Ireland 3rd most expensive for household electricity in EU.

koura

Ireland is 3rd most expensive for household electricity in Europe at 25.4c per Unit.
See official report from EU.

And is the MOST expensive Excluding taxes and levies.

Eurostat report (PDF file)

And this time we cannot blame taxes and levies.

So much for competition!!!!!!!!

slimjimmc

Mod note: Updated the above link as some mobile users were not aware it points to a PDF.

L1011

We used to be amongst the cheapest. The ridiculous regulatory decision to allow ramping of consumer prices to "encourage competition" in the business energy sector will haunt us for decades.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You can blame the regulator( CER) or the Green Party who broke up ESB. Bumping up prices to encourage competition, subsidising alternative/green energy....

Don't get me started.


And our broadband charges are double the EU average!

the_syco

L1011 wrote: »

We used to be amongst the cheapest. The ridiculous regulatory decision to allow ramping of consumer prices to "encourage competition" in the business energy sector will haunt us for decades.

Agreed.

Also, IMO, we should build more hydro dams, or at least increase the efficiency of the existing ones.

ScottSF

For me the bigger statistic to compare is how much is the average electricity + gas bill in Ireland (per household size) versus the EU countries.

The reason is I wonder if households in Ireland are much more likely to have electric immersions and heating systems instead of much lower cost gas appliances. So the high cost of electricity in Ireland is actually even higher if so many of us are heating their water and homes (and cooking) with electricity.

Anyone know the statistics on this? Maybe what helps offset our higher rates is that Ireland doesn't get as cold a winter as most European countries.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ScottSF wrote: »

For me the bigger statistic to compare is how much is the average electricity + gas bill in Ireland (per household size) versus the EU countries.

The reason is I wonder if households in Ireland are much more likely to have electric immersions and heating systems instead of much lower cost gas appliances. So the high cost of electricity in Ireland is actually even higher if so many of us are heating their water and homes (and cooking) with electricity.

Anyone know the statistics on this? Maybe what helps offset our higher rates is that Ireland doesn't get as cold a winter as most European countries.

I don't have those stats but I can't agree that gas is a cheaper means of heating water at all. I've been there and did the comparison in my own home.

delahuntv

Shop around and you'll pay just over 16c a unit. On eurostat rate (it proportions out fixed charges over average use) that's about 21c which is about average.

Switching takes about 60 to 90 seconds online - I switched to panda power last week. Energia are very similar price.

To switch you simply need mrpn number, meter reading and your bank details.

ScottSF

I always thought that gas was cheaper but I never did (or could) do a direct comparison in Ireland. In the USA that has been my experience and that is why gas is very common for hot water and central heating systems.

In general my concern is efficiency so that is why I was curious about Ireland's average electricity bill versus the EU average. For example heating a cylinder of water if you only need to take one shower. Or Storage Heaters which store up heat overnight (at a lower rate) whether or not you will need it. Power showers and water pumps which seem more common in Ireland than in the places I've visited across Europe. Plus I've heard that a lot of older homes are not well insulated so that could raise the bill significantly in the winter months. So maybe Ireland is even more expensive in this survey if you take into account average bills instead of unit based.

delahuntv

ScottSF wrote: »

In general my concern is efficiency so that is why I was curious about Ireland's average electricity bill versus the EU average. For example heating a cylinder of water if you only need to take one shower. Or Storage Heaters which store up heat overnight (at a lower rate) whether or not you will need it. Power showers and water pumps which seem more common in Ireland than in the places I've visited across Europe. Plus I've heard that a lot of older homes are not well insulated so that could raise the bill significantly in the winter months. So maybe Ireland is even more expensive in this survey if you take into account average bills instead of unit based.

The temperature of the water coming into the house is the biggest variable in amount of electricity used for water heating.

In the winter, water coming in is about 6 degrees. In the summer it is about 14 degrees.
This temperature difference is quite substantial - I'm sure some scientific head can give a guesstimate on it, but I read somewhere that it takes about 30% more electricity to heat 6 degree water to boiling than 14 degree water.