What a disaster of an implementation. The smart plans are all rip-offs. I'm disappointed about this failure but I am delighted that there are obviously very few fools about that fell for these overpriced plans
Does anyone know much about the ONE BIG SWITCH company. I have to transfer my parents and my sister over to another provider in the next 2 days as they’re with Panda. A quick google showed me bord Gais have the cheapest option but I have to go via the one big switch website.
Is it kosher? Are there any hidden charges?
Can you not sign up via the Bord Gais website?
I'm not familiar with that site to comment on it.
You sign up via the one big switch website. For comparison-
I've used onebigswitch before and can confirm they are 100% legit although not always the cheapest
Thanks. I think 22.16 is the cheapest rate (standard 24 tariff) that I have come across so far.
Just be wary, does that include the price rise coming in October. It's something like +40% on unit rates.
I called Energia last week. Price rise in early Oct has me on 28.5c inc vat on 24 hr meter. On 21.5c now
https://m.independent.ie/news/environment/smart-meter-users-to-pay-more-for-peak-time-electricity-with-off-peak-reductions-to-match-42024849.html
https://www.independent.ie/news/environment/smart-meter-users-to-pay-more-for-peak-time-electricity-with-off-peak-reductions-to-match-42024849.html
What percentage discount are you on at the moment?
No idea but was best cost plan on Bonkers a few months ago.
That's just for people on the smart tariffs though, rather than with smart meters, right?
I won't be changing to a smart meter anytime soon, already on a day night. But, is there anywhere I can see unbiased information on the various options, including smart meter and day/night, etc.
I appreciate there are many app options, but I am looking for an description of what is the general range of options.
TIA
What a load of boll1x
Smart meters: People urged to consider tariff options (rte.ie)
The price comparison sites is a central place to see the various options
bonkers.ie switcher.ie
Or go to each providers website.
If you have a smart meter but aren't on a smart plan you can't see when you're using electricity. It requires a lot of looking at how much each item uses and how often it's used to see what changes could be made to your usage pattern and nullifies a lot of the advantage of the smart meter.
Having said that, I can see how I would have saved money when I was younger and living alone. I was gone to work by 7:30 and usually went out somewhere after work and wasn't home before 7. On Saturday I did my washing and meal prep for the week and was off doing something fun on Sunday. The central heating was gas. At this point in my life it would make no sense. The house is occupied all the time and has a heat pump. The cars are electric. I'm not giving up my day/night meter.
The comparison websites don't seem to have an option to input your breakdown of day/night/peak charges, which makes it impossible to decide smart plans based on them.
It doesn't require much looking at all. Does it produce heat? Then it uses a lot of electricity; the more heat, and the quicker it's produced, the more electricity used. All this nonsense about smart meters giving insights into usage - there really isn't that much of a mystery to it at all.....
In general yeah I'd agree with that. However, he demographics of the people reading these forums would tend to be more clued in than most with where and how they use their energy. That said, there are many out there who are clueless. Clueless!! They would be unable (or unwilling) to do the analysis themselves and need to "See it on a gadget" to know that moving their washing machine from 5pm to <some other time> will save them €3/month .... or whatever.
If this means that they can save a few quid and be kinder to our environment then that's a good thing I guess. Right?
My gas boiler produces heat. It doesn't use that much electricity. Theory blown out of the water.
If it creates heat it uses energy (could be electricity, gas, sticks in a fireplace, coal, even a dynamo on a bike...)
We're specifically discussing electricity here, smart meter insights.
Exactly, we're discussing electrical appliances, not gas boilers. Perhaps you meant to post on another thread....
My point is more that the data is being captured, but the end user isn't given access to it unless they sign up to a smart plan, and the easiest way to determine if their current usage pattern would save them money on a smart plan is to look at the data. There are some people whose natural electricity usage pattern would save them money on a smart plan, but they can't easily see it.
Your method is over simplistic, and just looks at what can be moved to a different time. It doesn't take account of things like base load and the end user has to pay attention to what time things are being used.
Your smart meter will give you a rough idea without being on a smart tariff. It will still give you day, night, peak.
Electricity usage is easy, crude is meter readings morning and night, next buy a cheap energy plug and track usage of all appliances, you will then be left with electric shower and oven which have power ratings and if on for a period of time can be tracked with meter readings
For the likes of you, me and the other denizens here Slave, it's a trivial task. A €50 Owl meter I bought 10 years ago was my first entry myself. However, as much as I wish otherwise....we're perhaps the minority. Most people out there don't know a "what" from a "watt". The washing machine might as well run on the tears of unicorns or witchcraft. All they see is the bill at the end of the month and sadly they don't realize what applicances are using a lot verses others and what they can do to change/help.
Am I being overly harsh thinking the general population are fools? No. Not at all - but for most of them, they simply don't care. The energy spikes lately will however get a lot more people looking and if there's one positive that will come out of it, there's nothing like a crisis to focus the collective spirit and we can as a country get better informed.
I also see another 20-30% coming in increases too!
A gas boiler is still an electrical appliance. Turn off the power and see how much heat you get out of it. Perhaps you're posting on the wrong site?
They are using the rates from May in their claims this is pretty dishonest as the new rates are in place from today and have been announced weeks ago
Do you turn off the fridge overnight?
It's the burning of gas that produces the heat though.
The electric isn't being used to produce the heat, maybe a tiny bit at ignition but it's only for control.
The point is valid, appliances that produce heat are the ones to watch.
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