Another massive Electricity Bill

Kraft.l

Another massive electricity bill €429 euro.

Heaters and cookers haven't been used in over 2 months, totally at a loss as to what's using up so much electricity?

L1011

Are you submitting readings / have a smart meter; or were one or both bills estimated?

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434800#Comment_119434800

This, mine was huge, took a look, it was an estimate, meter was 1/4 of what the estimate was.

€429 is scary.......... @ 60 days that's circa €7 a day.

Easy to see how all these companies are posting " eye watering" profits

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434800#Comment_119434800

It says it was read on the bill I have until the 17th to pay, so I'm going to do another meter reading before then, we already had an ESB engineer out, took readings rang up ESB said the meter was fine and it must be wires before the meter or something.

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434845#Comment_119434845

Do you have a well water pump by any chance that could be malfunctioning?

Jim_Hodge

Was the previous an estimated reading.

Take a meter reading yourself tonight and again at the same time tomorrow and see what the daily usage is.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434803#Comment_119434803

When i sent them a reading it was way below the estimate, so they applied a low usage charge, so ended up paying an extra 2.50 when i thought i was due a refund.

Furze99

Open the meter box and look at the little wheel spinning around, assuming that sort. Then have a look around, switch off// unplug anything that might have heavy use. See if it slows down etc. Or just switch everything off if you can and see what it's doing.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434858#Comment_119434858

I shall do that right now thank you for that advice.

MAULBROOK

I installed Solar panels in 2019, the €200 we got from the government I still have €42 credit after 2 bills. My highest bill was this year in the winter as €160 for 2 months.

But before you do anything, when was the last time you changed provider and have you tracked your high usage.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434855#Comment_119434855

I dont think so, where would one of these be situated?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435030#Comment_119435030

In your well. If you have one, you'd almost definitely know.

Jim_Hodge

And how have you been heating water recently?

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434838#Comment_119434838

Even with the profiteering going on it's insane.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435040#Comment_119435040

Dont have one then.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435009#Comment_119435009

With provider since last September.

lapua20grain

I thought mine was bad at €230 with a BEV & WFH, that's crazy money something must be drawing a lot of power.

yankinlk

can u post a pic of the bill? like what rate is that? 24 hour or smart or day/night meter?

30Kw a day aint hard to hit if you have electric showers, electric oven, washer/dryer/dishwasher... maybe a house with 4 or 5 in it...

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435071#Comment_119435071

Forget that red herring about who your provider is and just, for now, look at the units you are using to reach that cost.

Gant21

We had a customer with a €2,100 bill. Now that’s a big bill. You are a little above average on kw consumption.

Gorteen

I had a PV solar panel system installed towards end of April.

My bill in 2021 for 2 months of June & July was €268. My bill for the same period in 2022 (since panels were installed) was €68. The saving of €200 in a 2 month period has exceeded my expectations of the system. The kWh data usage over both years for the same period is represented on my most recent bill which arrived this week.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434858#Comment_119434858

So yeah here's the following ESB reading that was taken tonight at 9.37pm on Friday August 5th:

Day : 467286

Night: 626215

Dont know what the circle is for.

On electric switchboard in apartment, storage heater switch switched off, cooker switch on switchboard switched off, contractor switch on switchboard mains switched off inner switch switched off, living room heater switch on switcboard switched off, bathroom Heater switch kn switchboard switched off, heating hall switch switched off.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435106#Comment_119435106

This

How many kWh are used and what type of meter are the key

After that start looking around at what is consuming electricity

For the sake of comparison, I've 2 EVs, a heat pump and electric cooking and I'm paying €182 per month, so €364 per billing cycle

I would average around 1,000kWh per month roughly 40% on night rate

OP mentioned electric heaters and coolers not being used, so unless the immersion has been on the whole time it seems like either very high usage or they're being fleeced on price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119434862#Comment_119434862

Couldn't make it up could ya lol

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435047#Comment_119435047

No just a 5 to 10 min shower once a week and 3 other cold showers connected to cold taps, boiling kettle for one cup of coffee daily, my friend has a 20 min shower once a week and a few cups of tea a day.

Ubbquittious

Turn everything off, take meter reading, feck off to ballybunion for the day and come back the following day to see how much has been used.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435157#Comment_119435157

The circular thing is the controller for the night storage heater I think. It's a bit like one of those mechanical timer plugs, it'll spin throughout the day and will switch between the day and night meters

I think you should look through your previous bills and to find the recent 2 actual readings. They might have an A beside the reading, estimated readings should have an E beside them

Use that to work out your daily average kWh usage

If you're in an apartment make sure you are registered to the correct meter and not a meter for another apartment.

My bill was over £400, I replaced the fridge and the next bill was nearly halved. Something is causing it, its just finding it.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435092#Comment_119435092

There you go, hope this helps, actually correction its €423.67

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435157#Comment_119435157

The digits in red are decimal points and can be ignored. Let's see what they look like tomorrow.

L1011

Are you running the storage heating during the day?

whelan2

You don't use very much night rate electricity it's half the cost of daytime. I'm a dairy farmer and my bills are around 550 per month atm. I use more night rate electricity than day time .

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435276#Comment_119435276

The storage heater has been switched off for months and the switch for the storage heater on the mains has been switched off for months, when we moved in we tried to turn on the storage heater but it tripped the mains and everything switched off so we just kept it off.

the_amazing_raisin

Okay, so you're using a lot of day rate electricity which is the most expensive. If possible can you shift things to the night rate, like laundry and dishwashing?

