How much do you think my electricity bill will cost?

Eoin247

So I moved into a two bed apartment after Christmas and its my first time living in an apartment where I will be managing all the bills. Here are some details.

- built in the last 10 years
- BER of D2
- no gas/oil everything uses electricity
- with ESB
- 2 bedroom / 2 persons 79 meters squared
- light use of TV, cloths/dish washer
- top floor apartment

So how much do you think electricity will cost per month for such an apartment?

Thanks!

johnnyskeleton

Eoin247 wrote: »

So I moved into a two bed apartment after Christmas and its my first time living in an apartment where I will be managing all the bills. Here are some details.

- built in the last 10 years
- BER of D2
- no gas/oil everything uses electricity
- with ESB
- 2 bedroom / 2 persons 79 meters squared
- light use of TV, cloths/dish washer
- top floor apartment

So how much do you think electricity will cost per month for such an apartment?

Thanks!

80ish a month maybe?

Moonbeam

A Ber of D2 is not the best for a modern house.
I was thinking about 100 but it depends if you are out at work all day,are a cold creature and I presume it is an electric shower.

foggy_lad

bills will be a lot higher in the winter months and will depend greatly on how much you use the electric heating.

https://www.electricireland.ie/ei/residential-energy-services/reduce-your-costs/appliance_calc/appliance_calculator.jsp

this appliance calculator should help to give a good idea of the cost

moxin

Don't use the storage heaters, use your own heaters. I'd go with 80-100quid cost winter time. Biggest costs are the heating, immersion and the washing machine in an apartment. You know the heating now, do your washing once a week, don't use the dishwasher often, clean the cutlery yourself in the sink!!

A BER of D2 assuming correct for heating will need you to wear a jumper\cardigan in winter time in the apartment. You won't freeze

djimi

If you are using storage heaters then you could be looking at as high as €300 per bill (two months) during the winter. With plug in heaters it will be a bit lower. Our last bill was €260 for a two bed apartment using one plug in radiator and two wall mounted electric heaters which are each on for maybe 2 hours a day. We dont have a dishwasher and rarely use the tumble dryer.

The_Conductor

I'd be more in the 150-200 a month (for winter months) and 80 to 100 during summer months, sort of mind on this.
The BER isn't great- however, the house could be well insulated at the same time- we just don't know. Absolutely everything is electrical. Your big cost is going to be heating during the winter months- and heating is going to be pricey. During summer months- who knows, maybe you'll be running AC units- which are also pricey.

All-in-all, I think anyone suggesting under 100 per month- is being highly optimistic.

djimi

The_Conductor wrote: »

All-in-all, I think anyone suggesting under 100 per month- is being highly optimistic.

Yup. In winter, with electric heating, there isnt a hope of an electric bill coming in under €100 a month (unless the heat is virtually never turned on).

Eoin247

Thanks for all the replies guys! I think I got a good idea of what to expect when my bill comes around.

shruikan2553

I live in a similar type of place and would say 80ish a month. Pretty much 10 euro a week each.

WhyTheFace

I live in a ground floor 2 bed. Don't use the immersion as electric shower. Can live without hot water in kitchen, if a big wash needed will turn it on. Pretty conservative with heating. Use electric blanket for half an hour instead of electric heaters.

Bills are 50e in summer, 80-100e in winter (per month)

djimi

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I live in a similar type of place and would say 80ish a month. Pretty much 10 euro a week each.

Even in winter?

moxin

djimi wrote: »

Even in winter?

Don't use the installed electric heaters in the apartments, use your own mobile ones.

djimi

moxin wrote: »

Don't use the installed electric heaters in the apartments, use your own mobile ones.

I do. €80-100 in winter sounds optimistic no matter what type of electric heating you are using.

ibarelycare

I live in a 2-bed, 2-bathroom ground floor apartment. Development is about 12 years old. Everything is electrical. We use the washing machine about 5 times a week, dishwasher twice a week (only use it at weekends), tumble dryer sparingly (only if we need something dry in a hurry). Immersion is on every night between 3am and 7am, and that does us for two/three showers throughout the day, as well as washing dishes. We have storage heaters but don't turn them on throughout the night. We use the boost in the evenings when we get home from work, and at weekends, and that's generally on for on average 2-3 hours a day during the winter. We use the wall-mounted heaters in our bedrooms sparingly.

