What should the ESB bill cost for a single person living in a 1 bed apartment

Minime2.5 · 06-04-2020 3:09pm #1

My bill has been quite high the last few billings I live alone in a 1 bed apartment and I trying too investigate the issue. I was using an electric heater quite a lot over the winter months so that was probably the reason. Apart from that I use my PS4 and watch Netflix quite a bit, I cook perhaps once a day and I have my shower emersion timed to come on for 2 hrs twice a day. What would you expect it to cost per month. I get billed every 2 months. Last month was 350 euro which s crazy

tuxy · 06-04-2020 3:15pm

Anything that has a heating element will eat electricity. Most of these devices you only have on for short periods(kettle, oven etc.)
It was the electric heater that's the cause of the high bill. You should see the bill lower as the weather improves and you use it less.

Minime2.5 · 06-04-2020 3:19pm

Is 100 euro a month still considered high?

tuxy · 06-04-2020 5:04pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Is 100 euro a month still considered high?

How many hours a day were you using the heater?
It's a complete guess but a small space heater can cost about 20 - 30 cents an hour that can really adds up over a 30 day period.
5 - 6 hours a day could add €40 - €50 to your bill per month.

davindub · 06-04-2020 5:54pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

My bill has been quite high the last few billings I live alone in a 1 bed apartment and I trying too investigate the issue. I was using an electric heater quite a lot over the winter months so that was probably the reason. Apart from that I use my PS4 and watch Netflix quite a bit, I cook perhaps once a day and I have my shower emersion timed to come on for 2 hrs twice a day. What would you expect it to cost per month. I get billed every 2 months. Last month was 350 euro which s crazy

Check if it's an estimated or actual bill.

06-04-2020 5:56pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Is 100 euro a month still considered high?

My last bill was about €120 for 2 months - two of us in the house, but our heating and water are run off the gas boiler, and not from the Electricity.

Idbatterim · 06-04-2020 6:45pm

the immersions are such a waste of electric. would you not just put it on for hour etc, for shower. Then if you need boiling water for either sink, just get it from kettle...

the_syco · 06-04-2020 6:51pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I was using an electric heater quite a lot over the winter months

Some are more power hungry than others, and don't always produce that much heat. It also depends on how big the room you're trying to heat is, also.

Sleeper12 · 06-04-2020 7:06pm

Having the immersion on for 2 hours a day is a lot for a single person. You are literally heating up the entire cylinder but most likely only using half of it each day. This isnâ€™t is big issue if you have a cylinder that has an inch of foam around it but if you just have a lagging jacket or nothing at all then you are wasting a bit of money.

Graham · 06-04-2020 7:09pm

+1

Two hours, twice a day even more so.

Humour Me · 06-04-2020 7:12pm

Why is the immersion on for so long? Half an hour is long enough to heat water for a shower and hot water for the bathroom sink. Use the kettle for washing up water.

For comparison, I have a one bed, electric heaters, half hour immersion each day and my bill for Nov/Dec was €103.

Sleeper12 · 06-04-2020 7:16pm

Graham wrote:

Two hours, twice a day even more so.

I didn't notice it was twice a day.

An hour will give half a cylinder of hot water. This will be more than enough for a shower unless there is a pump putting out serious pressure. Having in on for another 30 minutes after the shower would be more than enough to wash dishes and wash hands in bathroom etc

colm_mcm · 06-04-2020 7:17pm

Do you have a night meter?

Do you submit meter readings regularly?

KilOit · 06-04-2020 9:24pm

Electric heaters are the worst, try a oil heater instead.
for immersion we put it on for 30-45 mins a day for 2 of us, it's a 210L tank which is massive so is way overkill for us.

2 hours a day is nuts, put your thermostat down a notch or 2 on the boiler and test how hot it gets after 30 mins, think mine is set around 70 degrees

colm_mcm · 07-04-2020 7:11am

KilOit wrote: »

Electric heaters are the worst, try a oil heater instead.

Like an oil filled electric heater?

Gumbo · 07-04-2020 8:50am

Immersion for 2 hours twice a day seems a lot. My family of 4
Wouldn’t need that.
A 3kw immersion will use 12 kWh in that time. That’s (12x18c) €2.16 a day alone.
To give you idea, if I divert 3 kWh from my solar pv to the immersion I have enough hot water for the day plus some.

