Average Airtricity Bills?

eric 2526

Hey everyone,


I am just wondering what your average bills are with airtricity every 2 months?

I got a bill for 250 Euro for the past 2 months. Is that normal? I live in a 2 bedroom apartment. The storage heater input is always off during the day. I only turn the input on at night.

Also, the hot water tank only is on for 2 hours during the night and for 3 hours during the daytime.

I also give them regular meter readings, so it's not estimated.

fiachraX

Could be. Storage heaters can use a LOT of electricity. See here for the maths, and put in the relevant prices for Airtricity.
www.smartelectrics.ie/storage-heaters/running-cost

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Storage heaters and water heater take a lot of juice. I wouldn't be surprised at that charge at all. The size of the apartment is quite secondary. It what goes on in it that clocks up the charges. 5 hours a day on a water heater seems an awful lot. Have you a double tariff day and night meter?

eric 2526

Katelyn Thankful Goalkeeper wrote: »

Storage heaters and water heater take a lot of juice. I wouldn't be surprised at that charge at all. The size of the apartment is quite secondary. It what goes on in it that clocks up the charges. 5 hours a day on a water heater seems an awful lot. Have you a double tariff day and night meter?

Yeah I have a separate day and night meter. I am looking for any tips or suggestions to help lower my bill? Like the water heater is set up for 3am-5am, for hot water in the mornings. The day tariffs kick in at 6am. Also, I have it set for 7pm-9pm for the dishes.

Also, thanks fiachraX for the link! I think the main culprit might be the storage heater. I usually turned it around 11pm at night and then turned it off when I woke up at 8am-9am. That is probably why I am getting the large bills. Good thing is that its warmer in Dublin these days so i have the heater off 24/7 now. Hopefully that might help?

Thanks for your responses guys. i really appreciate it.

eric 2526

Also wanted to add that in addition to a fridge/freezer combo unit, i also have another medium sized chest freezer that is always running. I bought it this year, so I think it is energy-efficient but i could be wrong?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It goes without saying I suppose that the water tank is well insulated. I would also exlperiment with reducing the length of time the water heater is turned on for. Our immersion heater would never be on for more that an hour at a time and most time for a much shorter time. Once the water is heated there is little point in having it kept at temperature for any amount of time.
Keep the freezer well filled to reduce running costs - although crises and freezers are not big users?
Being restricted to electric room and water heating is expensive and it is really a matter of minimising the time they are in use and preserving the heat generated as much as possible.

greasepalm

running many halogen lights?

eric 2526

mostly running fluorolescent lights.

dudara

Not a Consumer Issue - Moved to Accommodation & Property

dudara

L1011

Storage heating is definitely the main problem here, although I would imagine that boiling a kettle or two for the dishes is going to be wildly cheaper than having the main water heating on for 2 hours. Also 2 hours water heating for showers seems excessive - I have mine on for 40mins which more than suffices for 2 people.

dubrov

eric 2526 wrote: »

Yeah I have a separate day and night meter. I am looking for any tips or suggestions to help lower my bill? Like the water heater is set up for 3am-5am, for hot water in the mornings. The day tariffs kick in at 6am. Also, I have it set for 7pm-9pm for the dishes.

Also, thanks fiachraX for the link! I think the main culprit might be the storage heater. I usually turned it around 11pm at night and then turned it off when I woke up at 8am-9am. That is probably why I am getting the large bills. Good thing is that its warmer in Dublin these days so i have the heater off 24/7 now. Hopefully that might help?

Thanks for your responses guys. i really appreciate it.

Are you sure it is a storage heater?
You shouldn't need to switch on and off the storage heater every day. You just leave it on and it will switch itself to charge when the night time meter is in operation. It then releases the heat when the day time meter is in operation.

Nighttime meter runs from 11pm to 7am in Winter and 12 midnight to 8am in Summer (it does not recognise the clock change).

So if you have the heater switched on from 11pm to 9am you probably are paying for two peak hours as well as the off peak charge.

Greenmachine

It all depends how warm you like your flat and time of year. My largest 2 month bill for a 1 bed flat was about €140. Smallest bill was a little over €60. That was may-july last year before I bought a tv. A neighbor in the flat next to me told me his 2 monthly bills in winter are €250 and €200 in summer. I reckon he must have heat on non stop. :O

OldBean

Bord Gais here, but not a million miles in the difference. Small 2 bed terrace house with storage heaters (Only 2 of them on), electric shower and 2 computers either running or on standby 90% of the time and we're coming in 230-270.

It's the storage heaters for sure, especially when friends/family are getting bills of 70-150 for a 3/4 bed bungalow.