Rip off Ireland, Itll be a cold winter

carlybabe1

Right, just have to vent, and also to find out
How many others out there have a royal pain in your arse getting ripped off by the energy suppliers?? I came home from work to find a gas bill with a standard tarriff of 273.56 :eek::eek::eek::eek: I mean WTF??? I haven't had my gas on since **** knows when, not even for the water (I use the Immersion) Anyd I pay money off it every week so I dont have a big bill facing me every 2 months ****in bastards...Anyone else stung like this??




(Hi mods, pls fell free to move if needs be, as Im not sure if this is the best forum for this or if it should go somewhere else and I havent a clue how to move it)

AnonoBoy

carlybabe1 wrote: »

I came home from work to find a gas bill with a standard tarriff of 273.56 :eek::eek::eek::eek: I mean WTF???

That does not sound right at all. You haven't used your gas at all and they're charging you nearly 300 euro as a standard tarriff?

Are you sure you're reading your bill correctly?

brianthebard

Everything in the apartment is electric (duh I guess) and with the near 20% increase I'm dreading the bill. We don't yet know how to work the heating either so I reckon we are probably running it at all hours.

ejmaztec

carlybabe1 wrote: »

Right, just have to vent, and also to find out
How many others out there have a royal pain in your arse getting ripped off by the energy suppliers?? I came home from work to find a gas bill with a standard tarriff of 273.56 :eek::eek::eek::eek: I mean WTF??? I haven't had my gas on since **** knows when, not even for the water (I use the Immersion) Anyd I pay money off it every week so I dont have a big bill facing me every 2 months ****in bastards...Anyone else stung like this??




(Hi mods, pls fell free to move if needs be, as Im not sure if this is the best forum for this or if it should go somewhere else and I havent a clue how to move it)

Stick a nuclear reactor in your shed - fuck the doomsayers.

whiskeyman

Were you billed on an estimated or actual read?

I'd double check.

If you're careful using gas / elec, you really can keep your bills down.

faceman

As whiskeyman said, it could be an estimate. give Board Gais a buzz and let them know. They will send someone out to read the meter and adjust your next bill.

javaboy

whiskeyman wrote: »

If you're careful using gas / elec, you really can keep your bills down.

The humble gansai is the best way to save money on heating.

whiskeyman

faceman wrote: »

As whiskeyman said, it could be an estimate. give Board Gais a buzz and let them know. They will send someone out to read the meter and adjust your next bill.

You should be able to read the meter yourself.
If your meter read is lower, submit it online or over the phone for an adjusted bill.
If it matches the bill, I think you need to read the below:


http://www.bordgaisenergysupply.ie/htm/residential/5_energy_efficiency/index.htm

The humble gansai is the best way to save money on heating.

Too true... I'm amazed at some peoples attitute that wear t-shirts around their house / apartment, and if it gets any colder for them, they lash on the heating instead of throwing on a jumper or top.

AnonoBoy

javaboy wrote: »

The humble gansai is the best way to save money on heating.

javaboy speaks the truth. Just last week I told a friend to stick a jumper on her instead of turning the heat on in my house at half two in the morning.

Macha

You can blame our Fianna Fail overlords for that. Woeful building regulations and the highest dependency on imported fossil fuels in Europe are a cold combination.

I suggest you invest in one of these, a wearable sleeping bag: http://www.thecoolhunter.net/lifestyle/SELKBAG/ , if you can stand the fact that you'll look like a tellytubby.

r3nu4l

There should be no need for heating at all. Stick on a long-sleeved T-shirt, then stick a jumper over it. Tuck the jumper into your underpants, then stuff a load of old newspaper down the front and back of your jumper*

Et voila! Your very own central heating and insulation system If anyone asks, just tell them that you saw a catwalk show in Paris and sticking your jumper into your underpants is 'in' this season!

This tip was brought to you by 'miserly old bastards ltd.'




*For the love of God, stay away from naked flames if you do this, otherwise you may suddenly become warmer than you thought possible

ScumLord

ESB just make my bill up I'm sure of it. They've varied wildly over the time I've spent in my current apartment. From a high of €240 odd to -€70. They seem to have settled down lately and only go between €20 and €70 these days.

Wertz

Additionally to throwing on the geansaí, I'm constantly amazed when round in other people's houses, how they have the heating on full belt, but doors are left ajar, back/front door left open whilst someone is outside, window open for someone smoking...I try to tell them but it just goes in one ear and out the other. Where do they think all the warm air goes?
My gas bill in mid winter was about 15-20 quid p/w last year...I only put on the rads in the rooms that are occupied and close the doors in those...once the heating is put on, I leave it on until I'm either going out or heading for bed...this crack of turning the heating on and off multiple times during the day is counterproductive...it takes much more enrgy to heat a room(s) up, then let them cool down again and heat them back up againa than the gas you'd use just keeping the temperature constant.
Also everytime you run the hot tap, you let cold water into the tank and reduces the overall heat of the water in the system, whech then has to be heated back up by the boiler...this is especially true during very cold weather where mains water is at only 2 or 3 degrees.
[edit] Oh and who really needs the thermostat up at 70 and 80 degrees? Low to mid 60's is much more economical and should be enough heat in all but the coldest snaps...