30 mins immersion should be enough for a single person.

minikin · 07-04-2020 9:08am

Superser (or similar) is your friend... you won't get a more efficient portable heater.
80 lids for the heater, cylinder of gas about 30 (heats up a small room in 10/15 minutes).
Free exercise session getting the cylinders - every home should have one (unless you've COPD etc)
If the electricity goes off you still have light, heat and toast!

Sleeper12 · 07-04-2020 9:39am

minikin wrote: »

Superser (or similar) is your friend... you won't get a more efficient portable heater.
80 lids for the heater, cylinder of gas about 30 (heats up a small room in 10/15 minutes).
Free exercise session getting the cylinders - every home should have one (unless you've COPD etc)
If the electricity goes off you still have light, heat and toast!

I thought they outlawed these? Or maybe it's just the cylinder itself that should be outside?

ted1 · 07-04-2020 9:42am

Idbatterim wrote: »

the immersions are such a waste of electric. would you not just put it on for hour etc, for shower. Then if you need boiling water for either sink, just get it from kettle...

Not if it’s a modern insulated tank

ted1 · 07-04-2020 9:45am

Gumbo wrote: »

Immersion for 2 hours twice a day seems a lot. My family of 4
Wouldn’t need that.
A 3kw immersion will use 12 kWh in that time. That’s (12x18c) €2.16 a day alone.
To give you idea, if I divert 3 kWh from my solar pv to the immersion I have enough hot water for the day plus some.

30 mins immersion should be enough for a single person.

You don’t know his tank size, also with a cylinder stat it won’t be on for 3 hours. It it reaches temperature after 30 minute it’ll come in sporadically to maintain. , so for the next 1.5 it may only be on for 15-20 minutes

Explosive_Cornflake · 07-04-2020 9:46am

KilOit wrote: »

Electric heaters are the worst, try a oil heater instead.

Aren't all resistive heaters exactly as efficient as each others?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jmSjy2ArM

Sleeper12 · 07-04-2020 9:52am

ted1 wrote: »

Not if it’s a modern insulated tank

John.g did some of his wonderful calculations. I think heating a small amount of water, maybe up to half a tank, was cheaper than heating with gas or oil. The exception to the rule was if the gas boiler was inches from the cylinder or if it was a combi

iamtony · 07-04-2020 9:55am

Minime2.5 wrote: »

My bill has been quite high the last few billings I live alone in a 1 bed apartment and I trying too investigate the issue. I was using an electric heater quite a lot over the winter months so that was probably the reason. Apart from that I use my PS4 and watch Netflix quite a bit, I cook perhaps once a day and I have my shower emersion timed to come on for 2 hrs twice a day. What would you expect it to cost per month. I get billed every 2 months. Last month was 350 euro which s crazy

Electricity is expensive. If your not already get on a level pay plan and it takes the sting out of the big winter bills.
I'm in a house with 3 adults, a teen and a 10 year old. They all like to take looooong showers, electric showers. Our cooking and heating is gas which is 40 a month and bit the oven is electric which is used every day.
Our ESB monthly is €160 so it would be an average or €320 every second month and our gas is €40 a month. It's hard to compare with your electrical heating and emmersion but your does seem high.
My brother has the same problem living alone and couldn't pay the bill so he got one of those prepaid things and he then could see what was eating the power and cut back on that. They are a good idea if your struggling to pay as you can just top up 20 at a time and never have to worry about the bill.

worded · 07-04-2020 9:55am

Get a boost toner fitted to the immersions

1 push 30 mins
2 push’s 1 hour

How many times have you forgotten to switch the immersion off ?

andreac · 07-04-2020 10:02am

Our last bill for 2 months was €196, that was the winter bill, Dec to feb. My husband works from home most days, 3 bed house, 1 child. Immersion is on most days for couple of hours as my husband has a bath instead of a shower most days.

So i think your bill op is very high for a 1 bed apt.

jim-mcdee · 07-04-2020 10:04am

Should be fiddy euro. Regardless whether you use candles for lighting or run a grow house with a bitcoin mine side.

