Stupendous ESB and gas bills

luckat

My ESB and gas bills have suddenly topped the €300 mark and are heading towards €400. What on earth is happening? I don't use much of either - less, if anything, than I used to.

Oryx

Youll need to compare old and new bills like for like. Check the units used and the price charged. Also see if any of them are estimated bills. If the older ones were, you may have been undercharged for a bit, if the new ones are, they may be overestimating your usage.

No easy answer but a bit of homework!

luckat

I rang and was told my usage hadn't risen - so it's just the prices!

Vic Vinegar

luckat wrote: »

I rang and was told my usage hadn't risen - so it's just the prices!

How big is your house? are there lots of appliances that are constantly being used? is there many in your house?

I ask cos our esb bills are regularly €300 and that's only 3 of us! it's a bloody rip off! :mad: It'll never change though as long as the fecks have no competition....

wyndham

mountain lips wrote: »

How big is your house? are there lots of appliances that are constantly being used? is there many in your house?

I ask cos our esb bills are regularly €300 and that's only 3 of us! it's a bloody rip off! :mad: It'll never change though as long as the fecks have no competition....

Solar panels?

Vic Vinegar

wyndham wrote: »

Solar panels?

Are they actually any good for anything more than an electric whisk though?

craichoe

Hey Hey ..

Come on now, the ESB is one of the cheapest suppliers in Europe !

Ive moved to Holland and its twice the price here with any energy company.

Enjoy the low prices!!

Vic Vinegar

craichoe wrote: »

Hey Hey ..

Come on now, the ESB is one of the cheapest suppliers in Europe !

Ive moved to Holland and its twice the price here with any energy company.

Enjoy the low prices!!

Right well i'm from England where it's probably a third the price, you have legal pot there so it balances out!

craichoe

mountain lips wrote: »

Right well i'm from England where it's probably a third the price, you have legal pot there so it balances out!

Pot isn't legal .. its just not legal or illegal

Were i live actually has the largest amount of coffee shops per head of population

Crazy thing is with the smoking ban in june, you can smoke weed inside but if you want to have a cigarette you'll have to go outside !!

Vic Vinegar

craichoe wrote: »

you can smoke weed inside but if you want to have a cigarette you'll have to go outside !!

Gees, that is a bit mental! I don't smoke fags though so that's fine by me! (i use other things instead of tobacco!)

Lizzykins

My last gas bill was €334 and the one before that which I thought was bad was €291. We're not here all day -only from about 3.30 and I'm sparing enough with the gas. The bills weren't estimated either so I don't know what's happening. Some of my neighbours have had the same complaint. ESB is €150 plus no matter what I do.

Electric

luckat wrote: »

I rang and was told my usage hadn't risen - so it's just the prices!

Are you using anything energy intensive like a tumble dryer or storage heaters? Cos they wreck havoc with your ESB!

Shifty

Same problem here of late the gas & esb bills have been very large with no real usage change.

I think the time has come for monthly billing as opposed to Bi - monthly billing. The bills are so big now that if you dont pay one bill you owe hundreds of euro by the next bill.

Bi- monthly billing doesn't benefit me in any way. I just end up with esb & gas bills arriving within a short timeframe of each other and owe in the region of €600 on both clear bills.

Monthly billing would help ease the burden. I would owe an average of €300 per month.

EKRIUQ

My second last ESB bill was €183 €70 more thasn normal??? then this months same usage to my knowledge and no new appliance and its down half to €93 ???

Davy

BingoBongo wrote: »

My second last ESB bill was €183 €70 more thasn normal??? then this months same usage to my knowledge and no new appliance and its down half to €93 ???

estimated? 'e' after the reading?

Shifty,,, Monthly billing would help ease the burden. I would owe an average of €300 per month.

Ask to change to monthly bills. Submit the reading online or phone 2 days before bill issue date to get a corrected reading very month

luckat

It's true, I do use a tumble dryer when it's rainy, though not in good weather. And I have an electric washing machine, fridge and chest freezer.

I have an immersion of a factory type that was in the house when I bought it - this has thick polystyrene lagging on it; I turn it on for a couple of hours each morning. (I'm thinking of getting a better shower put in - the current one gives lots of exercise as you leap in and out shrieking and trying to adjust the heat.)

I don't have a TV; I have a new oven that's a lot more efficient than the old one and takes a shorter time to cook, but most of the time I cook on gas. The computer's a laptop.

Most of the lights have green bulbs, though I do have an uplighter and a couple of halogen lamps.

It just seems kind of stratospheric for the amount of use I have.

Incidentally, I was talking to a friend who got *vacuum tube* solar panels last year, and said that the ESB bills had gone down by a third, as well as the house heating bills, since the solar panels also add heat to the radiator water.

snubbleste

luckat wrote: »

I have an immersion of a factory type that was in the house when I bought it - this has thick polystyrene lagging on it; I turn it on for a couple of hours each morning. (I'm thinking of getting a better shower put in - the current one gives lots of exercise as you leap in and out shrieking and trying to adjust the heat

A couple of hours each morning?! That's probably half the bill there.

