0005, non?

groom

vibe666 wrote: »

unfortunately it seems to be the opposite way around with airtricity, happy customers seem to be in the minority.

Never had a problem with them myself. You're not going to hear much from happy customers are you. Not when it comes to electricity supplies anyway

northdubgal

groom wrote: »

northdubgal wrote: »

Airtricity will be upping their daily rate by 5 cent next month to 32.06. I was told this by an Electricty Ireland rep but rang Airtricity to confirm and the agreed. Just to let yall know..

0.05c or €0.0005, non?

5 cent 0.05

Walker34

Hi,
just checked my usage for 2011....
Gas......30278Kwh.....€1600.....€0.05/kWh

Bord gas Elec......11659kWh.....€2089.....€0.18/kWh

cant wait to see what its like next year.
Some interesting details usage......

37" TV.....120w
PC.....100w
DVD.....50w
Fridge...60w
kettle...2000w
washing mc.....from 120w to 2000w
dishwasher.......from 100w to 2000w
microwave........60w
oven................2000w
grill..................2000w
C.H. Boiler......... 100w
Gas tumble dryer...80w
Shower................60w

The electric kettle is a big user in our house......boiled 40 times a day,at least, usually full.

dolallyoh

60 for a microwave and 2000 for a kettle, put the kettle into the microwave to boil it so :-)

Kristopherus

And melt the bloomin kettle:D:D:D. Better to put the water in a glass jug/ container:)

vibe666

groom wrote: »

Never had a problem with them myself. You're not going to hear much from happy customers are you. Not when it comes to electricity supplies anyway

i imagine that it goes for pretty much anything else as well, but the sheer numbers of bad reports from one particular supplier would be a good indication of something in their business model being distinctly broken.

(before i signed up with them) i came on here looking for advice on airtricity and chose to ignore the overwhelmingly poor opinions of them, justifying it with a similar argument of it being a few people with bad experiences being the most vocal, but now i wish i'd heeded the many warnings against using them because of the grief and countless lost hours they caused me trying to fix their fcukups before i finally got shot of them.

of course everyone is free to make their own decisions (and mistakes) but don't say you weren't warned to steer clear of them after they've done you over.

dolallyoh

Kristopherus wrote: »

And melt the bloomin kettle:D:D:D. Better to put the water in a glass jug/ container:)

That's the j... oh never mind

Mollyd90

Walker34 wrote: »

Hi,
just checked my usage for 2011....
Gas......30278Kwh.....€1600.....€0.05/kWh

Bord gas Elec......11659kWh.....€2089.....€0.18/kWh

cant wait to see what its like next year.
Some interesting details usage......

37" TV.....120w
PC.....100w
DVD.....50w
Fridge...60w
kettle...2000w
washing mc.....from 120w to 2000w
dishwasher.......from 100w to 2000w
microwave........60w
oven................2000w
grill..................2000w
C.H. Boiler......... 100w
Gas tumble dryer...80w
Shower................60w

The electric kettle is a big user in our house......boiled 40 times a day,at least, usually full.

oh thats interesting. what make is the monitor, might get one.

campo

Mollyd90 wrote: »

oh thats interesting. what make is the monitor, might get one.

you eitheir love your tea/coffee or else there is a new baby in the as I know from my own epeience that when the new baby came the electricty bill went up by about 50e

clint_silver

northdubgal wrote: »

5 cent 0.05

Sure about this?

Airtricity is currently 32.01 cents per day or 0.3201 euro. If theyre putting it up by 5 cents it will be going to 37.01 cents per day not 32.06.

Jesus Shaves

Coupon King wrote: »

Is it really worth all the hassle of changing suppliers, to save just a few cents?

of course it is, COUPON KING:p

nephster

clint_silver wrote: »

Sure about this?

Airtricity is currently 32.01 cents per day or 0.3201 euro. If theyre putting it up by 5 cents it will be going to 37.01 cents per day not 32.06.

As of 01/04/12, 41.93c including VAT, 36.94c ex. So that's €153.04 per annum.
With BG it's (currently!) 116.92, Electric Ireland 119.85 as far as I can see.

Jesus Shaves

Any comparison websites to show who is really cheapest?

clint_silver

darokane wrote: »

Any comparison websites to show who is really cheapest?

Depending on your usage, 1 may be slightly lower or higher because of the way the discounts work when you sign up.


Bord Gais I think now have ever so slightly less then the ESB (I cant bring myself to call them electic ireland or whatever it is now). Airtricity will be more then them all when the unit increase comes in.

You could try the bonkers site, but I got different figures when I worked it out myself so Youre better off getting your units used for the last 6 months, ring the main providors, and plug your units into the cost and work it out yourself. Takes 4-5 minutes.

http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-gas-electricity-prices/electricity/

Maths is (Units used * Price per unit) + (daily charge * days in the month). The discount they all offer is on the Price per unit. Cost is ex vat so with vat applied, the savings become greater. (small I know)

FYI:
I was speaking to my parents 2 days ago, theyre with bord gais for Electricity, theyre out of discount period so can ring any other providor and get a cheaper quote then BG. I rang BG for them and said if they apply their current discount for new customers we'll stay with them, BG flatly refused and said we can go another providor if we wish but they wont give the discount to existing customers. Nice.

richardw001

Guys - a question

We're on one of those Airtriticy Budget Plans

If we change to Bord Gais or the ESB say before next month do we get hit with a big last bill (seeing as the amount paid is averaged out on the plan we're on) - or what happens ?

clint_silver

richardw001 wrote: »

Guys - a question

We're on one of those Airtriticy Budget Plans

If we change to Bord Gais or the ESB say before next month do we get hit with a big last bill (seeing as the amount paid is averaged out on the plan we're on) - or what happens ?

The companies apply a flat fee charge if you break out of the discount period, , not sure of airt. but esb charge 50e. Ring airtricity and get confirmation. If youre near the end of the discount period they may waive it if you ring up and be nice.