JimmyVik · 07-04-2020 10:06am

I lived in a 2 bed apartment for 4 years up until a few months ago.
Ground floor apartment. so no heat from below to help.
Electric Storage heating only. Electric cooking only. Eletric water heating.
I was in most weekends and worked from home 2 days a week. 3 days a week I would be out from 8am til 4pm at work.
So I guess I would have slightly higher than average electricity usage than most.

The bills were about €48 per month averaged over the whole year on that Airtricity level pay scheme.
When I finally left Airtricity had to give me back €40, so the bills were actually less than €48 per month on average.

If you are getting €300pm in a one bed apartment you are doing something wrong.

antix80 · 07-04-2020 10:07am

I put a 15-30-1hr timer switch on my immersion. I hit it for 15 or 30 mins before I step into the shower and it goes off automatically. It's not a particularly powerful shower so I don't use a lot of water. I use a dishwasher so don't really need hot water throughout the day. Having an immersion coming on for 2 hours a day seems like a waste.

XVII · 07-04-2020 10:19am

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I get billed every 2 months. Last month was 350 euro which s crazy

I'd say that's pretty normal if you live in an old apartment. And since you said that you are using electric heater quite often, you probably do.
Check how is your bill during upcoming months.

extra gravy · 07-04-2020 10:27am

XVII wrote: »

I'd say that's pretty normal if you live in an old apartment. And since you said that you are using electric heater quite often, you probably do.
Check how is your bill during upcoming months.

Not really normal, I live in an old apartment and my winter bill was €120.

colm_mcm · 07-04-2020 11:11am

If it’s an apartment it’s likely that it’s storage heaters and night meter?
If so then maybe OP is just doing it wrong and heating water and heaters during the day?

tuxy · 07-04-2020 2:51pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

If it’s an apartment it’s likely that it’s storage heaters and night meter?
If so then maybe OP is just doing it wrong and heating water and heaters during the day?

Could be the case. I know of several people who use storage heaters incorrectly.

Minime2.5 · 07-04-2020 3:47pm

Thanks for the replies. The bill was consistently 200 euro every 2 months but then went up to 300-350 there the last few billings. I reckon that was the heater . However is 200 still a bit high?I don't really use the storage heaters. Havent a clue how they work. One of my problems is I don't have total access to my meter. Its an old building and locked away in the basement and only the caretaker has access. He had a bit of a crib the one time I tried to get access to it

tuxy · 07-04-2020 3:59pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The bill was consistently 200 euro every 2 months but then went up to 300-350 there the last few billings. I reckon that was the heater . However is 200 still a bit high?I don't really use the storage heaters. Havent a clue how they work. One of my problems is I don't have total access to my meter. Its an old building and locked away in the basement and only the caretaker has access. He had a bit of a crib the one time I tried to get access to it

It's very difficult to say because we don't know all the electrical devices you have.

You should try to make a list of everything and see which ones you might have on that you do not need or that are left on too long. Take devices that heat into special consideration.

I think the immersion could be a problem. If you need to turn it on twice a day then the insulation on the tank is not good enough.

If you have storage heaters then you will probably be on the night rate.
Check to make sure. If you are electricity will be much cheaper from 11pm-8am
This is when you should be storing heat in your heaters if they are storage ones.
And it is also when you should be heating water in the immersion tank.

Since it's an old building things may not be working as efficiently as they should and need to be repaired or replaced. This can be difficult depending on what your landlord is like.

colm_mcm · 07-04-2020 4:52pm

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The bill was consistently 200 euro every 2 months but then went up to 300-350 there the last few billings. I reckon that was the heater . However is 200 still a bit high?I don't really use the storage heaters. Havent a clue how they work. One of my problems is I don't have total access to my meter. Its an old building and locked away in the basement and only the caretaker has access. He had a bit of a crib the one time I tried to get access to it

Can you get a copy of your bill and check if you’re being charged for day/night units?
Does your immersion heater have a timer/clock
Do you have 2 switches beside the storage heater?

Muahahaha · 07-04-2020 6:04pm

Very high bills indeed but some good advice on this thread.

