electric bill with ecars

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940779#Comment_117940779

That 3rd plan has always being there for commercial customers in 1/4 hour billing.

if you look at the whole sale pricing , the price goes crazy between those hours. It’s sold at a loss during those hours. They really want to deter people. And hence provide an option to people by offering lower prices outside these times

Kramer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942468#Comment_117942468

They haven't lowered prices though, they've actually increased night rates for everyone with a smart meter tariff. It's tantamount to a bait & switch - "smart meters will save you money", which actually meant you'll pay more!

If the 30% increase in electricity costs doesn't encourage people to use less energy, hey, give 'em a smart meter & charge them even more 😎.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942649#Comment_117942649

smart meters will save money. As people can now see what their Energy usage is. And can look at ways of reducing it.

jester77

What are people paying for electricity in Ireland, savings look good here? Looking at EV at the moment, but electricity here in Germany doesn't seem as cheap, 28c during the night and 32c day time is what I pay. Trying to work out if there would be much savings, would only cover 60-70 km in a normal week around the city, but we would do some 500km+ trips a every 2-3 months.

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942708#Comment_117942708

That's the theory. I tried to get one of these plans but they came back and told me that the meter's connectivity is not good enough to allow me to see the real time data.

The point Kramer is making is that the night tariffs on the smart meters are higher than the night tariffs on the day/night meters. Then you have the peak which is double, and the day which is also higher. So whatever you do you can't get cheaper than day/night tariffs. And we're spending hundreds of millions with this roll out to tell you that the smart meter is not smart at all due to "poor connectivity" and it will work as the dumb day/night but it will cost you more.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942867#Comment_117942867

The bonus credit you get for changing over brings the prices down.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942772#Comment_117942772

I'm on 20c Day, 5c night - Energia's EV rate, Standing charge is about 330/yr tho. (I have solar + battery too, so im running 90% night).

Normal day night is about 18c/8c ish

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942708#Comment_117942708

smart meters will save money.

On current smart plans, as they are laid out now, they wont!

The perceived benefit of seeing your usage can be got via a simple clip on monitor that you can get for peanuts and see the very same data without any need for a meter swap out and keeping your much lower day/night rates.

Hopefully as competiton picks up, the smart meter plans will become more competitive, but avoid at all costs right now.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943174#Comment_117943174

say you pay 2c extra per night unit. You charge 100kwh every week. That’s €104, the sign up bonus is €210, so you are up €106

You are also getting billed monthly with no estimates, so it’s easier to manage.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943174#Comment_117943174

I think this is the point, smart meters report consumption every few minutes, and it's up to the electricity suppliers to come up with creative plans to discourage consumption at peak times. Ideally long term your immersion and other heavy optional loads would turn off at peak times when prices are high. Already in UK EV drivers can set their car to stop and start charging based on fluctuating prices, and things like heat pumps could be turned off for multiple peak hours.

However at the moment day/night plans are in reality cheaper for EV owners, and as said try to use mains gas for hob cooking. The microwave is the most efficient but may not be good for your health.

My EV charging was only 400 euro per year at night rate, but it used nearly as much units as I used at day rate, so check the numbers and shop around every year for the best plan based on your actual consumption figures for day and night rate and do t be fooled by gimmicks and discounts that are not the cheapest.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943554#Comment_117943554

The premium to be paid on the smart plans is way more than 2c extra per unit. Its more like 4-6c depending on the plan you pick and then the peak rate between 5-7pm is worse again.

Signup bonuses are much of a muchness.... you get those across various non-smart plans too. You have to look at the overall cost for the year, not look at the bonus on its own. The smart plans are not good value for money and wont save you money right now unless you have a very specific set of circumstances... the vast majority on this forum would be down money if they switch to a smart plan.

AndyBoBandy

Same. No interest in a smart meter, and when a guy offering solar said I'd 'need to get one', it was a red flag to use that crowd.

I'm with EI for electricity & gas, don't move around every year, and still get €200 per year credit off them, just by calling and committing to them for a further 12 months. I get the direct debit & online account discounts, and am happy enough with my rates (after discount something like D: €0.1652 & N: €0.0816). They offer to dump €100 into both Gas & Electricity accounts, but I just get them to put the €200 into the electricity account, which is about 16% my yearly spend (~€1200). Average usage is steady at 66% on nights, 34% on days.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943047#Comment_117943047

Same, the benefit of this plan is the rates are fixed for the term of the contract so we won't be getting the price hikes coming along.

Move all usage to night rate and keep an eye on your cap and you are away with it, even if you exceed the cap the night rate is still half the day rate.

Having PV also and poor generation in the gloom that was Sept we've now started moving all to night time.

fits

Gas cookers are very bad for indoor air quality. I wouldn’t install one now.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117948651#Comment_117948651

I have to agree, although in my case I've no choice as there's no gas line on the street

I think when it comes time to redo the kitchen I'll switch to a couple of portable induction jobs rather than the built-in electric one

fits

Our induction hob is fantastic but yeah the ol peak rates on electricity won’t be ideal.

kennethsmyth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942708#Comment_117942708

Bull!!! you can do that with a ct clamp and an owl meter. You think people will constantly check their smart meter all the time! As with any gadget it will be used at the start and then never. Note its completely disingenuous or even fraudulent to say that smart meters save money - the rates at present are higher than day/night. So the meter does not save money - its only the person by using less electricity. However if you use the same electricity on a smart meter vs a day/night rate you will still pay more on the smart meter - this was not meant to be the way and is a straight bait and switch. Disgraceful behaviour by government and electricity providers.