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Insane ESB bill

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  • 02-06-2021 1:41pm
    #1
    Pricer shocker
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    Hi everyone,
    I've just received an electricity bill and im sitting here in shock (pun intended).
    this bill is a bit over twice my usual bill...........
    Nothing has changed in my house except they installed a new meter a few months ago.
    I submit my reading when asked so its not an estimated bill.


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    #2
    Smee_Again
    Registered Users Posts: 2,020 ✭✭✭Smee_Again


    Check the reading, check the rate.

    It should be easy enough to figure out if there's a mistake.

    Have you come off an introductory offer?


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    #3
    FishOnABike
    Registered Users Posts: 4,386 ✭✭✭FishOnABike


    Is the new meter a smart meter? If it is you may be able to check day by day useage and see if there is any identifiable spikes in useage you might be able to figure out.

    At one stage I had a leak in the water pipe from our well to the house. It was a while before I noticed it. As well as watering the garden the well pump was cycling on much more than usual and caused my electricity bill to shoot up for that billing period.


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    #4
    Allinall
    Registered Users Posts: 6,562 ✭✭✭Allinall


    The current reading may be true, but the reading at the start of the bill may have been estimated, and an accurate reading may not have been done for some time.

    Go back through your previous bills to see when the last actual reading was.


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    #5
    Bicyclette
    Registered Users Posts: 378 ✭✭Bicyclette


    Shut down EVERYTHING in your house, that runs on electricity. And then watch the meter. Is it still running? It may be possible that the new meter is wired wrongly and may include something else that shouldn't be running off your electricity.


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    #6
    harmless
    Registered Users Posts: 965 ✭✭✭harmless


    Before the new meter install when was the last time your meter was read?
    My meter has not been read in almost 2 year (I assume because of COVID)


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    #7
    ec_pc
    Registered Users Posts: 446 ✭✭ec_pc


    Bicyclette wrote: »
    Shut down EVERYTHING in your house, that runs on electricity. And then watch the meter. Is it still running? It may be possible that the new meter is wired wrongly and may include something else that shouldn't be running off your electricity.

    THis is good advice and that is what Elec Ireland told me to do in the past. By process of elimination I figured out it was also our well pump which was running almost constantly. I had to go through all the trip switches one by one and checking the meter. Took several hours to do.

    If it turns out it is a meter issue ESB will sort that out at no cost. (that's what they told me at the time)


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    #8
    shanec1928
    Registered Users Posts: 4,126 ✭✭✭shanec1928


    harmless wrote: »
    Before the new meter install when was the last time your meter was read?
    My meter has not been read in almost 2 year (I assume because of COVID)
    that must be down to who ever reads the meters in your area. Ours were read a few times over the last year and was just here the other day too.


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    #9
    ToxicPaddy
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,764 Mod ✭✭✭✭ToxicPaddy


    Got a crazy high electricity bill in April €845.. nearly fell off the chair when I got it. :eek:

    Turned out that the ESB didn't do a meter reading since the previous Sept and based the power usage all through the winter on my power usage for Aug/Sept usage. :mad:

    When they finally did a meter reading it was near the end of March just before they issued that bill and made up the difference of underestimating our bill over the previous 6 months. :mad:

    It is partially my own fault as I didn't submit a meter reading over those months, but I'll know goign forward.

    They are rolling out the smart meters in our area, so can't wait for that as I'll be monitoring it monthly.

    Is there a way to determine what exactly is using what power in the house without going through turning everything off and monitoring the meter?


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    #10
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,133 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    *Rushes off to check bill* ... ok, it was read.

    I think you can arrange to pay the excess spread over a number of future bills. It used to be the case anyway.


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    #11
    harmless
    Registered Users Posts: 965 ✭✭✭harmless


    shanec1928 wrote: »
    that must be down to who ever reads the meters in your area. Ours were read a few times over the last year and was just here the other day too.


    Well they have to enter my house to read my meter so that could be the difference.


    Anyone who is worried should look at their latest bill. See what the estimated meter reading is and then compare it to what your meter shows.


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