OP, that seems like a way OTT bill...I've not had heating on since last april...my standing charge for the whole summer was about 18 quid or so. You ust be using a serious volume of gas somehwere in the house, or else your meter wasn't read properly or something...I'd be getting on to BG sooner rather than later...

whiskeyman

ScumLord wrote: »

ESB just make my bill up I'm sure of it. They've varied wildly over the time I've spent in my current apartment. From a high of €240 odd to -€70. They seem to have settled down lately and only go between €20 and €70 these days.

Do you actually check your bill and meter?
They probably fluctuate so crazy due to you being billed on estimates, and then adjusted once they have an actual read for calculation.

Phone in / or submit an actual read every month to keep your bills as accurate as possible.

If you check your meter now and again, you'll know how much your going to be charged before your bill arrives. It can make budgeting all the easier.

javaboy

Wertz wrote: »

You ust be using a serious volume of gas somehwere in the house

:eek: Don't light that match!

ScumLord

whiskeyman wrote: »

Do you actually check your bill and meter?
They probably fluctuate so crazy due to you being billed on estimates, and then adjusted once they have an actual read for calculation.

Phone in / or submit an actual read every month to keep your bills as accurate as possible.

If you check your meter now and again, you'll know how much your going to be charged before your bill arrives. It can make budgeting all the easier.

See the problem is my metre is in a shop downstairs. I don't really want go go through the hassle of dealing with ESB, last time we questioned a bill they said the metre readings where higher than the estimate and we owed them more money, then a month later I see my accounts been credited and I don't have anything to pay for two bills in a row. The thing is, I don't do **** all in that apartment, I've broken the oven, I've never used the washing machine and blew the single heater last year.

I did go off and leave the mini emersion and the computer on for two weeks not so long ago so I guess my latest bill isn't too bad but other than that one time I don't use up that much electricity.

biko

carlybabe1 wrote: »

(Hi mods, pls fell free to move if needs be, as Im not sure if this is the best forum for this or if it should go somewhere else and I havent a clue how to move it)

This might not suit but do check out the Rip Off Ireland forum anyway.

Vegeta

I have under armour cold gear (for when its cold)

Savage stuff. About to move into my first house and I am as tight as a very tight thing so I can see myself never putting on heating.

SV

Why does anyone use Gas..terrible.

Electricity is and always has been the way forward.

Cookie_Monster

Wertz wrote: »

[edit] Oh and who really needs the thermostat up at 70 and 80 degrees? ...

or around 18-20, but thats in real numbers;) not that crazy made up US system

latenia

ClioV6 wrote: »

Why does anyone use Gas..terrible.

Electricity is and always has been the way forward.

For cooking it's streets ahead

AnonoBoy

"Cooking with gas
Cooking with gas
We all cook better
when we're cooking with gas!"

It's an old American commercial that DJ Shadow sampled on Product Placement. Catchy tune and true too!

SV

latenia wrote: »

For cooking it's streets ahead

For cookin it's probably more convenient but on the whole, it's crap.


Dangerous and expensive.

Nehaxak

Living in the flats here, I pay 9 Euro a week for heating and hot water.
Heating is on close to 24 hours a day and hot (boiling!) water available from 6.30am until 11.30pm every day. Even in winter I have the have the windows open at times as it's too hot.
That said, when the heating goes off early in the summer (lol what summer!) it can get fairly feckin cold at night but fair play to them, they've kept the boiler up and operational throughout this (lack of...) summer season.
It's no wonder then that some of the older people who have moved out of the flats have asked to come back as they can't cope with the new heating bills

dade

you can get yourself onto a reduced rate tariff with an board gais I am. costs me about €10 - 15 a month coz i don't use gas at all. also IIRC gas is actually measured as used not estimated like the ESB.

mike65

Newspapers ftw - drape a sunday broadsheet across your legs when watching telly, or wear it inside your trousers

Mike

Nalz

I sleep rough - hostels.

its great.... my bank balance is massive me tells ya

Heroditas

ClioV6 wrote: »

Why does anyone use Gas..terrible.

Electricity is and always has been the way forward.

Electricity is the most uneconomical method for heating and cooking. Until the country is powered almost entirely by wind/solar/water created electricity, using electricity to heat the house and to cook will continue to be pretty much the most expensive method.

AnonoBoy

Gas for cooking.

Oil for heating.

Sure we've got plenty of those in stock around this country, right?

greatgoal

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Gas for cooking.

Oil for heating.

Sure we've got plenty of those in stock around this country, right?

yeah,its just the cash to pay for them thats not so plentiful.

whiskeyman

greatgoal wrote: »

yeah,its just the cash to pay for them thats not so plentiful.

Because we were too busy burning that too...

