Very high kwh usage for 1 person?

HatCat · 26-01-2026 07:37PM #1

Hi folks,

My electricity consumption seems incredibly high. I live alone in a one bedroom apartment. I don't use heating ever, I don't have a dryer, I don't use the dishwasher. I use the washing machine 1x a week. I don't leave the lights on, and while I am on my computer a lot it doesn't seem that it should consume that much power. The only appliance that's constantly running is the fridge.

I randomly complained to my mum about my electricity bills, and she asked me what my kwh usage looks like. After showing her she told me that mine is higher than my family's (and they're 2 combined families in one house, 6 people, heating and AC constantly running, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher etc. in constant use). So apparently I am somehow using more kwh than a family of 6? I live in a cold apartment cause I am afraid to turn on the heating due to high bills, and I feel bad whenever I turn my immersion heater on for a bit longer than normal, in fears of the electricity cost…

What is going on here? Is this 'normal'? Do I have a faulty meter? I live in an apartment complex, so I don't have access to my meter (I have to ask security for numbers etc.) - is it possible I was given the wrong meter number and I'm paying for someone else's usage?

Attached is a screenshot of my kwh usage in 2025. Mind you, I was not home for the month of september, and everything was turned off apart from the fridge, and yet I still ended up with 394kwh for the Sep-Oct period. I am with Electric Ireland.

Kalimah · 26-01-2026 10:01PM

That’s no way to live. I had a look at my usage for the same period- 677kwh. That’s a 4 bed detached house with an electric shower, lit up like a Christmas tree, three of us living here.
How long are you living there?

HatCat · 26-01-2026 10:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183135#Comment_124183135

Ok, so something indeed seems off …

I've lived here just under 2 years, and the usage has been the same since the beginning, it seems. Though I paid a bit less for the first year since I was on a 'new customer' deal with Electric Ireland.

Kalimah · 26-01-2026 10:36PM

I had a look at my latest bill which covered Christmas. 913kwh used and the bill was €311.

phormium · 26-01-2026 10:49PM

Just had a look at old bill, closest one I found was June/July last year. I used 394 units (same as your sept/oct), now I wouldn't be using electricity for heat either but I live in a 2,500 sq ft 4 bedroom house and I bake a good bit so use the oven frequently. I use the washing machine couple of times a week, dryer/dishwasher seldom, have an electric shower and have a radon fan which is on 24/7.

I have tested every single thing in my house couple of years ago when electricity got expensive to see what was using what, got rid of an old freezer that was quite heavy due to it's age, I had two anyway. I have also regularly checked what the 'tick over' rate of the house is, as in if I'm away and nothing is on but the fridge and the freezer, the internet, radon fan and sky box and the house runs on approx 2 to 2.5 kw per day.

So in summary your bill sounds high, can you talk to landlord to clarify your actual meter and the readings on it to establish that it is correct at least or see what is going on!

Alkers · 26-01-2026 11:35PM

Do you have a smart meter? If so start monitoring on a day by day basis online. If not read the physical meter so you can verify the usage.

You mention immersion, which is a big user of power - might be cheaper to use your central heating - what system do you have?

If you have time to mess with it, you can turn everything off at the main fuse and monitor usage, then turn off all the circuits and turn them back on one by one and see if anything is consuming more than expected.

HatCat · 27-01-2026 12:00AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183386#Comment_124183386

Unfortunately I don't have access to my meter - I live in an apartment complex and the meters are located in the security office outside of the complex, and we don't have access. If I want a meter reading I need to go there or call them and request they send me numbers. So I have never even seen my meter.

I use the immersion to heat my water - it's the only option I have for that. I have electric radiators throughout the house, but I've never used them, because of the high bills I'm getting.

I'll try and turn everything off for an hour tomorrow, and ask security for meter readings before and after, to see if anything suspicious happens. If not I suspect I have an appliance or something that is using dramatic amounts of power? And the only real culprit that is always active would be the fridge.

HatCat · 27-01-2026 12:05AM

So my Nov-Dec usage is almost 600kwh. But I haven't been using heating, or had any chrismas lights etc… In fact my month to month usage should be about the same throughout the year, perhaps a bit more in winter just because I use immersion a bit longer to heat up water. But according to the graph above there is quite a fluctuation. I wouldn't find it weird if I actually used heating or cooked more during winter months, ect., but like I said, I don't do that.

