Average two monthly gas and electricity bill

loveofliving

Hi guys,

I know this is an open ended question with lots of variables but I am just looking for some kind of idea as to what i can expect bill-wise now that we've moved in to a house. We used to be in an apartment and it was just one bill every 2 months to cover all electricity and electric heating. The bill for the whole year was €1000 (looked at online billing for the year, good to know) and now we're in a house where we have two bills, electricity and gas.

I've decided to stick with Electric Ireland for both as I found their customer service excellent, and their online system really easy to use with online billing and direct debit payment. 

So they offered me a 10% discount off both bills! Happy Days. 

I understand the bills will both be bi-monthly but still two separate bills and not on the same day.

Just wondering would anyone have even some semblance of an idea of what I can expect? Should my electricity bill be a lot cheaper now that we have gas for heating water and for heating in the house? As technically that bill should cover that now.

any idea what to expect figure wise for each bill with Electric Ireland? I'm talking ballpark here as I know it is open ended...

It's a 2 bedroom end of terrace house in Dublin 12, an old house, currently has gas fire which we won't use and will get chimney balloon to prevent heat escaping out chimney, very big kitchen which is always freezing (extension and only one radiator) and at the moment the heating/gas is on for about 4/5 hours per day which I'm not sure is excessive but otherwise we're cold and obviously in the Spring and Summer months it will be a little less (only a little, as baby on the way and can't have a cold house then either). We have all the usual appliances - dishwasher (used probably 3 times per week) washing machine (twice per week) and electric cooker and no electric shower so the gas/heating heats the shower and water.

Any idea would be great as would love to know what to expect even generally! 

Thanks

newbie2

Hey LOL,

I have EI for both gas and electricity. My bills are excessive IMO, but that's really from my use more than anything else. Apartments are much easier to heat than houses. A lot less heat escapes. I've freinds who live in apartments who say they've never turned on their radiators! Heating a house - especially with a new baby will cost more. I also find I have wife/baby/kids at home all the time - so the TV etc is on for most of the day - this can eat lots of electricity. If people are not in the house - they are not using electricity. There's an app you can get that estimates how much electricity you use - so you could extrapolate how much it will cost.
I use the gas to heat the water in the summer months. I turn off all the radiators and just have the gas on for an hoiur in the morning. This is sufficiant for iour need - but we do have an electric shower.

my energy bills usually come to about 2200 per year - but i will state - that is very excessive. We have a 3 bed mid terraced house with great insulation. But there is five of us.

loveofliving

newbie2 wrote: »

Hey LOL,

I have EI for both gas and electricity.  My bills are excessive IMO, but that's really from my use more than anything else.  Apartments are much easier to heat than houses.  A lot less heat escapes.  I've freinds who live in apartments who say they've never turned on their radiators!  Heating a house - especially with a new baby will cost more.  I also find I have wife/baby/kids at home all the time - so the TV etc is on for most of the day - this can eat lots of electricity.  If people are not in the house - they are not using electricity. There's an app you can get that estimates how much electricity you use - so you could extrapolate how much it will cost.
I use the gas to heat the water in the summer months.  I turn off all the radiators and just have the gas on for an hoiur in the morning.  This is sufficiant for iour need - but we do have an electric shower.

my energy bills usually come to about 2200 per year - but i will state - that is very excessive.  We have a 3 bed mid terraced house with great insulation.  But there is five of us.

Hey Newbie2,

Thanks for that, that is a great help. Before your message I was looking in to it and seemed to be the case that we could be looking at about €2000 per year which is about €160ish each every two months but naturally I would like to see that being lower. Must look at things like timer, turning off rads we don't use, closing up the chimney, and drafts! 

Random question, but how many hours a day would you have the heating on? Sounds like a strange question but nobody has actually told me and at the moment we are using it in the morning for an hour, then from 6 in the evening it is pretty much on constantly till bed, so about an average of 5 hours a day. I know it is cold out at the moment but I literally have no idea if that is really excessive or what people's average winter heating usage is in terms of hours per day...

Thanks for the information  

vandriver

We have a 3 bed end terrace in D12 probably very similar to OPs,and our gas bill tends to average at 1000 a year.Our heating is on in the winter time about 3 hours a day,and off entirely from about April to October.Our electric bill would be about 145 every 2 months,with 4-6 machine loads a week and tumble drier the same.The shower works from the gas heated hot water.
Six hours a day will probably cost you!Can you check your gas usage for a few days and work out cost per day?

