Solution to ridiculous Pinergy consumption?

1123heavy · 14-01-2026 01:57PM #1

Hi all,

The 2 of us have just moved into a ~5 year old 2 bed apartment with a pre-paid Pinergy set up. We moved in 2 nights ago and there was a default amount on the supply which we didn't notice how much.

Anyway yesterday AM woke up to no electricity, sure enough the account was -€6. I topped up €40 and setup an auto top up for whenever it hit €5 remaining, expecting it to last few days at least.

This AM (24 hrs later) I got an email from Pinergy of €40 auto payment. Sure enough we "consumed" €34 electricity within 24 hrs!! I can assure we have no abnormal usage rate. No EV charging or anything heavy whatsoever. It's an 80m2 apartment. It has electric heaters. We suspected water immersion but the agents told us to leave it on due to substantial cost to reheat the water. I have attached the usage screenshot. We cannot figure it out, it's an insane usage. We contacted the housing agency who seem to not have a clue. The weirdest bits are the late night peaks, when we are asleep! The radiators are only ever luke warm when set to 21C. We used our TV a few hrs early evening, the fridge is obviously on and we used the hoover for cleaning on moving in, we used the kettle and toaster twice for tea. Any ideas?

10-10-20 · 14-01-2026 02:08PM

Hi, in 95% of cases it's always the heating. Pull the breaker for the heaters for 24hrs and review the same graph after that point. And be aware that there is a chance that the heating was badly installed and is shared between both units, so see if you notice whether your neighbouring unit then goes cold. 🤨

ongarite · 14-01-2026 02:12PM

You are paying a rip off rate with Pre Pay Pinergy plus a daily meter fee. 41c per unit.

Ask landlord ASAP can you switch provider & meter.

The ad on TV says it will save you money but Pinergy is a total rip off & costs YOU more.

brokenbad · 14-01-2026 02:15PM

"the agents told us to leave it on due to substantial cost to reheat the water"

Agents talking bullshit - Leaving the immersion on 24/7 is a bad idea and a waste of energy - a typical 3kW element even at intermittent water temp top ups costs significantly more than turning it on it for a couple of hours to heat water.

KildareP · 14-01-2026 02:18PM

57kWh is quite a large amount of consumption for just a day - is it pure electric heating or a heat-pump?

I suspect heat-pump, as there's a near constant draw of 1kW or more which is a fair bit of power. If that was a pure-electric rad it'd be untouchably hot.

Could it be the apartment has sat idle, no heating at all, for a weeks during the freezing temperatures and the fabric (walls, furniture, etc.) of the apartment is stone cold? It'll take several days for a heat-pump to get it up to temperature at which point the usage should drop off a fair bit.

When you're on prepay electricity you're also going to pay the highest unit rates on the market plus an additional pre-pay meter surcharge - it's by far the most expensive option for electricity and it's going to make high usage hurt even more.

1123heavy · 15-01-2026 10:48AM

Thanks for all the replies. I seem to have narrowed the culprit down to the hot water. The agents truly were talking rubbish, I do wonder why they want it left on 24/7. I ran an experiment yesterday where I turned it off entirely during the day, and boosted the water in the evening before 9pm and had the heating on too. That spike is clear to see in the graph! Still a €25 daily cost with it being off the entire day which is not sustainable so am dumping Pinergy and switching to bord gais.

10-10-20 · 15-01-2026 12:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124148967#Comment_124148967

What type of a tank is it needing around 1.2kWh each and every hour (if you can believe that graph)? Is it insulated or can you share a photo of it? Is it set at the max temperature?

1123heavy · 15-01-2026 05:36PM

My heating knowledge is to the extent of knowing if it is on or off

Here are pictures if this can help anyone explain better, it would be appreciated

10-10-20 · 15-01-2026 06:01PM

That's a combined extract ventilation system, heating and domestic hot water - all rolled into an efficient heat pump unit. That's why you're seeing continuous consumption over the course of the day, as opposed to if you had a hot water cylinder which would only heat up once per day, for example.

https://joule.ie/victorum-air-exhaust-systems/

So yes, you need to be on the best energy rate as all of your heating and ventilation needs are being met by this combined unit.

