Insane bills for a small country cottage we use 2 or 3 days a week :(

Dagon

The electricity bills in my country house have gone through the roof. We only stay in the house about 2 or 3 days a week, and we are getting mad bills.

For example, for this billing period - 
21 February to 29 March 
Cost was 266 euro

There is no way it could be right, even though I've been submitting meter readings online to try and ensure accuracy. - I've been checking the meter and we are burning a serious amount of units each day. We don't even have TV, or washing machine, dryer, etc. Just laptops, radio, a cooker, a kettle, an electric shower (which we use sparingly).

a two day example (one unit = 1kwh):

Meter starts at 3888
9 hours with music and laptops and some lights =
3897 (9 units) 

Use cooker + extractor fan for 30 mins=
3907 (9 units) 

1 hour with light on, and boiling kettle a few times =
3909 ~( 2 units)

.14298 x 20 = 2.85
=≠====+++++++++++============

Next morning 9.30 :
3909

Use cooker for porridge (2 units) :
3911

4 hours with music ,laptops, kettle (6 units) - 1.41pm 
3917

Use cooker for 30 minutes (8 units)
3925

5 hours on the small laptops, radio playing
3930 (5 units)


When I say cooker above, it's a Neff induction hob which is supposed to be energy efficient. 

Is something up with our meter?

The hob is this one:
http://www.currys.ie/product/neff-t1...321859/395.4.3

I'm considering making a complaint about this. 

Electric Ireland, instead of helping me with this problem, only threaten to charge me around 190 euro (approx) if I ask them to check out my meter.

The electricians just tell me to buy energy reading devices to find the source of the problem. But I think the source of the problem is looking like the meter. But I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place because electric ireland won't come to check it unless we pay them nearly 200 euro, and the electricians will also charge me a call out, and will ask me to buy some products and figure out what's going on.


I've emailed Electric Ireland many times, and have also called them, and they just basically tell me that the meters are never (or very rarely) wrong, and it's probably my problem and I need to figure it out myself. All the while I'm paying bills in the region of 266 euro for 1 MONTH in a house we only use at weekends. I've explained all of this to them on the phone a few times and I'm getting the same response; "not our problem mate, figure it out yourself". Well, I honestly can't afford to keep paying these kinds of bills.

In contrast, our main house has 4 occupants, xbox, playstation 2 massive tvs, washer, dryer, lights left on at all hours, microwave, old inefficient electric cooker, oven, etc. and STILL the bills are lower (and people live there full time).

Not a happy customer at the moment and getting more frustrated because nobody seems to want to help me, apart from telling me to buy energy reading devices, switch everything off, check if the meter moves when all is off, etc. I've done all that and it hasn't helped me.

I'll say it again, if I'm not in the house, the meter doesn't move.

Edit: The house is about 100 years old, and I've no idea how old the meter is.

Electric Ireland: Una

Hi Dagon,

We are sorry to read of your situation and we understand your concern.

We can send a service order to ESB Networks (who look after the meters for customers of all electricity providers) to carry out a test on the meter. However, if it turns out that there is no fault with the meter, an ESB Networks call-out charge applies. This is the fee of approximately €190 that you have been advised of.

If it turns out that there is an issue with the meter, the fee does not apply. However, all other possibilities need to be eliminated first, in order to ensure that you will not be charged the fee, should it turn out that there is no issue with the meter.

You mentioned you have carried out the check that involves powering everything off, waiting a matter of minutes and then checking whether the meter is still moving. If the meter is not still moving, this indicates that there is unlikely to be an issue with the meter.

There is another check: powering everything off (including unplugging), waiting a matter of minutes, and then switching each item on one by one, checking the meter for each individual item. If one particular item causes the meter to become over-active, this could indicate a wiring issue. We recommend a check of the wiring by an electrician if this is the case.

Let us know if there is anything else we can assist with.

Regards,
Una

Dagon

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi Dagon,

We are sorry to read of your situation and we understand your concern.

We can send a service order to ESB Networks (who look after the meters for customers of all electricity providers) to carry out a test on the meter. However, if it turns out that there is no fault with the meter, an ESB Networks call-out charge applies. This is the fee of approximately €190 that you have been advised of.

If it turns out that there is an issue with the meter, the fee does not apply. However, all other possibilities need to be eliminated first, in order to ensure that you will not be charged the fee, should it turn out that there is no issue with the meter.

You mentioned you have carried out the check that involves powering everything off, waiting a matter of minutes and then checking whether the meter is still moving. If the meter is not still moving, this indicates that there is unlikely to be an issue with the meter.

There is another check: powering everything off (including unplugging), waiting a matter of minutes, and then switching each item on one by one, checking the meter for each individual item. If one particular item causes the meter to become over-active, this could indicate a wiring issue. We recommend a check of the wiring by an electrician if this is the case.

Let us know if there is anything else we can assist with.

Regards,
Una

Thanks for your response.

I guess I'll just need to work with the electrician to find the source of the issue. I have a feeling the meter calibration could be at fault so I will cross check it with a power reader.