Serious Price hike on Electricity - adding €200 to annual bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802363#Comment_123802363

That site is great!

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802008#Comment_123802008

I normally do, but the last few years Energia have come back and told me they'd match what savings I was getting by switching so I stayed put. Don't think they'll do it now though. Saving over 500 in switching this time.

thebourke

why dont more people switch to solar panels due to the rises in electricity prices over the last few years?

Large bottle small glass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802535#Comment_123802535

It's not exactly cheap to do.

You have to mount panels on roof and then pay electrician to run wiring from roof to inverter.

We did it as part of a deep retrofit, and even with grant and zero VAT rate, payback time (with a big assumption the rate paid doesn't fall further) is about 10 years.

Before focusing on solar, reducing usage and diverting as much usage to night rate along with changing suppliers annually are going to give a much better return for no capital input.

I don't use dryer, washing machine or dishwasher unless there is someone in the house awake. I've seen the aftermath of too many appliance fires

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802535#Comment_123802535

Because it’s expensive (installers increased prices by the amount of subsidies the moment those came out) and for most of the year they do **** all with most production concentrated in summer months

Oh and then panels and batteries degrade, had system installed for just over 5 years now and still nowhere near breakeven despite prices going up through roof since

There’s a long standing thread here with people posting their production numbers across the country

Things are only gonna get worse as I doubt night rates would last for much longer and be done away with

Just checked electric Ireland

Day: 0.34

Night: 0.16

Feedin: 0.19

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802535#Comment_123802535

As @Large bottle small glass said, reducing and being smarter with your usage should be something everyone should look at before anything else.

We recently got solar and there is a significant initial outlay.
That said, we had been with Energia and had just gone out of contract so therefore we were paying about €0.35/kWh on a 24/7 basis.
I looked at our options and I switched to Electric Ireland. The feed in rate for our solar was almost the same as with Energia but the standard electric usage rates were way lower especially when you factor in the 30% reduction on those rates.
Now, the bulk of our usage (electric showers) is at €0.136/kWh and our peak usage rate is still about €0.10 lower than Energia!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802535#Comment_123802535

Batteries would be far more useful and cost effective for the majority of Irish households and would massively benefit our grid if more had them but the government scrapped the subsidy for them 2 years ago.

thebourke

so are most people that get solar panels not getting the batteries to store power?

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802900#Comment_123802900

It will depend on ones needs and budget.
Batteries are useful if you aren't using the electricity there and then or don't have a huge need to heat water. as they can be expensive to buy (~€5k).

Rocket_GD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802900#Comment_123802900

Do you have solar panels and batteries?

A full solar set up doesn't come cheap, many cannot afford the outlay on them. Is it not pretty obvious why people don't have them?

I got 12 solar panels 2 years ago. Cost me €6k, no batteries but have an EV for the past year. I've never had to pay a bill since I got them and am in credir most of the time from April until October. 2 adults in the house with regular visits from 2 of our adult children with their spouses and 6 grandchildren. I'm with Energia for now, charge car from 2am to 6am @6.6c, also do the laundry during those hours plus our hot water. I certainly don't in any way think the 6k was overly expensive at all. In fact, I'd say it was probably the best investment I've ever made, and I've made quite a few both good and bad, wonderful and terrible. I know Goverment gave everyone free money to help with energy bills during this time and understand they helped to make bills less than they could have been, but still a winner.

Geuze

I'm all for solar panels, but doing the laundry between 2am and 6am is a bit much.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803012#Comment_123803012

Why? It's usually once a week and the time is set, no one needs to get up and all it needs is put clothes out on the line in the morning. We're in our 70's and find all this quite easy for now. Why waste money doing it during the day? But, that's your choice and off you go.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803012#Comment_123803012

That's the benefit of the battery + solar panels so even if there's no sun then you've charged off the night rate so any major usage is using cheap electricity

SodiumCooled

Reducing the FIT really is a joke while also increasing prices - they are saying it costs more to provide the energy but aren’t willing to pay those selling it from their own systems.

It’s time FIT was set by the regulator at a decent price (20 - 25 cent per kWh) and no option given to any energy company but to pay it. It’s pure clean energy not costing anything (bar the homeowners outlay) to produce.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803024#Comment_123803024

Having a chat with a neighbour the other night about how much the panels cost me, etc. He said they were too dear for him but he'd think about it. He's a nice bloke but he and his Mrs smoke a fair bit, at least a 20 pack each per day. Cigarettes cost near enough €20 per 20 so that's a minimum of €280 a week. Yes, that's €1100.00 a month. But of course I'm not going to tell them that, even though they tell us our health insurance is crazy too. I'd say there's huge no's of a similar type of families finding it hard to survive, but?

Geuze

Ah, okay, you are asleep, and the washing machine is running?

I thought you were awake at 2am doing it.

Does the machine not beep at the end of the cycle?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803468#Comment_123803468

90% of the time you can turn off those beeps. Check the manual or search for the specific model number and "disable beeps"

Busman Paddy Lasty

During the last 3 years batteries have come down in price thankfully. A system now even with batteries should have a 7 year payback. Oddly as electric prices go up the payback comes down.

I start the dishwasher at 6 am. Standard night rate ends at 8am, we are not obliged to run appliances at 11pm. Or 2 am for an EV rate, not worth it for 1 kWh, compared to putting 21kWh into an EV.

CRU have a document published. I think Eirgrid have 5c and ESB 7c on every kWh sold (open to correction on this please) so we just can't ever have a 24hr rate less than 20c again as VAT and retailer margin are added. PSO too which will hit low income households harder than people that can afford solar in the first place.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803468#Comment_123803468

Ha ha, you need to get up to date with modern appliances, etc.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803041#Comment_123803041

the batteries wear out quick

Geuze

My wife is a very light sleeper, I doubt she'd accept the washing machine and/or dishwasher running between 11pm and 6am.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803621#Comment_123803621

Once the kitchen door is shut, I can't hear the dishwasher in the hallway let alone upstairs. How noisy is yours?

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803617#Comment_123803617

My batteries are rated to 8000 charge cycles that is 22 years if fully charged and discharged everyday (which is unlikely to happen everyday 365 days a year). I wouldn't call that wearing out quick.

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803655#Comment_123803655

Dont mind that poster, he has a bee in his bonnet about all things renewable.

OneEightSeven

One of the reasons why electricity is so expensive is due to one-off housing. Maintaining overground power lines costs much more than underground lines due to storm damage - think back to January when that storm knocked out the power for a record number of homes. Someone has to pay for that and the cost falls back on the customers. People living in one-off houses pay a rural tariff on their electricity, but it doesn't cover the full cost, so us urban dwellers are subsidising their overground lines in the form of stealth taxes due to decades of FF/FG incompetence.

https://chatgpt.com/share/68c1adaf-9234-8004-9956-826189f7420e

Same goes for broadband. Our line rental subsidses their line rental.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803655#Comment_123803655

Your chineseum batteries claim one thing, just wait and see

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803779#Comment_123803779

rural land is being carpet bombed with panels and windmills so city dwellers get to not have power plants in their docks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803617#Comment_123803617

That is conspiracy nonsense spread by the anti science/climate change idiots. Mine(dyness) and most others are rated for close to if not more than 20 years lifespan and all have 5/10 year warranties minimum.