Electric Ireland's Home Electric + Saver tariff

Jay Dee

Hi,

Just off the phone with Board Gas... My electricity provider/biller.

I was trying to get an App to monitor my electricity on a daily basis.

They can offer a flat rate 24hour tariff for 44c per unit.

or

They have a 3 item tariff

1 - Day rate Mon - Fri 8am to 11pm 43c.

2 - Night rate Mon - Fri 11pm to 8am 32c

3 - Free one day Sat or Sun 9am to 5pm

However the app only applies to the 3 step tariff.

And if you go to the 3 step you cannot go back !!

My question is... Does anyone know of a means of recording the usage on a daily basis.

I was using the meter readings on a daily basis, and they confirmed what I was suspecting,

The readings do spike , and to a very high level on some days.

EG ::

Day 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

Units 21 19 13 29 42 20 20 16 29 31 20 22 20 21 16

However that is of no use when you ring Board Gas.

Daily readings on a sheet of paper are not verifiable.

Any on in the same boat. Any ideas / suggestions would be great.

My bills were MJJ 272.00, JAS 276.00, SON 383.78, NDJ 795.91

Thanks

Jay Dee.

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DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058286535/electric-irelands-home-electric-saver-tariff

Run the numbers before you move. I assume you don’t have a smart meter? That let’s you monitor on a daily basis. If you do, it shows the usage for day, night and peak. Then you can work out what % you already use in those 3 buckets. I did that for my folks. They don’t want to load shift appliance to run at night so the 24hr tariff better suited them.

Are you looking to monitor to reduce usage, find the best tariff??? I’d personally run a mile from a free Sat or Sun – you’ll end us trying to jam in all the domestic jobs that day (washing, piles of it) – horses for course of course

Go to bonkers.ie once you know your usage and can see what others offer.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks for the information.

I have a smart meter.

and I have the 24hour plan.

The Numbers are the problem.

I am trying to prove / verify the spikes .

Results I have been getting show

Day usage 13 09 11

Night usage 25. 16 12.

I'm trying to find a means of disputing the results.

rather than reduce usage. as we are not doing anything different, day to day.

I also believe that the night rate should not be higher than the day rate. but in a lot of cases it is.

No help from Board Gas,

Jay

DC999

So the issue is you feel the smart meter isn’t accurate. Go old skool detective then and find out what is the energy hog. Turn everything off and document that was turned off and when. Check the meter an hour later to see what kWh you’ve used. Every house has some load (alam box, fridge, freezer). But get it down to just those for a few hours to check the numbers.

Anything heating will use a lot of electricity (immersion, kettle, washing machine, dishwasher, electric rad, electric oven) – so start with those. Tumble dryers eat juice. Could your immersion be on a timer. Could there be an electric rad plugged in that people forgot (shed, attic, garage…). Air fryer uses a lot less power than the electric oven (smaller area to heat). Do you have an electric car that is charged? If you’ve kids or a house mate, could they be cyrpto mining – uses a huge amount of electricity on their computer. Is there a backup fridge or freezer in the garage? Go room by room – you’ll be surprised how many devices are plugged in. How do you heat your house? Even if it's with gas or oil, the water pump (pumping into the rads) could use a few kWhs a day when the heating is on a lot.

Your usage seems to go from 13 to 42. What changed on those days? All rhetoric Qs of course.

Library has a free kit that shows the energy used for anything you plug into it. Or buy one on Amazon: Amazon.co.uk : kill o watt meter. Shows the energy per device (which is handy in the future to see where you can reduce or remove older heavier energy devices). That can’t see anything that goes direct to the fuseboard like the immersion.

If you feel everything is off but the meter is still showing a lot of energy being used, you’ve another other. But step1 is above. More you know, better you’re armed. Anyways, enjoy the hunt. More you turn off, more you save forever more

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks again.

The problem I have. is that there is nothing running on a casual basis.

It's my wife and our son.

We Use mostly the same every day, also if the spike is at night, there is no one there to see it.

There is nothing unusual going on, usage wise, I just cannot work out why one day is 13 and the next it.s 42 !!

I was hoping that there was something in the market like the tachographs you get in trucks , but that's probally a long shot ...

Jay

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305973#Comment_120305973

There is a type to monitor the whole house. You clip the cable around the incoming power feed and it reads what is passing through it. Check it’s a model that doesn’t need an electrician to fit. Should say there is a CT clamp (which is the clip that will sit around the power cable to your meter).

This one would do it - you’ll need to check what cable diameter you need when ordering. Your house will be ‘single phase’ (unless you are unusual and have upgraded in the past to a '3 phase' – uncommon for houses): Elite Classic - Efergy. Or they have others models on the homepage.

They are less accurate when there is a low amount of power being used afaik, you don’t have that problem by sounds of it. Never used one of these monitors before, but others on the forum have have. Some UK power providers used to give them to customers.

Other brands (but seem to be out of stock: Eco Eye Smart | Smart Energy Monitor (purchase.ie) or Heating Controls & Energy Monitoring | Home | The OWL

If that monitor shows the same power (or very close to it) as the meter, something is using the power. If they are very different, check it's on the correct power cable (the main feed) - instructions should tell you how to identify that for the self-setup part. Don't do something you're not comfortable with when setting up, it's still electricity! If there's still a gap between the 2 meters, you’ll then have to somehow request the meter is tested for accuracy. You wouldn't want it replaced immediately if you suspected it was faulty in case you could have been overcharged for usage.

Granolite

Set up an account with ESB networks here;

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/

Once you set up a personal account you can enter your MPRN details and once this is verified you can view your electricity use in half hour intervals over every 24hour period. You can be with any electricity contact provider e.g electric Ireland, Bord gais, Flo Gas etc. to sign up for this.

Jay Dee

Hi,

That was just what I was looking for..

I have loaded it up and it works a treat.

Peaks and troughs in graph form.

Very useful..

Thanks again.

Jay