The tumble dryer just eats euro.
What type of heating do you use to heat the house?

luckat

No, no, it's the (heavily lagged) immersion that's on every morning, not the tumble dryer!

Gas central heating - I have to get a guy to come along and service the radiators, which are surely sludgy at this stage.

jor el

snubbleste wrote: »

The tumble dryer just eats euro.

I hear that a lot, but I don't believe it, unless you're running it two or three times a day. We have the dryer going about 3-4 times a week, 3 adults in the house. ESB averages €120-150 every two months.

luckat wrote: »

No, no, it's the (heavily lagged) immersion that's on every morning, not the tumble dryer!

I think that's what he was referring to. 2 hours is madness though. 15-20 minutes should be enough to heat water for a shower, switch it to sink and not bath too.

To save on ESB, switch all your bulbs to CFL, switch off TVs at night (or during the day if there's no one around), don't leave them on standby. If you have a computer, switch off the monitor when it's not in use. I always notice that most people just let it go into standby when the computer is off, but they don't actually turn off the monitor. Don't have lights on all around the house.

Seems simple enough, but since I've been doing this my ESB bills have kept reasonable. Have the gas on for about 5-6 hours in a day during winter months, less in summer, just to keep water hot.

wyndham

www.powerofone.ie is an interesting site:

top tips
Using energy more efficiently in your daily life comes easily once you get started. This site lists many ways to save energy around the house, at work and on the road. Here, we list the overall top ten:

-Unplug your phone charger - equipment on stand-by uses up to 20% of the energy it would use when fully on.
-Walk or cycle instead of driving for short journeys - it costs nothing and is good for you.
-Turn your heating down to a comfortable 20ºC - lowering your thermostat by 1ºC will knock 10% off your heating bill.
-Buy 'A' rated kitchen appliances - they cost less to run and over time will give you considerable savings on your electricity bill.
-Use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) instead of traditional bulbs - they use 20% of the energy and last up to 15 times as long.
-Wait for the dishwasher to be full before you switch it on - a half full one uses the same energy as a full one.
-Switch off lights when you leave a room - energy is wasted lighting unoccupied rooms.
-Don't overfill your kettle - only boil as much water as you need.
-Check your tyre pressure - a car with correctly inflated tyres is more fuel efficient.
-Avoid unnecessary electricity use between 5pm and 7pm - help reduce national CO2 emissions.

luckat

*I don't have a TV*. So telling me not to leave it on standby is pointless!

I don't have a dishwasher.

I do take baths rather than showers. I like baths.

Cycling doesn't help my ESB bills, though I do cycle.

All my bulbs except for two are the green kind.

From what is said here, the immersion and my very limited use of the tumble dryer are supposedly to blame for the huge ESB bill. I was told by several plumbers that the immersion was so lagged and such a fancy (factory) type that I could leave it on all day without building up a large bill.

It is, as the nuns used to say, a mystery.

Davy

luckat wrote: »

I was told by several plumbers that the immersion was so lagged and such a fancy (factory) type that I could leave it on all day without building up a large bill.

It is, as the nuns used to say, a mystery.

would love to see this proved

Nightwish

I just got my gas bill which has jumped quite a bit. Its €320 when it used to be €230 max. I dont understand how the usage has gone up. Its not as cold now as it was in Dec and Jan so the heating isnt on half as much.

Davy

You should actually compare the bills and look at the amount of units used and not the price. This is the proper way to tell if you are using more or less not by the price

dudara

luckat wrote: »

From what is said here, the immersion and my very limited use of the tumble dryer are supposedly to blame for the huge ESB bill. I was told by several plumbers that the immersion was so lagged and such a fancy (factory) type that I could leave it on all day without building up a large bill.

Personally I wouldn't believe that.

A well-insulated immersion tank will retain heat once heated. However you have to heat it in the first place. If your tank is set to "bath" rather than sink, then you are heating the whole tank, which is quite frankly just daft, especially if it is every day.

Turn it to "sink", and turn on immersion for about 20-30 mins to have more than enough hot water for a shower. (You might like baths, but they are less ecological and appear to be costing you money).

BostonB

I've heard from a few people around that their bills have jumped suddenly. Ours did too. Not entirely sure why either.

rameire

www.change.ie
my lecci and gas bills have jumped too, its due to the restructuring of the charges i thought.
there is a calc on the above site which tells you how much appliances cost you to run and you can add all your appliances together, to see your bi monthly cost,
one i wasnt expecting was american fridges cost about 18 euro ever two months compared to a normal fridge freezer which costs acbout 12 euro

hairymolly

davton ESB do not supply monthly bills to residental users only to business users!!!! Dont know why.

311

dudara wrote: »

Turn it to "sink", and turn on immersion for about 20-30 mins to have more than enough hot water for a shower. (You might like baths, but they are less ecological and appear to be costing you money).

Also putting a timer in really helps things.

The pre-insulated cylinders still have a certain amount of heatloss ,leaving the immersion on all the time ,will feed the loss.

eth0_

luckat wrote: »

I was told by several plumbers that the immersion was so lagged and such a fancy (factory) type that I could leave it on all day without building up a large bill.

