Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Utility/Heating Bill

Options
  • 17-11-2014 8:42pm
    #1
    Tristram
    Registered Users Posts: 3,590 ✭✭✭


    Evening all,

    Moved into a new apartment a while back, all been fine for the most part. One thing that I'm struggling to understand is an extra EUR70/month I'm paying on top of rent to the property management company. I was initially told this was the gas charge. The company explained that tenants pay a flat charge of EUR70/month and that if this isn't used in the month it carries over as credit to the next month and so on and so on until the end of tenancy when the extra that has been paid is refunded to the tenant.

    Wanting some kind of paper trail to track this expenditure I requested an invoice for this charge. It arrived the other day and has me a little confused as to what I'm actually paying for. The central heating has not been on since moving in and the meter readings detailed in the invoice reflect this showing a total usage of 423KW over an 8 week period. Rate per KWh is shown as EUR0.04 for a total net cost of EUR17.77.

    Next, there is a standing charge. This shows as EUR0.85/day to a total cost of EUR51.00. Having not lived in apartments in Ireland before I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but it struck me as high. Am I wrong? I'm not sure if I'm being a bit dim here or not but a standing charge of EUR0.85/day would mean I'm paying EUR25.50/month just for the option of turning on the heating at some point. If this is the norm, all well and good. Thought I'd run it past the good old boardsies and see what comes up!

    Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read or respond! :)


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Patrickof
    Registered Users Posts: 669 ✭✭✭Patrickof


    I suspect you are on one of those developments (a few of them are down by the IFSC) that have a centralised shared boiler system.

    With this, rather than each apartment having a boiler, there's one large one and you pay by the litre for hot water (for heating, showering, washing etc).

    Although you appear to have usage measurements in kWh, which implies gas usage, not hot water usage.

    Have you a gas meter in your apartment? If so get the serial number form it and ring Bord Gais Networks for the GPRN. Nothing stopping you switching supply into your own name if that's the case.

    If you have a meter that has units in "L", (usually written as a lower case l, in script type font), then you've a shared hot water system, and there's nothing you can do but pay the charges (query them though by all means to make sure they're correct).


  • Options
    #3
    Tristram
    Registered Users Posts: 3,590 ✭✭✭Tristram


    Thanks for your reply Patrickof.

    I have a boiler here in the apartment that I control by timer. It comes on for 20 minutes every morning and provides hot water for the day. As for meters, none actually in the apartment, they are all somewhere down the basement together.


  • Options
    #4
    Patrickof
    Registered Users Posts: 669 ✭✭✭Patrickof


    If you have your own boiler, then you should have your own meter (possibly in the basement).

    You might need to get the maintenance guy to give you access though, as you would be entitled to check your usage.

    If you can, then get the serial number from the meter, if its a Bord Gais Networks meter, then it'll be either a 6 or 7 digit number or a big long one starting with E6S0....

    Once you have that then you should be able to get your own account with any supplier. Ring BGN on 1850 200694 with the serial number and they'll give you the GPRN.

    The only caveat for above, is that there may be one overall Bord Gais meter, and the individual apartments are on private sub-meters, so the Prop Mgt Co is issuing/managing the individual bills.

    You're a bit snookered if thats the case.


  • Options
    #5
    magicmushroom
    Registered Users Posts: 824 ✭✭✭magicmushroom


    You don't need the meter number to find your GPRN number, just the address.

    Do you know what type of gas it is OP - is it Natural Gas?


  • Options
    #6
    ted1
    Registered Users Posts: 23,535 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Patrickof wrote: »
    Although you appear to have usage measurements in kWh, which implies gas usage, not hot water usage.

    A kwh is a unit of energy, "hot water" isn't a quantifiable unit for billing. Energy is used to bring the water from temperature a to temperature b. This is what is quantified in kwh .


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,966 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Tristram wrote: »
    Next, there is a standing charge. This shows as EUR0.85/day to a total cost of EUR51.00. Having not lived in apartments in Ireland before I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but it struck me as high. Am I wrong? I'm not sure if I'm being a bit dim here or not but a standing charge of EUR0.85/day would mean I'm paying EUR25.50/month just for the option of turning on the heating at some point.

    Your understanding of the principal of standing charges is quite correct.

    That one does sound high, though. You can see the standard Bord Gáis rates here: http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/publications/tariffs/index.php


  • Options
    #8
    Patrickof
    Registered Users Posts: 669 ✭✭✭Patrickof


    ted1 wrote: »
    A kwh is a unit of energy, "hot water" isn't a quantifiable unit for billing. Energy is used to bring the water from temperature a to temperature b. This is what is quantified in kwh .

    In most properties you are indeed correct, but some properties have a CHP type system, and hot water is piped to the apartment, the only way to measure this is via Litres (which could then be reverse engineered into a kWh figure but it wouldn't be accurate)

    There are meters in apartments down around the IFSC that are used for billing in Litres, there is a large centralised storage of hot water fed from a constant boiler, and the individual apartments are invoiced for the usage in liters.

    Its not a great system, and was previously managed by a company called Bord Gais Heat, now sold off to someone else (who's name I can't quite remember, and nothing to do with the recent sale of BGE either).


  • Options
    #9
    ted1
    Registered Users Posts: 23,535 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Patrickof wrote: »
    In most properties you are indeed correct, but some properties have a CHP type system, and hot water is piped to the apartment, the only way to measure this is via Litres (which could then be reverse engineered into a kWh figure but it wouldn't be accurate)
    With CHP you can use Heat meters which are accurate and will give units in Kwh. They look at flow, heat in and heat out.
    I done a job in HSQ a number of years ago where they had a district heating systems and heat meters so that they could bill for the actual energy used.


  • Options
    #10
    Tristram
    Registered Users Posts: 3,590 ✭✭✭Tristram


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Your understanding of the principal of standing charges is quite correct.

    That one does sound high, though. You can see the standard Bord Gáis rates here: http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/publications/tariffs/index.php

    Thanks Mrs OBumble. I'll follow up on this with the management company. My fear is that the standing charge in the invoice may incorporate the gas standing charge + a general building utilities standing charge.

    Thanks to the other posters too. I'll follow up on your suggestions too.


Advertisement