You'll also want to look at changing supplier next month, check out a website like bonkers.ie to compare prices. A quick look said SSE were like €300 cheaper per year than what you're paying

With the heating and cooking off (how are you eating btw???) then your usage seems kind of high

Are there any electric heaters or immersion heaters going?

It might be worth getting one of those plugin electricity monitors to plug into your appliances and check how much they're consuming per day. Possibly one of them is out of whack

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435310#Comment_119435310

Well, whatever is using the bulk of the power is in the daytime rather than 24h, or else night rate would be a lot more too. So it's unlikely to be something that's drawing a huge amount all day.

As well as the advice about checking if the meter is still running with everything off / looking at movement with big draws plugged out; you should obtain a socket meter. Most public libraries have them in an energy saving kit they can lend out, but they are quite cheap. Give it an hour on each socket during a normal day to look for anything untoward.

looksee

I knew someone in an apartment who started getting huge bills. Eventually after much dispute (they were students) they managed to establish that somehow the meters for themselves and another apartment had been wrongly wired so they were paying each other's bills. This was not too much of a problem till a new tenant in the other apartment decided to install a 'growing system' for his collection of 'house plants'. It did eventually get sorted. Not saying this is your problem, but it can happen.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435263#Comment_119435263

Daily units seem close enough to what they are showing tonight and they are higher than I'd expect. Are you sure there isn't an immersion heater running? Where does the water in the hot tap come from? Day units alone are higher than I'd have in total for a four bed house with immersion, electric cooker, tumble dryer etc. and two of us home all day.

tvjunki

The white and red clock tells you when you are moving from day rate to night rate. So from 11pm to 7 am you are at the lower rate per kw. .it looks like you can adjust your timer(bottom left where you see your time is nearly 2100 hours. You can put your heating on sooner but you will pay day rate. Move the button to the left from 2100 to 2200 on your picture.

You have night storage which can be expensive. If you own you can change to a lower energy heaters?. I left the old system there and added a few heaters. Now for 2bedhouse, at the moment the electric is 50 per week and that is not using the most effective way e.g washing and dryer on during the day and not from 11pm to 7am in the morning. . Could be cheaper if put on a timer to start.

If you have a fan on with the heat we have had if it is an oldish fan it may not be as efficient.

Have you changed fridges? The American type ones use quite a bit of energy. Check if you have bought anything recently that could have changed the usage.

Also if you are an apartment you may have a pump to force the water up to your apartment? You could have a drippy shower or sink and the pump is going on all the time to keep the water levels right. The motor could be on all the time. I have a drippy shower and once I got that fixed it saved 30 per month.

Take a reading today and then the same time for the next few days. Write down your main usage. If you were washing or ironing etc. See what the usage is from day to day.Switch off all lights and sockets when not in use. Make sure you have energy saving bulbs in the apartment.

just to let you know my usage is down based on last years figures by my electric cost me more than last year.

yankinlk

I'm afraid that at 20kw a day that is pretty normal... for house of 4 like me!

I agree above though... you really need to try and move a lot more units to after 11pm and before 9am for night rate. Anything that heats or moves waterwould be a good start.

A year ago, before I got panels and before I got dn meter I was oblivious to my usage patterns.

If you change habits you could get that down a good bit.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435165#Comment_119435165

We dont have immersion on at all.

Electric heaters not on in 2 months

Cooker not used in 2 months.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435256#Comment_119435256

Yeh tested that already I'm hooked up to the right meter.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435312#Comment_119435312

I only do 1 14 min wash cycle a week my flatmate does 1 60 min wash cycle once a week. Thanks for the tip any places in Dublin where I can buy one of these electricity monitors?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435384#Comment_119435384

Any hardware store, Screwfix, Argos, probably big Tesco stores even.

Do either of you have substantial / gaming computers?

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435312#Comment_119435312

The other guy eats out mostly otherwise I use a microwave to cook daily and boil some stuff on a gas stove so as not to use the electric cooker.

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435263#Comment_119435263

Your usage is very high. As an example, I live in a 3 bed semi, electric cooking but heating & water is via gas. 4/5 loads of laundry a week with a couple of those been tumble dried too tho.

That said, very tech intensive house with a very large outbuilding that's used quite often. My total usage for 2 months 27/4 thru to 24/6 was 624 units, versus yours for a 2 bed apartment at 1408!

There is most certainly something drawing power from your supply. The usual advice of unplug everything or even easier to switch of your power at main breaker and see if anything your meter still spins.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435336#Comment_119435336

Yeh it's just finding out what's using those units during the day, because were mostly not there, no heating used, microwave use once or twice in evening, kettle used for boiling cups of tea, my phone and tablet charged up, no TV, no laptop, no cooker, no heaters used, no immersion ,that's all I can think of

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435390#Comment_119435390

Hey thanks for that advice on where to buy, we have no computers, laptops or tvs, just a tablet and 2 phones.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435414#Comment_119435414

Yeh it's frustrating, yeh switched off the mains in out apartment, and the wheel did keep spinning albeit slowly after 30 mins later, must try that again after I get the readings tomorrow.

Kraft.l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119435318#Comment_119435318

One of these guys?