Pyr0

Nehaxak wrote: »

Living in the flats here, I pay 9 Euro a week for heating and hot water.
Heating is on close to 24 hours a day and hot (boiling!) water available from 6.30am until 11.30pm every day. Even in winter I have the have the windows open at times as it's too hot.
That said, when the heating goes off early in the summer (lol what summer!) it can get fairly feckin cold at night but fair play to them, they've kept the boiler up and operational throughout this (lack of...) summer season.
It's no wonder then that some of the older people who have moved out of the flats have asked to come back as they can't cope with the new heating bills

Aye used to live on the 7th floor myself, you could actually lie on the tiled floor in winter it'd be that warm from the heat rising through the celing of the flats below.

towel401

Pyr0 wrote: »

Aye used to live on the 7th floor myself, you could actually lie on the tiled floor in winter it'd be that warm from the heat rising through the celing of the flats below.

but you're stealing other people's heat. you can go to jail for it! someone in america was made an example of and sent to jail for 20 years for doing that. Its like walking into their house and stealing their boiler

always put WEP encryption on your boiler. so heat thieves are greeted with a nice cold floor

The_Minister

Heroditas wrote: »

Electricity is the most uneconomical method for heating and cooking. Until the country is powered almost entirely by wind/solar/water created electricity, using electricity to heat the house and to cook will continue to be pretty much the most expensive method.

Yes, because wind and solar are sooooooooooo cheap:rolleyes:

SV

Heroditas wrote: »

Electricity is the most uneconomical method for heating and cooking.

No, it isn't

FlutterinBantam

In real cold snaps I wear my scuba rubber suit, without the flippers.

Got sooo cold one day last January I pissed in my trousers and was warm as toast for about an hour.

mumhaabu

What about the country folks I heard they got no turf this year because of the weather, chainsaws at the ready!

faceman

ClioV6 wrote: »

No, it isn't

*runs behind clio's back and shouts*

"oh yes it is!"

r3nu4l

faceman wrote: »

*runs behind clio's back and shouts*

"oh yes it is!"

You should join some sort of Drama Grou...oh, nevermind.

_feedback_

mumhaabu wrote: »

What about the country folks

What country is this that you speak of?

OP, you say "standard tarrif" .. that's the tarrif they plonk you on when you open your account. Get on to them and ask them to look at your usage and see what tariff suits you best. Then go down to chadwicks and get yourself a meter key for €1 or so. Actually .... Just ask the person in accounts to send it out to you when
you're on to them, it'll be free then. Ya know, tough times and all that.

thelordofcheese

Protip: Ireland is nowhere near cold enough to justify the level of heating some people use.

Man up, or failing that put on a damn jumper.

brianthebard

Our first esb bill came yesterday, it was only for a month for some reason (did they change this lately?) but at least we didn't get raped. Hope it stays at this level now.

ScumLord

thelordofcheese wrote: »

Protip: Ireland is nowhere near cold enough to justify the level of heating some people use.

Man up, or failing that put on a damn jumper.

We're not that bad at all compared to the rest of Europe. The Swedish seem to think Sauna is an acceptable setting on every thermostat in the country. Over in Eastern Europe their the same.

thelordofcheese

ScumLord wrote: »

We're not that bad at all compared to the rest of Europe. The Swedish seem to think Sauna is an acceptable setting on every thermostat in the country. Over in Eastern Europe their the same.

Any country with that low an age of consent and that high a suicide rate can't be thinking straight.

But seriously, we're fairly temperate. It's not like we're up to our nipples in snow and bears. You can stroll around in december in a T-Shirt without getting hypothermia or even a cold. Then you find people putting up the heating to stupid levels and then complaining about bill for all the gas/leccy they used.

jebuz

Since we're on the topic of gas, I have a question...

4 of us moved into a new house in the summer, gas heating but haven't needed it until now.

Anyway when we rang up to connect to gasline yesterday, they want 400 euro security off us, we're thinking this could get messy if some people move out before others...plus...its 400 euros ffs!!

So since gas is so expensive, I was thinking we could just get some electric heaters and use them when needed and forget the gas altogether, what would peoples opinion be on this, would it be cheaper?

AnonoBoy

jebuz wrote: »

So since gas is so expensive, I was thinking we could just get some electric heaters and use them when needed and forget the gas altogether, what would peoples opinion be on this, would it be cheaper?

Probably not - unless you get really efficient heaters!

If you set up a direct debit to pay your bill I think they let you off the deposit. I could be wrong though.

Have none of you had a bill with Bord Gais in your name before? If you have then they should let you open a new account without a deposit providing you don't owe them anything. (Although it could be ESB that do that)

Punchesnpeaches

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Probably not - unless you get really efficient heaters!

If you set up a direct debit to pay your bill I think they let you off the deposit. I could be wrong though.

Have none of you had a bill with Bord Gais in your name before? If you have then they should let you open a new account without a deposit providing you don't owe them anything. (Although it could be ESB that do that)

It used to be that if you set up a direct debit to pay the gas you didn't have to pay a security deposit. Now, it's 200e of a security deposit with a direct debit in place and 400e without. That may be why the OP's bill is so high cuz they've only started to implement it recently. We got our landlord to pay it but it's still messy because the gas is in our name.

Biro

OP - there's lots of gas off the coast of Mayo, that'd heat your house for hundreds of years. Unfortunately the Government thought it would be better served if we gave it to a multi-billion dollar oil company for free.