Extortionate ESB bill!

sudo911

Came home today after work only to be presented with a F*CKER of an ESB bill of €473!!!!!!!!!

Holy Cow Batman!

I know they were increasing prices, but this is madness!!!!

Out of interest, what is everyone else paying?

Is there a service you can avail of to get someone in to see what is consuming all the elecy?

mikemac

Got a sauna or steamroom in your place?

Or a warm room with powerful lamps?
You're not growing anything indoors now, are you?

galwayrush

Is it significantly more than your last few bills?

OPENROAD

300 Euro+

Quazzie

I think a lot of the high bills for the last two months is because all during last year we were getting estimated bills and they were underestimating the bill and therefore they checked before the end of the year and the difference was adde on to that bill hence the one massive bill in January

FlutterinBantam

Last few bills must have been estimated, and the fooker got the real reading recently??

admiralofthefleet

im pretty efficient when its comes to usage and i pay €20 per week off my bill. my last one was for -€16

Terry

Unlucky.

galwayrush

It did't increase by that rate, even considering estimate bills up to now. It's possible someone is stealing power from your place.

OPENROAD

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

I think a lot of the high bills for the last two months is because all during last year we were getting estimated bills and they were underestimating the bill and therefore they checked before the end of the year and the difference was adde on to that bill hence the one massive bill in January

Not on mine, they have been actual readings, I've started being extra careful now not to waste electricity hoping my nxt bill falls.

mikemac

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Last few bills must have been estimated, and the fooker got the real reading recently??

check your last few bills if you still have them.
You well see E on it.

Now if you don't want a shock bill you can even call them and give them your meter reading. At least it makes them more consistent

Ticktactoe

Any chance it is an Estimate? If not.... how many rooms do you have!

Blush_01

Two of us in the apartment, I'm never here at the weekends, our last bill for two months was about €150 and I though that was extortion.

Quazzie

OPENROAD wrote: »

Not on mine, they have been actual readings, I've started being extra careful now not to waste electricity hoping my nxt bill falls.

I probably should add that what I stated earlier is just a theory and me clutching at straws in the hope that my €250+(usually €120-€150) bill was a once off.

sudo911

The last bill was circa 350ish..... but going back, I remember them to be normally around 270.

We have our own well for the water into the house, and about 18 months ago this was begning to pack in and was drawing power like no tomorrow before it packed in, but that accounted for the spike at the time.

Wouldnt be mad on the CFL bulbs, and have a lot of the recessed halogen lights (the 50w kind) - must look into more eco-friendly alternatives...

but ideally would like to either get something I can monitor the consumption myself, or even if the ESB have a service to check it for you.

The previous reading was an estimate alright.... but cant seeing that much of a discrepancy.

Maybe a faulty meter?

Catari Jaguar

Mine is about 70e bimonthly for 2 people in a 2 bed ground floor flat. It's our only bill apart from NTL.

Last one they over charged me by 20e on their estimante so it was refunded on our next bill. Bless 'em.

We don't sit in the dark and cold all day so.... I have no idea how you racked up a bill that high!! Maybe it was the fairylights over the Christmas period?

LEIN

I wouldn't be surprised if i got one like that soon tbh.

Storage heaters are a major drain on the bill, even with the night saver plan!

watna

I got a bill in NZ (our gas and power is on the same bill by the same company) over the winter for $1000 (about e500 at the time). I almost had a heart attack. They had given us an estimate and decided for that month our usage would be 5 times what it usually would - for no reason. We contacted them and they changed it pretty sharpish and it ended up being about $150. We've had so much trouble with our power company here, and they've no special line to ring up with your actual reading so you have to stay on hold for ages to sort anything out.

I will never compain about ESB or bord Gais again. We never had any trouble with them and our power company here is woeful.

OP, the only thing you can do is be much more conscious of your electricity use and to make sure you call in your actual readings each month. It is the middle of winter in Ireland so your bill was always going to be higher.

shenanigans1982

Probably shouldn't be wasting electricity coming on here and complaining....and if you want any more proof of ESB being a shower of complete b*stards...a few years ago when my Granda died they tried to hit me with a bill of 100 + euro to switch off the electricity to his flat.

W*nkers

OPENROAD

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

I probably should add that what I stated earlier is just a theory and me clutching at straws in the hope that my €250+(usually €120-€150) bill was a once off.

