New electric Heaters

2012paddy2012

New apartment , new electric heaters , bill for two months 306 euro.
Seems very excessive. Gone from 6 am each day, Only use them on boost /economical settings , for couple of hours in evening.

Have two electric pull cord switches heaters in the bathrooms. Only use when having bath for 10 minutes maybe twice a week.

Its a 10 year old apartment and insulation needs improvement , no doubt , have to use immersion , for hot water , again I use it sparingly.

I wonder is there anything I can do to reduce this high bills. I also use gas heater / cylinder occasionally as is , to warm the place , again to try reduce bills.
Can you get , say , a push type immersion switch that will countdown say from 30 minutes , just to be sure I'm not leaving it on accidentally?

or , maybe a coin meter , that I could use cash or buy voucher with , to pay as I go along ,? might be easier than facing very large bill every two months

thks

serox_21

you could wire timers on each storage heater (and immersion heater if not already in place)

Glenalla

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

New apartment , new electric heaters , bill for two months 306 euro.
Seems very excessive. Gone from 6 am each day, Only use them on boost /economical settings , for couple of hours in evening.

Have two electric pull cord switches heaters in the bathrooms. Only use when having bath for 10 minutes maybe twice a week.

Its a 10 year old apartment and insulation needs improvement , no doubt , have to use immersion , for hot water , again I use it sparingly.

I wonder is there anything I can do to reduce this high bills. I also use gas heater / cylinder occasionally as is , to warm the place , again to try reduce bills.
Can you get , say , a push type immersion switch that will countdown say from 30 minutes , just to be sure I'm not leaving it on accidentally?

or , maybe a coin meter , that I could use cash or buy voucher with , to pay as I go along ,? might be easier than facing very large bill every two months

thks

You can put a "run back timer" on immersion and set it for anything between 15 minutes and 2 hours.

ercork

Are they storage heaters or on-demand electric heaters? If they are storage heaters then they're probably set to be on for the whole day which will keep the place lovely and warm while you're not there!

Regarding the immersion definitely get a timer fitted to it. Then set it to come on during the half price night time rate (assuming you have a day/night meter).

2012paddy2012

ercork wrote: »

Are they storage heaters or on-demand electric heaters? If they are storage heaters then they're probably set to be on for the whole day which will keep the place lovely and warm while you're not there!

Regarding the immersion definitely get a timer fitted to it. Then set it to come on during the half price night time rate (assuming you have a day/night meter).

No electric heaters on demand...this

Calibos

ercork wrote: »

Are they storage heaters or on-demand electric heaters? If they are storage heaters then they're probably set to be on for the whole day which will keep the place lovely and warm while you're not there!

Regarding the immersion definitely get a timer fitted to it. Then set it to come on during the half price night time rate (assuming you have a day/night meter).

My brother and fiancee just moved into a flat with storage heaters and night rate meter. Do all electrical devices in the flat including the immersion take advantage of the night rate. ie. They are all on the same circuit as the storage heaters?

I always assumed the storage heaters were on a seperate circuit.

I'll fit a thermostat and timer to the immersion fir them in that case and tell them to use the Washer/dryer and take electric showers after night rate kicks in to save money, assuming all devices can take advantage of night rate.

(Flat over shop, so no disturbance concerns having washing machine or shower running after midnight)

ercork

Calibos wrote: »

My brother and fiancee just moved into a flat with storage heaters and night rate meter. Do all electrical devices in the flat including the immersion take advantage of the night rate. ie. They are all on the same circuit as the storage heaters?

I always assumed the storage heaters were on a seperate circuit.

I'll fit a thermostat and timer to the immersion fir them in that case and tell them to use the Washer/dryer and take electric showers after night rate kicks in to save money, assuming all devices can take advantage of night rate.


(Flat over shop, so no disturbance concerns having washing machine or shower running after midnight)

In my own case I have a day/night meter so all electricity used at night time is at the half price rate - immersion, dishwasher, etc. The disadvantage is that my day rate is slightly higher than the standard rate. And my annual standing charge is higher.

However, I know some other people who are on a plan where the night rate only applies to their storage heaters. They then pay the standard rate for all other appliances regardless of the time of day. Energies have their different plans done out on this page:

https://www.energia.ie/price-plans/electricity

You'll have to check your brother's bill to see what plan he's on. I think there's a way to check by looking at the fusebox too but I'm not sure of the details.