1123heavy · 15-01-2026 06:12PM

Thanks a lot for that. Would you still recommend keeping the hot water function off? There is a slight issue now. The temp was 14.3C, I turned it on 30 mins ago (not boost) and it went up to ~19C .. it has now dropped back off to 14.3C when it was set for 45C. I am trying to leave asking the agent as a last resort before they get sarcastic asking why I set it off when they said not to (to them the outrageous costs are something to suck up it would seem).

Edit: It is rising gradually again, turns out using the tap with water of the faintest of temperature depleted it.

10-10-20 · 15-01-2026 07:19PM

IIts a heat-pump, so it can have a very slow recovery time, so needs to be left running (although yours might have a boost element, not sure).

IIm guessing here, but perhaps the tank is also supplying the rads, so recovery could be even slower.

smuggler.ie · 15-01-2026 09:08PM

live experiment at someones expense!
Would like to know the final bill before it settle, and after
I guess it could take several hundred € "feed" before apartment warm up and stabilize, in this weather outside now

Optional:

set fire :) or lots of candles - it might be cheaper this way for system to "re-cycle" candle produced heat than heat on "pure" pre-pay electricity.
*dont get me started on listing other heat resources produced by human body :D

10-10-20 · 15-01-2026 09:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124150802#Comment_124150802

57kWh per day is a crazy amount of energy to heat an apartment, to be fair. Even at the lowest rate, its still a fair chunk.

smuggler.ie · 15-01-2026 11:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124150843#Comment_124150843

Its ~20000kWh a year - is what, x4 national average per household per year?

So often people complain about the cost - fair point , but seam lots of them ignore - the cost is combined of two factors:

unit price is very important, but it is not really controlled by consumer. Rest assured, the market will adjust the price (even if it takes to start another war for justification: <list of countries that have fossils and are in war state/under sanctions>)

57kWh/day - quite expensive cave to heat with "latest tech" that suppose to save the planet and does not seam to work as intended.

It must be lovely apartment during summer on other hand, plenty of H water…

ted1 · 18-01-2026 10:22AM

looks like there’s an immersion on the cylinder use that you heat the water.

Also move to a taut that gives you a night rate. It’ll save you a fortune.

10-10-20 · 18-01-2026 11:25AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158536#Comment_124158536

I don't think that's right - it's a heat-pump with integrated heat recovery ventilation, so the demand is continuous over the course of the day - you typically don't offset those systems to nigh-hours (unless I'm wrong).

smuggler.ie · 18-01-2026 03:46PM

The way i see it, and correct me if wrong…

This system "re-cycle" air temperature from bath/kitchen/util and convert into water temperature in the buffer tank, that is then used in rads and/or to heat up tap water, before exhausting it out .
: "to provide 100% of the space heating requirements
and DHW demand of a well insulated apartment
unit. Ensuring compliance with domestic ventilation
regulations and when working efficiently, it can reduce
your home’s energy consumption for heating by up to
50% when compared to conventional heating systems."

First point questionable as we know nothing about building construction quality, second point laughable , unless first point fulfilled to 100%, and if it is, then conventional heating systems might perform in no less efficient manner and/or cost effective (€/1kWh)
Unless i read it wrong, electrical kWh energy is 2-3 times more expensive than any other fuel source (SEAI)

As apartment is cold (due to not been heated for long time or just because not "well insulated") there is not enough heat available for "re-cycle" to meet the demand(of rad heat, HW), and system run on mains power.

Edit: link to joule brochure

Tacitus Kilgore DCLXVI · 18-01-2026 04:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124150843#Comment_124150843

I use about 210 per month, granted my house is small, I have gas central heating and I live alone but even still that's a crazy amount per day.

ted1 · 18-01-2026 05:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158640#Comment_124158640

he’s posted a graph of the load. It’s mainly at nights

ted1 · 18-01-2026 05:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158640#Comment_124158640

see graph and immersion

10-10-20 · 18-01-2026 06:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124159432#Comment_124159432

It says that the unit was turned off on that particular day though: "I ran an experiment yesterday where I turned it off entirely during the day, and boosted the water in the evening before 9pm and had the heating on too. That spike is clear to see in the graph!"

But I see your point from the original graph, but that may have been demand-driven (late showers, etc).

Solution to ridiculous Pinergy consumption?

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