Massive electricity bill

JayMul

So I'm with Bord Gais and have been living in this same 2 bed apartment for two years. Always been with BG, our average electricity bill is probably around 180, no gas. It went up to €280 once when we were trying out these crappy storage heaters, we have never used them before or since.

So yesterday I got a bill for €720, usage of 3100 day units being the main culprit. I looked and the last two bills periods and they are marked as actual readings. I admit I have never done my own readings so I'm culpable there. I'm wondering is there any chance that these stated actual readings are an error and they've actually been estimating.

I've tripped the switch and the meter did move very slightly in an hour but not enough to cause alarm. Gonna run some meter checks over next few days. As I'm sitting here the usage is about 0.5 units an hour.

We just had a thermostat replaced on the boiler which had practically burned out, this was only used for the overnight heating which was timed to go on during nightsaver hours so not sure if this could be the cause.

As far as siphoning, my wife did let some Sky tech guy come in and hook up a wire while I wasn't around, said he didn't bring a ladder high enough to reach. I inspected this and it looks legit also the end points of the wire are above and below us. Wife should have told them take a hike though, some cheek they have.

Five Lamps

Have you checked your meter reading?
Have you checked what package you are on?

I can't see what the satelite tech has any bearing on this. Sky equipment plugs into a standard socket and the only cable he/she would be running is a coax to the dish.

Call an electrician and get him to check over your wiring and equipment.

JayMul

Yes the meter reading is fine unfortunately and we're on nightsaver. Absolutely, going to called the electrician tomorrow. I doubt my wife checked the Sky techs credentials, could have been anyone. Looks like a coax all the same and isn't attached to anything near us.

Five Lamps

JayMul wrote: »

Yes the meter reading is fine unfortunately and we're on nightsaver. Absolutely, going to called the electrician tomorrow.

Is this the right package to be on given that you've given up on the storage heaters. Is there anything else that you have installed in the house that could be consuming a lot of power?

JayMul

Up til now it was a decent package, we have an timed immersion which is on for few hours during the night so made sense for that. Just had a baby last year and my wife has been around the house more often so I have considered moving package, but the bills weren't out of the ordinary til now.
No we haven't installed anything that would use four times our usual. The only unusual event was the storms put out our power for a day during the storms in February but what effect could that have? We did have a faulty thermostat as I said which was replaced as it had nearly burned out.

wmpdd3

You need to tie down when the spike happened.

Can you go through your online account and see what months were estimated and which were not.

Only then can you zero in on when the usage was.

Tow

JayMul wrote: »

Just had a baby last year and my wife has been around the house more often

I find babies to be very expensive. Best to ask the wife nicely how she kept baby warm.

JayMul

wmpdd3 wrote: »

You need to tie down when the spike happened.

Can you go through your online account and see what months were estimated and which were not.

Only then can you zero in on when the usage was.

I did this first thing, the last bill was an actual reading and the one before that. So the spike happened only in this billing period.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Take a reading last thing at night and again first thing in the morning. It should only show a few units for fridge etc during the night. It can be a great indicator of something left on - like an immersion heater.

truedoom

€720 :O i wouldn't even pay that much in a year! defo something wrong somewhere.

JayMul

Raylee Orange Sun wrote: »

Take a reading last thing at night and again first thing in the morning. It should only show a few units for fridge etc during the night. It can be a great indicator of something left on - like an immersion heater.

Nearly all the used units were day units so this isn't applicable. I looked at it this morning to see if the day units were clocking at night, no luck.

mrsbyrne

Tow wrote: »

I find babies to be very expensive. Best to ask the wife nicely how she kept baby warm.

I wouldn't do that.

wmpdd3

ok so it's just inside an 8 week period that this was racked up?

find out what wattage your immersion is and how much would that cost if it was left on?

was there anything extra going on in the house at all during that time?

it's any part of the bill an 'adjustment'?

we racked up a 1000 Euro bill over 4 months when the gas went, 2kw heater in the living room 6 hours per day and immersion for 1 h4 every evening. usual Bill was 180 per 2 months.

JayMul

We went a bit crazy with the Dimplex heaters from September last to March but the last two bills, which were "Actual readings", were only €400 combined which seemed quite low. My first instinct when I saw the bill was that it was a build up of six months of estimates.

The fact that this was on the back of two actual readings is the confusing part, I have spoken to Bord Gais few times and today got a really helpful agent who escalated and filed a complaint.

I've paid half in good faith, I will see if we can make an agreement over the rest.

matrim

Maybe your immersion / heating is still set to winter time and after the time change change it caused you to use them during the daytime

donegal__road

I heard last night, that there is a huge increase on the amount of people with coin meters installed in their homes.. and that these coin meters are easy to by-pass using a magnet.

I wonder would this result in an increase to other customer's meter readings if they are attached to the same circuit?

dudara

Not really a Consumer Issue - Moved to Accommodation & Property

dudara

the_syco

JayMul wrote: »

I've tripped the switch and the meter did move very slightly in an hour but not enough to cause alarm.

This part. Although whatever was taking your electricity may not have been much at that time, who knows how much it takes on average. Get this checked out!

wmpdd3

donegal__road wrote: »

I heard last night, that there is a huge increase on the amount of people with coin meters installed in their homes.. and that these coin meters are easy to by-pass using a magnet.

I wonder would this result in an increase to other customer's meter readings if they are attached to the same circuit?

the energy companies stopped doing coin meters along time ago, but they do install a meter sheet you by credit in a shop and enter the number in return for units.

do you think this can be bypassed.

jetfiremuck

Wife around the house....dryer maybe? They guzzle electricity as do immersions.

donegal__road

wmpdd3 wrote: »

the energy companies stopped doing coin meters along time ago, but they do install a meter sheet you by credit in a shop and enter the number in return for units.

do you think this can be bypassed.

I would say it definitely could not be by-passed.. and I wasn't aware of the new code system either. So forget about the pay as you go meters, my question should have been.. are consumers being charged for the unpaid electricity that is being used by people that by-pass their meters?

Five Lamps

donegal__road wrote: »

I would say it definitely could not be by-passed.. and I wasn't aware of the new code system either. So forget about the pay as you go meters, my question should have been.. are consumers being charged for the unpaid electricity that is being used by people that by-pass their meters?

Eventually yes as the company will increase the cost to cover losses.

Sun in Capri

Just with regard to storage heaters, for these to be cost effective there should be 2 meters - the ordinary one for the lights etc and the night meter for the storage heaters. The heat stores up at night and is released in the day time. The night meter charge per unit is considerably less than the ordinary meter charge. It should indicate the charge for each meter on the bill if there are 2 meters.