Pre pay power

Whispered

Does anybody use these http://www.prepaypower.ie/

I was wondering if they are any good, worth switching to and if they are much more expensive. They say that they "match the equivalent Electric Ireland Standard Electricity Price Plan " but I'm not sure if that will bring our bills up or down.

I'd be interested in hearing how people find it on a day to day basis. Have you ever run out? About how much do you spend a day? etc.

KoolKid

I use it. Per unit its dearer than ESB but you will use less & be more aware.
If you run out of credit in the evening or over a weekend or bank holiday it will not cut out untill 9am the following day.
Seems to average around €3-4 a day.

Thunderbird2

have it here . So do most of the neighbours around here .. no huge surprising bills .
you use much less and waste less as you switch off everything you don't use ...

highlandseoghan

A few people believe that by this time next year 80% of householders will have a pre pay meter installed. Who do you have your supply with at the moment? If your struggling to pay your bills at the moment most of the main electricity and gas suppliers will install a meter for you.

Anyone I know that has got a pre pay meter has cut down there usage because they are paying more attention to everything that is using elecricity. They seem to be a great idea and if they help the home owner save money even better.

Whispered

It sounds good then. We definitely want to cut down on the big surprise bills, we're also both looking to cut down on our consumption.

We're with airtricity at the moment.

highlandseoghan

One of my friends thats delighted with it is with airtricity. He was just struggling to pay the bills every time they came in and he rang airtricity and i think a week later he had it all set up and ready and Ive never seen someone become so energy efficcent it happened overnight but its saving him a fortune. After seeing the effect it had on him I am strongly considering giving airtricity a call. I am very bad at leaving things plugged in and lights on.

Shifty

Their website says they match the equivalent Electric Ireland Standard Electricity Price Plan unit price and standing charge for Urban 24h, Rural 24H, Urban Nightsaver and Rural Nightsaver plans.

There is also a Public Service Obligation Levy (which applies to all electricity customers irrespective of supplier), and a prepayment service charge of 37.5 cent per day.

Not sure if the 37.5 cent charge a day (works out at approx €136 a year) is inclusive of VAT)

I agree with others as it is prepay, there is the incentive to cut down on unnecessary usage.

Davy

I would do the figures before rushing into this and signing an 12 month contract. If you switch to a bundle plan with gas and electrical, or similar, chances are you will save maybe 15 or 20% roughly depending on usage. Obviously this will help for consumption at first but after awhile that novelty might wear off a bit, and then you stuck paying standard rates as opposed to the other tariffs that are around, bearing in mind the standard rates are the highest.

KoolKid

Another thing to note... AFAIK there is still a promotion where you get someone to refer you & both of you get €20 credit..

M cebee

sounds daft to me anyhow in most cases
-switching to a dearer rate and the hassle of prepay
-it's not that hard to reduce usage to manageable level imo
-suppliers prob pushing it.suits them.

Bruthal

M cebee wrote: »

-suppliers prob pushing it.suits them.

Yea, not much doubt about that imo as well.

highlandseoghan

The people that I have talked to that switched, they switched because they were struggling to keep money for when the bills came in not because of finding it hard to cut down on there usage. I know my friend is on a low income and doesnt have enough income to put money aside and his bills were getting out of control because he was only paying a little off the bill each time it came so the balance was been put onto the next one on top of what they used the following two months.

Pre pay just lets him keep on top of things easier without getting into debt. He has just become a lot more energy aware since getting it in.

Bruthal

highlandseoghan wrote: »

The people that I have talked to that switched, they switched because they were struggling to keep money for when the bills came in not because of finding it hard to cut down on there usage. I know my friend is on a low income and doesnt have enough income to put money aside and his bills were getting out of control because he was only paying a little off the bill each time it came so the balance was been put onto the next one on top of what they used the following two months.

Pre pay just lets him keep on top of things easier without getting into debt. He has just become a lot more energy aware since getting it in.

There is no doubt it can help people budget better. But there is also no doubt that it suits the supplier.

highlandseoghan

100% agree it suits the supplier. I actually think if your paying by pre pay it should be cheaper because the supplier has the money in there account before the electricity / gas is even used.

Whispered

Well. The main reason I'm thinking about switching is because I'm not working much at the moment so have a very very low income. This means that when a bill comes in, my husband looks after it because I wouldn't have been able to put any money aside. Because I'm home more it just feels wrong. So I was thinking that if we had prepay it would take a bill from him and allow me to contribute more easily.

However, looking at it costing approx 4 euro a day. Means it's approx 170 for 2 months. Currently our 2 monthly bill averages out at about 200 for both electricity and gas so it would cost us a fair bit more.

I might just have to manage my money better

Bruthal

Whispered wrote: »

Well. The main reason I'm thinking about switching is because I'm not working much at the moment so have a very very low income. This means that when a bill comes in, my husband looks after it because I wouldn't have been able to put any money aside. Because I'm home more it just feels wrong. So I was thinking that if we had prepay it would take a bill from him and allow me to contribute more easily.

However, looking at it costing approx 4 euro a day. Means it's approx 170 for 2 months. Currently our 2 monthly bill averages out at about 200 for both electricity and gas so it would cost us a fair bit more.

I might just have to manage my money better

The 3 or 4 euro a day mentioned by koolkid would likely be his own average daily use, rather than the average of all customers, if that is what you base your 4 euro a day on.

