Paying for someone else's ESB?

Silverfish

I've recently moved back into a place I used to rent 2 years ago, it has brick sheds down the back of the garden. One day I was outside and noticed a cable going from our house to the sheds.

I casually asked the landlady what the story was with the sheds and she said that some business was using them as storage / workshop area.
I asked her about the cable, and she admitted that yes, they received their ESB supply from the house.... and that we pay for it ( there's 3 other girls in the house).

Thing is, we don't actually know what this company are using in the shed... we were initially told it was just storage, then we were told they only had lights and a saw plugged in, but tbh, we have no idea what they may be plugging in... heaters etc. Our ESB bills do seem a bit excessive.

Our landlady agreed to pay one ESB bill, and the gas bill, to make up for us having to pay their ESB all along, ( but not for the 4 years I lived there previously ) but there seems to be no plan to actually resolve the situation where we are paying for whatever electricity this company are using.

Anyone know where we stand on this?

Lemming

I wonder if there'd be some way of finding out if the company is paying her rental money for that space. If they are you might be able to leverage undeclared revenue (over four years it might be considerably enough to make the R.C. sit up and rub their hands) vs. her fixing the mess.

On a more realistic note, perhaps contacting the PRTB might be a first step to find out what your options are.

Borzoi

Lemming wrote: »

On a more realistic note, perhaps contacting the PRTB might be a first step to find out what your options are.

Not to mention the ESB. Commercial rates are higher than domestics rates -they'd be keen to know

dudara

Plus the ESB would be concerned about the safety issues involved with heavy power draws in a wooden shed.

sparkyjo

first of all did she tell you this before you moved in, of course the land lady should not be asking you to pay for this if she is renting this to someone or someone belonging to her is using it simple she should be metering this and off setting this off your esb bill and just wondering what do you mean by excessive esb bill(price) i am an electrician and may be able to tell you on average what you should be paying and just tell how big the place is and how many rooms

Bluetonic

dudara wrote: »

Plus the ESB would be concerned about the safety issues involved with heavy power draws in a wooden shed.

They aren't wooden sheds

Silverfish wrote: »

I've recently moved back into a place I used to rent 2 years ago, it has brick sheds down the back of the garden.

Silverfish

sparkyjo wrote: »

first of all did she tell you this before you moved in, of course the land lady should not be asking you to pay for this if she is renting this to someone or someone belonging to her is using it simple she should be metering this and off setting this off your esb bill and just wondering what do you mean by excessive esb bill(price) i am an electrician and may be able to tell you on average what you should be paying and just tell how big the place is and how many rooms

No, she didn't, like I said it was only when I saw the cable running from the house to the sheds and then noticed lights on all night etc in the sheds, that I brought it up with her.

My dad is also an electrician, he has said that our bill does seem a bit much, but he reckoned one of the girls must have heaters in their rooms etc.

The house has three double rooms ( not huge) and one single, sitting room and kitchen. No lights are ever left on in an unoccupied room, in fact what annoyed us was we have really been watching everything we could to try keep the bills down, never turning on the immersion etc, and then we find out we're paying for someone else to get free electricity
ESB bills are constant at the 180 euro mark, our heating is gas so heating doesn't affect it.

The_Conductor

How much is your bi-monthly electricity bill?
To be honest- a consistent gas bill of 180 is rather high, just wondering what sort of ballpark your electricity bill in. Our gas bill drops to nothing at all over the summer months for about 3 bills, and then back up well over 220 for the winter. Our electricity meanwhile is around the 140 mark (consistently)- we are careful with the immersion heater, all power saving light bulbs, gas heating etc.

Hmmmmm

Silverfish

Sorry, rephrased my post, the ESB is consistent at 180 euro, but we actually use very very little, there may be a lightbulb on in 2 or 3 rooms in the evenings, a pc and tv, only between the hours of 5 and 12.

sparkyjo

really you should tell your land lady you would like to see in to the sheds to see what they could be using on electricity if it is just a couple of lights you probably lookin at maybe 10 euro every 2 months but if there is stuff pluged in then it could be much higher ie heater and such

there is me and my girlfriend living in a 3 bed detacted house and our average esb bill is 60 euros and we have a 9 kw electric shower going for a about half an hour a day dish washer going every second day and the washing machine and dryer going most nights and a couple of times on the week end and all the usual stuff like tv's and computers and a treadmill going every night for 40 min oh and of course the kettle goes on a lot

we do not spare it

Victor

Whose name is the ESB bill in? Potentially this is theft.

Silverfish wrote: »

My dad is also an electrician, he has said that our bill does seem a bit much, but he reckoned one of the girls must have heaters in their rooms etc.

If you can determine where the cabale is inside the house, get your father to fit a private meter that works out how much energy the sheds are using. Keep records weekly for the duration of a two month ESB bill. Deduct that from what you are paying the landlord.

Silverfish

Victor wrote: »

Whose name is the ESB bill in? Potentially this is theft.If you can determine where the cabale is inside the house, get your father to fit a private meter that works out how much energy the sheds are using. Keep records weekly for the duration of a two month ESB bill. Deduct that from what you are paying the landlord.

The bill is actually in the landlady's name, as it was getting changed too frequently. She just gives us the bill divided by four. She wouldn't even respond to my suggestion that it be divided in 5, and they pay a 5th.
I'm really annoyed that she would tell a company 'It's okay, the girls will pay for your electricity' since they clearly would make more money than us!


The private meter idea is one I'm definitely going to run with.

Duiske

Victor wrote: »

If you can determine where the cabale is inside the house, get your father to fit a private meter that works out how much energy the sheds are using. Keep records weekly for the duration of a two month ESB bill. Deduct that from what you are paying the landlord.

Great idea. Second-hand meters are easy enough to come by. And don't just deduct the cost of the units used. Try to figure out what percentage of units they are using, and deduct that percentage from the entire bill, as they should be contributing to the standing charge as well.