Our bills in the winter are €70-80 per month, and €50-60 in the summer. We thought they'd be astronomical when we moved in because of not using the storage heaters properly, but we've been really lucky. We ring our readings in most months.

Thargor

How much heat do you get from your neighbours underneath you in apartment situations generally? Is it noticable? Never been in an apartment before but thinking of moving soon and its on the 4th floor with 4 occupied underneath me.

WhyTheFace

ibarelycare wrote: »

I live in a 2-bed, 2-bathroom ground floor apartment. Development is about 12 years old. Everything is electrical. We use the washing machine about 5 times a week, dishwasher twice a week (only use it at weekends), tumble dryer sparingly (only if we need something dry in a hurry). Immersion is on every night between 3am and 7am, and that does us for two/three showers throughout the day, as well as washing dishes. We have storage heaters but don't turn them on throughout the night. We use the boost in the evenings when we get home from work, and at weekends, and that's generally on for on average 2-3 hours a day during the winter. We use the wall-mounted heaters in our bedrooms sparingly.

Our bills in the winter are €70-80 per month, and €50-60 in the summer. We thought they'd be astronomical when we moved in because of not using the storage heaters properly, but we've been really lucky. We ring our readings in most months.

How do you dry your clothes?

I've never heard of anyone use the washing machine 5 times a week, that's ridiculous.

ibarelycare

WhyTheFace wrote: »

How do you dry your clothes?

I've never heard of anyone use the washing machine 5 times a week, that's ridiculous.

On clothes horses How else??

We're two girls. We both work office jobs where we have to be well-presented. We also would be out a few times a week. Bed clothes are washed once every 10-14 days as well. I'd usually do 2-3 washes a week, and she's the same.

Chattastrophe!

WhyTheFace wrote: »

How do you dry your clothes?

I've never heard of anyone use the washing machine 5 times a week, that's ridiculous.

That's not at all ridiculous. There are three in our house including a new baby, we'd put on at least one wash a day. Would have done so most days even before the baby came along.

And we've never once used the tumble dryer. Clothes horses work fine, and I find clothes last longer when they're dried that way. Some clothes tend to fall apart after being tumble dried just a few times.

Mrs OBumble

moxin wrote: »

Don't use the storage heaters, ... will need you to wear a jumper\cardigan in winter time in the apartment. You won't freeze

Very poor advice in the first sentence.

Learn to use the storage heaters appropriately: if someone will be home all day, then use storage mode in the livign room. If you'll only be home for a few hours in the evening, then just use the boost. (When I lived alone, I used to put the storage on at the weekends only.) Use the boost or standalone heaters in the bedroom for 20 mins or so in teh evening.

And of course expect to dress for the season: I'm wearing a jumper in the office today, and will be doing to in my apartment tonight. Kinda obvious, really.

I'm in a similar situation, apartment on top of a commercial property, totally gutted and rebuilt 10 years ago. Some heat comes through the floor. Immersion, no electric shower, someone home a lot of the day. No TV or dryer. Washing machine 3-4 times/week. Tumble dryer once in a blue moon. Daily showers and manual dishwashing. Pay E60 per month (summer) to E100 (worst of winter).

moxin

Not poor advice. When I started using storage heaters in my first apartment, I did use them correctly. The bill was huge for the first couple months, never again. Amazingly(:)), the bill went down when I switched over to using my own heaters.

ted1

moxin wrote: »

Not poor advice. When I started using storage heaters in my first apartment, I did use them correctly. The bill was huge for the first couple months, never again. Amazingly(:)), the bill went down when I switched over to using my own heaters.

Sounds like you were using the wrong, what are your own heaters ?

moxin

ted1 wrote: »

Sounds like you were using the wrong, what are your own heaters ?

2 Silvercrest convector heaters straight out of Lidl's Goes from 400W to a really warm 2000W setting. Can heat a room up within 20min or less. One used at a time in whatever room i'm in.

shruikan2553

djimi wrote: »

Even in winter?