HatCat · 27-01-2026 12:10AM

Is it at all possible that I was given the wrong meter number when applying to my electricity provider? It just seems to me like I'm paying for a family household instead of for a single person apartment.

greenbin2 · 27-01-2026 12:17AM

This is a depressing read, hope you get sorted, no way the immersion is to blaim unless it's on 24x7 and you have a hot water leak, we use the immersion all summer every year (2 adults 3 teens )and it doesn't effect the bills

Lenar3556 · 27-01-2026 12:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183471#Comment_124183471

Unlikely, but possible. I would suggest going to see the meter yourself and take photographs. Switch things off and try and find out where it’s going.

Your consumption seems high relative the usage you report, but apartments often use electric heating which is a significant factor in increased consumption. Have you no heat now at all? The usage pattern does show more energy used in the winter vs summer, but the base is quite high particularly in summer for someone who has almost nothing switched on.

HatCat · 27-01-2026 12:44AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183504#Comment_124183504

No, I have no heating on, ever, I never even used any of the electric radiators I have in the apartment in the two years I've been here. And I only use the immersion to heat my water for showering and washing dishes.

5uspect · 27-01-2026 01:30AM

When you go and see your meter take a photo of it so you can record the Meter RM and serial number. Call ESB Networks and see if that matches to the MPRN that’s on your bill.

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/services/manage-my-meter/how-to-find-your-meter-rm-and-serial-number

Fawkon2 · 27-01-2026 03:11AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183554#Comment_124183554

Do you have access to the breaker box in the Apartment?

If you do I'd recommend (if possible) turning off all breakers (except maybe the fridge breaker if clearly labelled) for one hour in a day. e.g. 9pm - 10pm

You can then review that days hour by hour usage when it becomes available from your Electricity provider. If your hourly breakdown shows any real power usage during that one hour you know you've got some serious issue such as your MPRN is incorrectly assigned. If there is power use being shown you need to contact your building management ASAP with your findings as someone has made a mistake (not you) and needs to rectify immediately.

If the hourly breakdown does show a complete reduction in power use than something unbeknownst to you is drawing very high power behind the scenes and you should contact an electrician to investigate, it will save you much more than the cost of one in the future.

Considering you are being very energy conscious and are using the heating very rarely or not at all there is something very wrong with the numbers you have shared and you need to identify if it's something power wise within your apartment or is it something completely outside of your control.

Kalimah · 27-01-2026 09:51AM

How do you dry clothes with no heating?

malibu4u · 27-01-2026 10:20AM

Maybe check to see if there is a storage heater somewhere giving out a low heat?

Surely an apartment lived in with no heat would be damp and mouldy? Not to say very miserable in the winter? Things like towel never dries?

Escapees · 27-01-2026 10:42AM

What number appears after the MCC code for the meter on your electricity bill? If it indicates a smart meter, then you can just access the meter data yourself by registering with ESB Networks.

Also, fridges and freezers can have significant electricity consumption if the seals etc. have become compromised over time. However, you'd probably notice the room being warm due to this.

MadeInKerry · 27-01-2026 10:59AM

I lived in an apartment once and it was about a year before I noticed that my meter that the ESB had registered to my apartment was actuyally the apartment next door and vice vera. Someone had sent in the wrong MPRN numbers when they were first registered with ESB and had been wrong since then. I got a lot of money back after it was all sorted out.

wai_xing_ren · 27-01-2026 10:59AM

electricity_graph_bars.png

I live in a one bedroom all electric house. I use about 4000 kWh per year. The attached graph shows my usage. Last January was low because I was away for 3 weeks. My base usage (blue) all year round is about 50 kWh per month. The offpeak usage (red) is heating - storage heaters and immersion heater.

The fact that your usage rises in winter suggests some heating load is involved.

My money would be on misconfigured storage heaters or you are getting the wrong bills.

ted1 · 27-01-2026 11:03AM

OP, if you have a smart meter, can you post a screen of your daily usage.

then what you need to do is to turn off the electricity at the main fuse for 1 hour, go for a walk or something. then in 2-3 days log back into your account, check to see if the usage was zero for at least a full 30 min block.

There could be a number of reasons.

1: your meter is not been read and its an estimated reading

2: your meter is mixed up with a neighbour

3: your meter is also feeding somewhere else

4: you've a faulty appliance, fridge/freezer compressor is gone so its always running.

5: dodgy immersion,, have you always hot water? is your cylinder insualted? is there a light to show when its on?

6: your heating is always on.

7: 394kwh /60 days /24 hours is a base load of 273w. might just be your lighting, are you using LEDs, or are you using old school lighting? 1 incandescent light bulb of 100W is the equivalent of 25 LEDs.

8: something else

Havenowt · 27-01-2026 11:04AM

That is very high amount of units, How long do have the immersion turned on for?