Aside from that OP you should change your electricity provider every 12 months. Show them no loyalty because if you do then you pay between 10-18% more for your bills than someone who doesnt. That can add up to around 200 euro a year for many people, its money down the drain. So set an alarm on your phone to bleep every year and then switch provider, it only takes a few minutes and will save you a coupe of hundred euro.

ted1 · 07-04-2020 8:13pm

Sleeper12 wrote: »

John.g did some of his wonderful calculations. I think heating a small amount of water, maybe up to half a tank, was cheaper than heating with gas or oil. The exception to the rule was if the gas boiler was inches from the cylinder or if it was a combi

I’ve done them all in the past.
Per KWH delivered Gas is a 1/3 of the cost. However depending on your set up you may be heating 3 times more water.

Diemos · 07-04-2020 10:18pm

I lived in a small apartment complex once and a couple the same age as us in a neighboring apartment moved out because their electricity bill were so high, their meter reading was a multiple of our, like if ours was 100,000 kwh their was 450,000.
They swore that they had nothing power draining in the apartment and had tried investigating multiple times but drew a blank.

To the OP, that caretaker sounds dodgy, you might be paying for more than your own power. Next time you go on holiday for a week (2025 or something

) , turn all but essentials off. Get before and after meter reading, that will let you know pretty sharp.

Moonbeam · 07-04-2020 10:41pm

is it in a converted house? could you be getting billed for the neighbours too?
In a 4 bed house with tumble drier,4 kids and in the depths of winter 2 electric heaters as well as gas heating on, our bills barely hit that.

nothing · 08-04-2020 4:16am

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The bill was consistently 200 euro every 2 months but then went up to 300-350 there the last few billings. I reckon that was the heater . However is 200 still a bit high?I don't really use the storage heaters. Havent a clue how they work. One of my problems is I don't have total access to my meter. Its an old building and locked away in the basement and only the caretaker has access. He had a bit of a crib the one time I tried to get access to it

The 4 hour immersion timer on a day rate would easily rack up. Check your bill if it's day/night split.
I'm in an apartment, my boiler heats at night, every night, never need to turn on the immersion as there's always more than enough hot water from that. It costs way more when you don't do the overnight heating as it takes much more power to heat the tank from lukewarm than to maintain it at reasonably hot (though open to correction on that).
I'd highly recommended learning how to use your storage heaters too, they're efficient enough if used properly, especially compared to a plug in one.

08-04-2020 4:52am

Muahahaha wrote: »

Very high bills indeed but some good advice on this thread.

Aside from that OP you should change your electricity provider every 12 months. Show them no loyalty because if you do then you pay between 10-18% more for your bills than someone who doesnt. That can add up to around 200 euro a year for many people, its money down the drain. So set an alarm on your phone to bleep every year and then switch provider, it only takes a few minutes and will save you a coupe of hundred euro.

Even my current provider keeps telling me to switch away from them and then switch back (week their doorstep jockeys do). I’ve been with them 6 years now though as I can never face the hassle. 10% is sometimes just worth it.

nothing · 08-04-2020 5:19am

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Even my current provider keeps telling me to switch away from them and then switch back (week their doorstep jockeys do). I’ve been with them 6 years now though as I can never face the hassle. 10% is sometimes just worth it.

It takes less than 5 minutes to switch online, where's the hassle?!

08-04-2020 5:27am

nothing wrote: »

It takes less than 5 minutes to switch online, where's the hassle?!

Nearly everyone that switches anything ends up getting double billed because one of them made a “mistake” (chanced their arm). I’m no good with phone confrontation so I’d end up letting them keep it rather than ringing and it would all end up costing me more in the long run.
Definitely a longer process than 5 minutes too. Bonkers need annual usage figures and everything.

nothing · 08-04-2020 5:34am

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Nearly everyone that switches anything ends up getting double billed because one of them made a “mistake” (chanced their arm). I’m no good with phone confrontation so I’d end up letting them keep it rather than ringing and it would all end up costing me more in the long run.
Definitely a longer process than 5 minutes too. Bonkers need annual usage figures and everything.

I've switched every year for about 8 years now, I literally did it on Monday. You can use the average if you can't be bothered to look at 6 bills to add up your annual. I've never been double charged.

con___manx1 · 08-04-2020 5:51am

If you have a shower in work op. I'd suggest using that instead of putting on the emersion. Your bill is defo high because of the electric heater and the emersion.

What should the ESB bill cost for a single person living in a 1 bed apartment

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