My last one was 325 Euro, actual reading, average has been around 300 Euro but use my tumble dryer lots which apparently eats up electricity, anyway bougt one of those A rated ones, so hoping for a big deduction in my nxt bill.

sudo911

OPENROAD wrote: »

My last one was 325 Euro, actual reading, average has been around 300 Euro but use my tumble dryer lots which apparently eats up electricity, anyway bougt one of those A rated ones, so hoping for a big deduction in my nxt bill.

Yup, wife uses the aul tumble dryer a lot (now that you mention it!!).... especially with 2 x new borns.... got a new (2nd hand) chest freezer (smallish) as well before christmas for extra food etc.....

FruitLover

sudo911 wrote: »

I know they were increasing prices, but this is madness!!!!

If you check the documentation once more, I believe you'll find that this is, in fact, Sparta.

Professey Chin

Im gonna owe my parents some money for ESB when the bill comes in. I've only moved back home from dublin and ive pretty much turned the house into a datacentre:o

sudo911

Now, I'll have to admint... the computer is nearly PERMANENTLY on.. I think there is a 700w power supply in that etc...

I'm realising that now is the time I need to become "GREEN" aware....

LEIN

Is the bill authentic? Is it Really from the ESB? Check to see if the the payment details are linked to a certain country in north Africa. :pac:

iPlop

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

I think a lot of the high bills for the last two months is because all during last year we were getting estimated bills and they were underestimating the bill and therefore they checked before the end of the year and the difference was adde on to that bill hence the one massive bill in January

+1
This is true happened to me about 2 years ago and I was stung for 300+
bill and when I enquired they told me they estimate the bill during the year and any shortfall or if they owe you (never happenes) gets put your bill.it's the same with gas aswell

IvySlayer

That bill is just shocking.

ve

OP I don't know what kind of accommodation you have but I used to live in one of those new "cardboard" (one-bed) apartments that they seemed to be throwing up all over the place. We didn't have central heating (all electric + storage heaters + nightsaver tarrif) and our bimonthly bill used to come in at approx €250. On the heaters throughout the place you could either turn them on when you liked or leave them on timers. The timers were set in the ESB box on the wall outside where we had no access. All we knew at the time when moving in, is that they would come on for a few hours in the morning and evening and that would be that. Our alternative to the timers would have been get up at about 5am and switch on the heaters and return to bed (which was impractical). Anyway we were never cold in the apartment and always had warm water, etc. We were also under the impression that the timer was on for about 2 - 3 hours per day. After a few months of crap bills we investigated it and discovered that the storage heating timers were actively heating the storage blocks for 8 hours per day (the entire duration of the night saver tarriff). So basically the blocks would be constantly heated up for the entire night. Which is absolutely overkill and a serious waste of energy.

Anyway we contacted the ESB regarding this requesting they change the timer settings, as there was a sticker on the box outside reminding us it was an offense to tamper with any settings ourselves. They told us over the phone that we would have to pay €60 to have someone come out and sort it out for us. They declined to comment on the fact that we were blatantly wasting energy. We couldn't believe our ears during that phone conversation considering all these initiatives to create a greener Ireland.

The way I look at it, you are wasting energy somewhere, and I encourage you to find out where. I think it's really unlikely that any of us need to clock up several hundred euros worth of electricity to meet our bi-monthly demands. First port of call, look at any/all electrical systems that heat water.

Best of luck

OPENROAD

Anyone know if your Eircom broadband thing eats up much electricity?

BaconZombie

100€-120€ and that with 2 Servers and networking kit running 24/7, electric cooker, and heats in two vives {one is 6ftx3ftx3ft}.

The guy

OPENROAD wrote: »

Anyone know if your Eircom broadband thing eats up much electricity?

My eircom router uses 15 watts, which is nothing.

OPENROAD

The guy wrote: »

My eircom router uses 15 watts, which is nothing.

Tks good to know

craiginireland

You haven't jammed a fork into a plug socket ala The Snapper have you?

last year we got a 793euro bill for 2 months.. it was never paid obviously.

antodeco

sudo911 wrote: »

Maybe a faulty meter?

Thats what I have. Its only 2 foot :pac:

axel rose

wow Im either very good or very mean.....3 bed detatched house and our bills have never gone over €100.

themadchef

Wish to fcuk someone would invent a hamster type wheel for us to throw the kids into.

Want your xbox so much now? Sweat for it. Hungry? an hour on the wheel should cover dinner too.

feck this cotton wool generation.

Mean mammy.

chopperbyrne

For the people who are getting bills of over €200, how many people are in the house, how many rooms, etc?

My highest ESB bill ever was about €100 sharing with two other people.

Tar.Aldarion

33e each over two months?