Electric Ireland: David

Hi loveofliving,

Thanks for your message. And thanks too to newbie2 and vandriver for their input.

loveofliving wrote:

I know this is an open ended question with lots of variables but I am just looking for some kind of idea as to what i can expect bill-wise now that we've moved in to a house.

You're certainly correct in that there are a lot of variables; usage can vary so widely from one household to another that ballpark figures are useful only to a limited extent. With that caveat in mind, the average annual usage for electricity is 5,300kWh per year and for gas 13,800 kWhs per year.

What I would recommend you do is use our Appliance Calculator App (for Android/iPhone, and there's also a web version) to estimate your usage. One customer managed to guesstimate her bill in advance to within €4 (see here).

We also have tools and resources on our website to help you reduce your bills as much as possible - see here.

loveofliving wrote:

I've decided to stick with Electric Ireland for both as I found their customer service excellent, and their online system really easy to use with online billing and direct debit payment.

Many thanks for saying so loveofliving. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
David

Mountjoy Mugger

Electric Ireland: David wrote: »

Hi loveofliving,

Thanks for your message. And thanks too to newbie2 and vandriver for their input.

Originally posted by loveofliving
I know this is an open ended question with lots of variables but I am just looking for some kind of idea as to what i can expect bill-wise now that we've moved in to a house.

You're certainly correct in that there are a lot of variables; usage can vary so widely from one household to another that ballpark figures are useful only to a limited extent. With that caveat in mind, the average annual usage for electricity is 5,300kWh per year and for gas 13,800 kWhs per year.

What I would recommend you do is use our Appliance Calculator App (for Android/iPhone, and there's also a web version) to estimate your usage. One customer managed to guesstimate her bill in advance to within €4 (see here).

We also have tools and resources on our website to help you reduce your bills as much as possible - see here.

Originally posted by loveofliving
I've decided to stick with Electric Ireland for both as I found their  customer service excellent, and their online system really easy to use  with online billing and direct debit payment.

Many thanks for saying so loveofliving. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
David

Isn't it time you updated/revised or added/improved some of the selections on the app? Lots of homes  have at least a 17" LCD monitor now- blu ray players, 50" plasmas or LCD TVs. I've an electric wok and can't figure out what option to use, for example.

I could go on.

EI: Una

Hi there,

Thanks for the feedback - I have passed it on to the relevant department, which is continuously reviewing our apps.

Regards,
Una

bored.ie.ie

I checked y meter and my meter reading has come in at 740 units fro jan and feb, I live in a one bed apartment, heating on 4 hours tops per day! 

Im working all day and heating is off can anyone shed any light on how it can nearly double in units? Boiler problem, leak etc? 

Thanks 

EI: Una

Hi bored.ie.ie,

Do you know when the gas boiler for your flat was last serviced?

Regards,
Una

bored.ie.ie

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi bored.ie.ie,

Do you know when the gas boiler for your flat was last serviced?

Regards,
Una

Hi Una,

No idea I think recently as its quite a new system, at the current rate its working outa t 12 units a day.......what is the average? If I have the heating/hot water on an hour in the morning then maybe 3/4 hours in the evening? 

Its a one bed apartment with one large and three small rads 


Thanks 

EI: Aoife

Hi bored.ie.ie,

According to the Commission for Energy Regulation the average household would use 13,800 kwh annually, which is approximately €731 (not including VAT, carbon tax or standing charges; etc). Based on our gas price at 5.297cent a kwh, that would work out as a bimonthly bill of €122 (again not including VAT, carbon tax or standing charges; etc).

Gas consumption varies significantly from month to month with next to no usage during the summer and high usage during the colder weather. Given the disparity in usage throughout the year, it is likely you would have a number of much smaller bills during the warm weather and the much higher bills during the colder weather.

Do let us know if you have any other queries.

Regards,
Aoife

bored.ie.ie

Hi Aoife,

Would 12 units be very high?

I only have heating/water on for two hours a day then the heating alone for say 4 hours in the eve. Would that be as much as 12 units in 24 hours? 

EI: Aoife

Hi again bored.ie.ie,

Do you mean 12 units or 12 metres cubed? If you took that from the meter it is likely meter cubed and we would need the conversion factor to calculate it.

Would you be able to send us a private message with your account details? You would need to confirm that your're the account holder and we would need your name, address, account number and telephone number or date of birth.

Regards,
Aoife