Escapees · 27-01-2026 11:15AM

It's also worth checking over your past bills to see if electricity meter readings are customer submitted, estimated or actual. If some are actual, then that means an ESB meter reader visited and confirmed the actual reading (for the labelled meter). In which case, I'd be thinking in terms of a mislabelled meter being the issue. There's also a super remote possibility that all common areas electricity use (heating, lighting etc.) is for some reason connected to your apartment supply rather than through an independent meter.

10-10-20 · 27-01-2026 11:18AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183471#Comment_124183471

Hi HatCat,

I suspect that you're being given the incorrect meter data by the block management company. I'd suggest that you contact the management company and request that they provide you access to the specific meter for a visual inspection. Ask them to point out the meter and then take a good photo of the meter including the serial number on the outside. Then call your energy supplier and ask them to validate the serial number with the MPRN which is on your bill and your address in the block, they should match-up on their database. If they don't match-up then you'll have to raise an escalation/complaint into the energy supplier AND into the block management company. The energy supplier should then contact ESBn to resolve the billing issues, but you still will have a valid complaint with the block management company. I'm hoping and expecting that the energy provider will have to credit your account and debit the correct MPRN.

Keep us updated.

paulpd · 27-01-2026 11:19AM

We had a client a few years ago in an apartment block who had huge bills and it turned out he was also supplying nextdoors "horticulturist".

MojoMaker · 27-01-2026 11:22AM

My money is on the immersion. Horrifically expensive way of heating water.

If the rads are off / or the rads are electric then you may have no idea the immersion is on.

Remember being in an apartment share once where they found the immersion had basically been switched on - via a tiny and well hidden switch - for 3 years continuously. Crazy bills per month - but divided out nobody seemed to care one way or the other.

JVince · 27-01-2026 11:28AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183223#Comment_124183223

That is stupidly crazy.

I'm in rural kildare. Large detached out. We have some lights on all day. Washing machine, dryer and dishwasher. 2 fridges, septic tank (pump and blower 24/7). Sometimes uses electric heaters at night to keep an ambient temp. Sometimes use electric heater in the office room.

Bill for November AND December - €241 and that includes standing charges

So get onto management company immediately. Get meter details and photos. Have ESB networks confirm the correct meter for your apartment and then somehow find out who made the error in the first place and see if you can claim back the thousands you've overpaid.

A good way to check is to turn everything off in the apartment including fridges and see what meter has stopped. Then turn on a high usage item such as a 2kw heater and see if that same meter has started moving. If so, then that is your meter.

Btw - you have an absolute right of access to your meter

LambshankRedemption · 27-01-2026 11:38AM

6 jan to 6 march last year i used 411kwh. Dishwasher once a day, washing machine a couple of times a week, two computers, flat screen tv, various other electrical devices.

Do you use the oven much? Or how do you cook things?

It could well be an incorrect meter number.

hesker · 27-01-2026 03:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124184158#Comment_124184158

Will this determine if the management have associated the correct meter with the OP’s apartment. If it was me I would ask to see my meter and then verify by turning off all appliances that this meter stops counting.

HatCat · 27-01-2026 03:45PM

Thank you all for the responses!

I've always lived in a shared households where the landlords just sent us the bills, so I never had a frame of reference for how much kwh is used. I feel silly not noticing something's off sooner.

I will begin investigating today. Starting by going to the security and asking to see my meter, to confirm the serial number and MPRN.

A smart meter was supposedly installed few months ago. I didn't know that I need to register it with ESB first. I will do that, and see what the numbers show.

Some questions answered:

Clothes and towels dry very slowly, and with the help of a dehumidifier.
Yes, it is cold and damp in the apartment, about 10-15 degrees in winter.
No sneaky heater turned on anywhere, I would've noticed, and the apartment is not that big for it to be able to be hidden anywhere.
I turn on the immersion for about an hour a day altogether (15min in the morning, and 30min or more in the evening, just to heat up my water). I don't believe it's on in the meantime, as I'd have unlimited hot water in that case. I have to press a button to select the amount of time I want it to heat, it doesn't do it automatically.
I don't do any crazy cooking. I cook in batches, and then use the hob/oven to reheat things, so maybe 15min on the days I don't cook.
The bills should be actual reading, with 1 reading a year estimated, but I will double check that

pjdarcy · 27-01-2026 03:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124183446#Comment_124183446

Can you login to the website of your electricity supplier and check if you have a smart meter OP? When I login to to electric ireland, it shows that I have a smart meter and there's a link to download usage data as shown below

ted1 · 27-01-2026 03:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124184167#Comment_124184167

its actually really efficient. 100% of the energy used, goes to heating the water. zero losses along the way. A gas boiler is about 60-8% efficient, with losses in the pipe along the way.

Very high kwh usage for 1 person?

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