Electric Ireland bill sky high, where are we wasting energy?

sisalka

I was just wondering if any of you might know if our esb bill needs questioning. Just got one for the last two months of 370. No heating in that since the heating was off until about four days ago (only the controls are electronic, the heating and hot water is gas). The house is newly renovated and insulated, apart from about 10 energy saving bulbs everything else is LED. All appliances are now AA rated. I am paranoid enough about saving energy to unhook my laptop over night and turn off the telly standby. There is only two of us living in the house, no kids or energy consuming hobbies either. So I can't figure out why the bill is higher than in our old house with lots of energy eaters around.

Any clues to why it might be so high? Am I overlooking something? The bill is meter read, 1714 units to be exact. Any ideas are appreciated!

Yawns

older bill might have been an estimate which is only getting corrected now?

delahuntv

Probably estimated based on your consumption in same period last year.

Simply go to the meter box and check the units.

Also as above, previous reading could have been underestimated and this bill has brought that up to date.

If still concerned, take a reading today and then take another reading next Thursday and multiply it by your unit rate.

Finally, make sure you have a rate discount. If you don;t ring and ask or switch to another provider. Then switch every year. (switching is extremely easy)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

OK, firstly start talking in units rather than money. Assuming the reading was correct and not an actual reading following several estimates. Take a reading last thing at night and again first thing in the morning. All that should really be using during the night is the fridge. If the meter progressed more than a couple of units then something is left on or there is a fault.
Is an immersion heater used at all? How much tumbler drtyer time is a week? Do you cook by electric?
We have a bungalow, 2 adults, use electric oven every day, dryer about 4 hours per week, immersion 1 hour daily and usage averages 525 units per two month billing period.

dudara

Was your previous bill also an actual reading, or was it estimated?

EI: Una

Hi sisalka,

If you are the account-holder, private message us your Electric Ireland account number and name, address in full and telephone number if you wish - we can have a look for you then.

Kind regards,
Una

sisalka

Srameen, that is very helpful. The units are from one read meter to another, the bill is therefore the reflection of the actual units, 1714, as mentioned above. We are two people, three bedroomed house, heating and cooking is gas, no tumble dryer at all, electric oven about twice a week, no immersion heater. And our usage for two 'summer' months with still longish evenings were about 30% higher than yours. Something is not quite right. I'll take the advise and I will monitor the usage on a daily basis for a while to see what is wrong and where we are 'leaking' energy. Thanks for all your good advise everybody!! Always much appreciated.

And thanks also to Una, I'll do that and will PM you asap with all the details.

Kensington

Have you a power shower by any chance?

sisalka

Nope, no power shower either. I am keen to keep our carbon footprint small, so very little in the way of energy consuming appliances, way fewer than in our old house (where we had a micro wave).
Like I said, very puzzling. I'll keep an eye on the consumption and if I can figure out what is eating up our units I'll let you know.

srsly78

You should be able to find out what it is by a process of elimination.

Turn everyyything off. Look at the meter, is it moving? By how much? If lots of power is being used with everything off then something is very wrong, might need to get an electrician.

Otherwise, you can start switching things on and see what uses the most power. Also useful is a portable power monitor so you can see in realtime the power drawn by a specific appliance. It is useful to know that some items use milliwatts in standby, so religiously turning them off may not save much money.

Greenmachine

sisalka wrote: »

Nope, no power shower either. I am keen to keep our carbon footprint small, so very little in the way of energy consuming appliances, way fewer than in our old house (where we had a micro wave).
Like I said, very puzzling. I'll keep an eye on the consumption and if I can figure out what is eating up our units I'll let you know.

You do know a microwave is extremely energy efficient. Substantially more efficient than a hob or an oven.