Yup, theres some issues with the windows not sealing properly when closed. Just checked earlier if they were acurate as it was an estimated reading and it was close enough. We turn on hot water every second night for 2-3 hours, storage heaters at night with electric on sometimes during the day and washing and drying done at night. PS3 and high powered PC going most of the day too. Was expecting it to be far more myself.

Eoin247

I see a lot of people are recommending to use portable heaters rather than the in-built ones. Are all in-built heaters really this bad? I'd understand that old heaters would be inefficient, but these ones would be relatively new and were installed in the last 10 years.

elfy4eva

I live in a top floor 2 bedroom apartment, winter bill for 2 months was €143. We don't use the convector heaters just use a Dimplex oil heater and it does us grand. Use the storage heater in the living room sometimes too depending on if we're in or out for the day.

One of the biggest factors is how long you're in the house for. If you're working 8 hrs a day it there will be a significant difference to someone who is not.

elfy4eva

Eoin247 wrote: »

I see a lot of people are recommending to use portable heaters rather than the in-built ones. Are all in-built heaters really this bad? I'd understand that old heaters would be inefficient, but these ones would be relatively new and were installed in the last 10 years.

From what I understand, most of the built in heaters in an apartment will usually be a convector heater. (these are the expensive ones to run if they're on for a long time) Most apartments will also have a dual Storage heater-convector heater Unit in the Living room.

The storage heater function of these ones are built to take advantage of Night rate electricity which costs about half as much as day rate. They heat up ceramic blocks within the heaters between 11PM-8AM Winter or 12AM-9AM Summer. You can then turn a knob to let as much heat as you need out when you need it the next day (these are cheaper to run although I'm not sure how much).

Greenmachine

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Very poor advice in the first sentence.

Learn to use the storage heaters appropriately: if someone will be home all day, then use storage mode in the livign room. If you'll only be home for a few hours in the evening, then just use the boost. (When I lived alone, I used to put the storage on at the weekends only.) Use the boost or standalone heaters in the bedroom for 20 mins or so in teh evening.

And of course expect to dress for the season: I'm wearing a jumper in the office today, and will be doing to in my apartment tonight. Kinda obvious, really.

I'm in a similar situation, apartment on top of a commercial property, totally gutted and rebuilt 10 years ago. Some heat comes through the floor. Immersion, no electric shower, someone home a lot of the day. No TV or dryer. Washing machine 3-4 times/week. Tumble dryer once in a blue moon. Daily showers and manual dishwashing. Pay E60 per month (summer) to E100 (worst of winter).

What is boost exactly. My storage radiators have only 2 dials. Input and Output. As far as I can tell Input controls the amount of energy the heater takes in at night. And Output controls the heat shield. On weekdays I am generally home for 2 hours or so before I go to bed. Not exactly happy with the heat I am getting.
Mine is a Creda TSR18MW Slimline 2.5kw / 2500 watt MANUAL STORAGE HEATER

elfy4eva

Greenmachine wrote: »

What is boost exactly.

Boost I believe refers to the convector heater which is a dual function built into some storage heaters.

djimi

Greenmachine wrote: »

What is boost exactly. My storage radiators have only 2 dials. Input and Output. As far as I can tell Input controls the amount of energy the heater takes in at night. And Output controls the heat shield. On weekdays I am generally home for 2 hours or so before I go to bed. Not exactly happy with the heat I am getting.
Mine is a Creda TSR18MW Slimline 2.5kw / 2500 watt MANUAL STORAGE HEATER

Not all storage heaters have a boost function. The ones that I have seen with it are basically a built in blow heater; I dont see how this is even remotely cost effective to run to heat a room properly in winter.

djimi

Eoin247 wrote: »

I see a lot of people are recommending to use portable heaters rather than the in-built ones. Are all in-built heaters really this bad? I'd understand that old heaters would be inefficient, but these ones would be relatively new and were installed in the last 10 years.

We found storage heaters to be dreadfully expensive. Ran one for a few months and then ran a plug in electric heater for the same period the next year, and there was at least €100 in the difference in the bills.

Storage heaters are also next to useless if the apartment is vacant during the day, as this is when they let out the heat. Fine for a 9-5 office, but not much use when you get home at 6 and the thing is more or less spent.