The difference in price would be small when going onto the pre pay setup, although I also think it should be at minimum, no dearer.

frankmul

I think that using prepay power makes you more energy conscious, that is how you save money. You could become aware of your energy usage by simply reading your meter daily and working out how much it cost you on a daily basis. I used to read our meter every night when I put the dogs in. I used my phone to take a picture of the meter. I had a time and date and reading all together. I could go back then and work out what I had used over a period of time.

jackreacher

hi guys,
can any of the people who have gone with pre pay stick up a picture of what the keypad etc look like in a proper installation.

does the customer decide where the keypad goes or does it have to be right next to meter?

highlandseoghan

The meter my friend got from airtricity is a small box and he can plug it into any socket in the house. Ive no pic of it tho. He just has it plugged into a socket in the box room out of the way.

Tazz T

Sets a bad precedent, IMO. I can see people starting to go without electricity at all for periods and energy companies putting up prices for those not on prepay. There's also the danger of not integrated smoke alarms, house alarms and lights (safety issue) not working when you need them.

If you want to save money. Start learning to switch things off. I have sockets installed on all my standby switches that I can switch off from a single switch wherever I am before I go to bed. If you get one of those power consumption meters (I got mine for free when I shopped for a new provider), you'll soon learn where all the power is going.

Bruthal

Just looking at the esb rates now to do a comparison.

Unit price is €0.1928 or 19.28 cent per kwh
Standing charge is €125.78 a year

For prepay power, the rates are exactly the same.

But where the pre pay hit you, is with a pre pay service charge of €136.71 a year. So it is like having just over two standing charges for the privilege of pre paying.

That`s near €3 a week, or about €23 extra per bill.

frankmul

Tazz T wrote: »

If you want to save money. Start learning to switch things off. I have sockets installed on all my standby switches that I can switch off from a single switch wherever I am before I go to bed.

Have you any details on that switch. Is it a remote control switch

ted1

Bruthal wrote: »

Just looking at the esb rates now to do a comparison.

Unit price is €0.1928 or 19.28 cent per kwh
Standing charge is €125.78 a year

For prepay power, the rates are exactly the same.

But where the pre pay hit you, is with a pre pay service charge of €136.71 a year. So it is like having just over two standing charges for the privilege of pre paying.

That`s near €3 a week, or about €23 extra per bill.

But no one pays standard rate, there is the direct debit discount and the ebills discount , so it's more than just 37.5c a say

ted1

highlandseoghan wrote: »

The meter my friend got from airtricity is a small box and he can plug it into any socket in the house. Ive no pic of it tho. He just has it plugged into a socket in the box room out of the way.

That's not a per pay meter, that's just a kwh meter which shows usage.
They can effective to help people understand what is using power and what unplugging or turning it off does

ted1

KoolKid wrote: »

I use it. Per unit its dearer than ESB but you will use less & be more aware.
If you run out of credit in the evening or over a weekend or bank holiday it will not cut out untill 9am the following day.
Seems to average around €3-4 a day.

Seems a bit much, what type bulbs are using? Have you done anything to reduce usage? It's all well and good not having to pay a bill. But if your not being energy efficient your only kidding yourself

.G.

Got a nasty bill before Christmas,way out of whack with what we usually use.

Got myself an owl monitor and I can see where the power is going but not a lot of scope for stopping it! All essentials items and all items where used in the same manner as before this bill so really weird why the usage went up so much.

I'm a sparks and I'm still struggling to find a way of reducing our usage without throwing the wife and kids out the house

I switched to Electric Ireland from airtricity for a small saving,every little helps. 17.35 cent per KWH and a lower standing charge

Bruthal

ted1 wrote: »

But no one pays standard rate, there is the direct debit discount and the ebills discount , so it's more than just 37.5c a say

Well its there as a clear comparison.

Im not sure what you mean by no one using standard rate.

ted1

Bruthal wrote: »

Well its there as a clear comparison.

Im not sure what you mean by no one using standard rate.

I mean you change providers and they offer you all kind of discounts once these expiry then move again

ted1

superg wrote: »

Got a nasty bill before Christmas,way out of whack with what we usually use.

Got myself an owl monitor and I can see where the power is going but not a lot of scope for stopping it! All essentials items and all items where used in the same manner as before this bill so really weird why the usage went up so much.

I'm a sparks and I'm still struggling to find a way of reducing our usage without throwing the wife and kids out the house

I switched to Electric Ireland from airtricity for a small saving,every little helps. 17.35 cent per KWH and a lower standing charge

Change out all the bulbs, I'm sure you fine this .
Stick a timer switch on mon essentials. I had the TV, blue ray , amp, sub woofer , Apple TV , hard drive upc, broadband and phone all on at the same time. I put the phone, UPC and broadband on one adopter and then put a timer on the others. Turns off a 2am and back on at 9 am . That's 180 hours a month if things on standby eliminated

Bruthal

ted1 wrote: »

I mean you change providers and they offer you all kind of discounts once these expiry then move again

I put up the post as a like for like comparison. Bit hard to do that including all deals of the week etc.

I myself prefer to avoid derect debits of utility bills. Maybe Im the only one in Ireland. But thats how it is.

highlandseoghan

@Ted 1 This is a pay as you go meter. I dont know how it fully works it must have another part connected to the meter outside. Then he has this box that can be moved to any socket in the house. He has a card that he goes in to the shop and gets a top up and enters the code from the recipt into this box in his house. I will try and get you a picture and find out more about it and charges.