Jusus man, you're allowed turn on the lights sometimes.

chopperbyrne

It'd probably be about €150 now, but still can't understand how peoples bills are that high unless thay leave the emersion on for stupidly long amounts of the day or have electric heaters on in several rooms for long hours every day.

watna

themadchef wrote: »

Wish to fcuk someone would invent a hamster type wheel for us to throw the kids into.

Want your xbox so much now? Sweat for it. Hungry? an hour on the wheel should cover dinner too.

feck this cotton wool generation.

Mean mammy.

Speaking of putting your kids on a hamster wheel - I read about one of those green houses near us in Wellington recently that generate their own electricity (I believe it is solar panels and the like) and sometimes, in the summer they generate more then they use, because they're connected to the national grid, as they need to buy electricity in the winter months sometimes the electricity people owe them money so their account. Now that's living the dream. The electricity company owing you money!

You should get the kids prepared for that one (although apparently people in Ireland do this to but the ESB don't put their accounts in credit - baxtards)

GHOST MGG2

i also got a mental bill of 372 euro or something like it..happens every year when they come read the meter,but if your using dishwashers,washing machines and those spotlights outside your gaf that turn on when something moves they all eat the leccie:-0

Danno

Usual ESB is €140. Myself, Herself and the Babs. 4 bed semi d. Oil CH.

themadchef

My ESB bill is usually between €250 and €300.

It's 6 bed house though (hope they never bring the rates system back in!).

No dish washer, and use the tumble dryer about twice a month at most. Electric shower is on twice a day. Emmersion can be on for an hour a day though.

The killer on my bill is the compressor pump thingy in the Bison sewerage system. Sister has a holiday home here with a similar pump system and shes only down here once a month or so. Her bills are around the €200 mark.

I'm definately more concious of appliances being left on stand by and lights on in rooms with no one in them.

- bo -

On the subject of iver-the-top bills, I was just wondering...

Me and 2 lads share a house in Athlone. We got a bill for just over €130 a month after moving in. I thought this was a bit high but said we'd wait until we get the second bill to see if there was a problem. Second bill came 2 months later, over €380 it was. I knew something was defo up, since we're only here from Sunday night to Friday afternoon (college week) - 4 and a half days, plus we're only here from about 6pm onwards.

So that was a total of over €510 for 3 months, we contacted them and got the to redo the bill (it was estimated since we're never usually there during the day). Got a letter couple of weeks ago saying that we have credit of €405 with them, which our future bills will be taken from.

So we'll be closing our account with them in May because we'll be moving out, and I don't expect to spend anywhere near €400 by then, so will they put the remaining credit back in to the bank account the bills are taken from?

T.G Catter

Last bill was 73 euro, always in and around that mark. This bill 185!! No idea why there's a jump, the bloody cooker was even broken for a week. 2 bed apartment, no electric used during the day and very little lights on etc.

c4cat

sudo911 wrote: »

Came home today after work only to be presented with a F*CKER of an ESB bill of €473!!!!!!!!!

Holy Cow Batman!

I know they were increasing prices, but this is madness!!!!

Out of interest, what is everyone else paying?

Is there a service you can avail of to get someone in to see what is consuming all the elecy?

Prob yr next door neibour has run a cable from yr supply into his place

Cookie_Monster

I'm not going to read through all the thread but apperently ESB made a mistake about sending bills in the last couple of weeks. My parents got a crazy high bill and phoned them and were told it was some kind of system error and they would get credit off the next bill/s to balance the amount back out to the correct amount that should have been paid.

hobochris

T.G Catter wrote: »

Last bill was 73 euro, always in and around that mark. This bill 185!! No idea why there's a jump, the bloody cooker was even broken for a week. 2 bed apartment, no electric used during the day and very little lights on etc.

jesus that's some jump. I'm in pretty much the same situation, Bill's due the next few days, I better get some lubricant on the way home, looks like I'm about to be financially raped...

useful_contacts

sudo911 wrote: »

Came home today after work only to be presented with a F*CKER of an ESB bill of €473!!!!!!!!!

Holy Cow Batman!

I know they were increasing prices, but this is madness!!!!

Out of interest, what is everyone else paying?

Is there a service you can avail of to get someone in to see what is consuming all the elecy?

my last esb bill was 7 euro

i kid you not

was over estimated on my last 2 bills

the joys:)

Spocker

My bill is usually around the €180 mark, 3bed semi, gas heating and lots of computers.

However, as it's fresh in my memory, the most recent bill came earlier this week and I did notice that it was from the middle of October to early January. I don't remember the exact dates, but it was for almost 3 months, not the normal 2.