WHAT? Are you sure they were qualified plumbers? It costs a lot to heat water using the immersion and there is just no need to have it on for hours every day. You only need it to be on for maybe 20-30 minutes a day to have enough hot water for 2-3 people to have showers.

From personal experience, having the immersion on for extended periods every day, and using the tumble dryer (especially during the day time) are what run up your ESB bill.

BostonB

Theres always the story that a very insulated cylinder wono't lose heat for a very long time, so it won't need to be heated up as much heating it from cold. I don't believe it myself. All day is a long time for it to cool.

311

BostonB wrote: »

Theres always the story that a very insulated cylinder wono't lose heat for a very long time, so it won't need to be heated up as much heating it from cold. I don't believe it myself. All day is a long time for it to cool.

Bostonb ,they are very economical compared to standard cylinders.
But there is definetly heat loss ,a saying comes to mind.
"Use it ,don't abuse it":)

pickarooney

Anyone know how much it costs to run a PC non-stop for 24 hours, with the monitor on for about 14 of those?

Vic Vinegar

pickarooney wrote: »

Anyone know how much it costs to run a PC non-stop for 24 hours, with the monitor on for about 14 of those?

According to the esb calculator, that'll cost about €30 per 2 month period (that's constantly on with a 15 inch flat panel monitor! CRT monitor is a little more)

Here's a handy link to work out that kinda stuff

http://www.esb.ie/main/energy_home/appliance_calculator.jsp

Davy

hairymolly wrote: »

ESB do not supply monthly bills to residental users only to business users!!!! Dont know why.

Even if you explain that it is causing you problems paying Bi-monthly? I taught they were quite understanding for these type of matters?

june92

Esb have never and will never provide monthly bills, Meter reading practice in Europe states that meters are to be read 4 times a year and estimated twice.

As for the monthly bills for businesses, these are called partial bills and are estimated. What happens is the same as a domestic bill (meter read 4 times est twice) but for the month in between reaidngs esb estimate what it is, So if you have an average bill of 5000 eur in a business, then esb will post out a bill for the month for 2000- 2500 eur.

If anyone has high bills then its mainly for people leaving appliances on standby, If you tv is on standby it uses 20% elec and if its off but the plug is still on (you know red switch on wall) then thats also using 20%.

Outside underfloor heating the immersion is the most expensve item in the house it uses 3 units for half hour, after that it's electric shower then plug in heaters. Anything that has to conduct heat is expensive.

Storage heaters aren't as bad as everyone says, your actually charged half price if you use you heaters between 12am and 9 am (If you have a dual tarriff meter installed, any elec used between 12 and 9 is charged at 7c per unit, it is also free to install)

parsi

Please provide links to your assertions...

ixtlan

june92 wrote: »

If anyone has high bills then its mainly for people leaving appliances on standby, If you tv is on standby it uses 20% elec and if its off but the plug is still on (you know red switch on wall) then thats also using 20%.

Firstly, a red LED on a wall socket does not mean any power of any significance is being used. It's only an indicator of power being available. Yes, it's not zero but it's close.

It's true that in some cases standby usage can be high, but I'd guess the average is a lot lower than 20%. In the case of modern devices it can be about 1% or less.

I have a power wattage meter and have tested most of my devices.

My 32" CRT used 70 watts... my 40" LCD uses about 90 watts. When on standby it uses 1 watt. For the sake of that watt I'm not going to plug it out each night.

My PC uses about 90 watts on, about 10 watts on standby, not so good, but I have to balance that usage against convenience.

I have a DVD recorder that uses 30 watts on and 9 watts on standby. That's unacceptable. I leave that plugged out.

Phone chargers are typically 1 watt. It's true that if left plugged in then only a tiny fraction of the power consumed charges the phone, but it's not a lot.

By all means switch things off, but I worry sometimes that people get too satisfied with these minor savings when the real big gains are from better insulation... in the attic... the cavity walls...double glazing... then after those ... solar heating panels...

Ix.

craichoe

ixtlan wrote: »

Firstly, a red LED on a wall socket does not mean any power of any significance is being used. It's only an indicator of power being available. Yes, it's not zero but it's close.

It's true that in some cases standby usage can be high, but I'd guess the average is a lot lower than 20%. In the case of modern devices it can be about 1% or less.

I have a power wattage meter and have tested most of my devices.

My 32" CRT used 70 watts... my 40" LCD uses about 90 watts. When on standby it uses 1 watt. For the sake of that watt I'm not going to plug it out each night.

My PC uses about 90 watts on, about 10 watts on standby, not so good, but I have to balance that usage against convenience.

I have a DVD recorder that uses 30 watts on and 9 watts on standby. That's unacceptable. I leave that plugged out.

Phone chargers are typically 1 watt. It's true that if left plugged in then only a tiny fraction of the power consumed charges the phone, but it's not a lot.

By all means switch things off, but I worry sometimes that people get too satisfied with these minor savings when the real big gains are from better insulation... in the attic... the cavity walls...double glazing... then after those ... solar heating panels...

Ix.

+1