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electricity bill for the farm

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  • 16-09-2019 11:56pm
    #1
    grass
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭


    Just to get an idea of what farmers are paying for electricity on there farms. We changed our parlour and provider and our electricity bills have gone mad, for the first 2 months €2900 and the second two months €2400 we are on a day rate of .172 and a night rate of .08 plus vat.

    just wondering what kind of kw/h are dairy farmers using on average ?


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    #2
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,112 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    That sounds crazy. I pay around 400 per month and my usage is high being on every day collection. You must be using a serious amount of electricity. Are you on a plan with your provider? I changed to airtricity last month. Are you submitting meter readings every month/ 2 months? I submit a reading the same day each month


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    #3
    Injuryprone
    Registered Users Posts: 1,031 ✭✭✭Injuryprone


    300-350 here


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    #4
    Starchasers
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Starchasers


    grass wrote: »
    Just to get an idea of what farmers are paying for electricity on there farms. We changed our parlour and provider and our electricity bills have gone mad, for the first 2 months €2900 and the second two months €2400 we are on a day rate of .172 and a night rate of .08 plus vat.

    just wondering what kind of kw/h are dairy farmers using on average ?

    You can request your supplier to ask ESB Networks to test the electricity meter. If an inaccuracy outside +/-2% is found then the meter is changed, if it tests ok then you will get a bill for testing and at least somebody will be onsite to advise you where your bill is coming from.

    What is your meter supplying? Farm yard, parlour and house altogether or since you changed your parlour are things split up (One meter for farm& one for house) or have you got an upgrade to a ct meter/ 3 phase supply?


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    #5
    Sacrolyte
    Registered Users Posts: 851 ✭✭✭Sacrolyte


    Milk cooling, heat pumps and hot water are the biggest culprits here


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    #6
    jaymla627
    Registered Users Posts: 6,469 ✭✭✭jaymla627


    grass wrote: »
    Just to get an idea of what farmers are paying for electricity on there farms. We changed our parlour and provider and our electricity bills have gone mad, for the first 2 months €2900 and the second two months €2400 we are on a day rate of .172 and a night rate of .08 plus vat.

    just wondering what kind of kw/h are dairy farmers using on average ?

    Work it back to cents per liter,should be working out around .5 cent anything above that and it’s high


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    #7
    Starchasers
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Starchasers


    If your milking twice a day and your double tarriff (have a night and day meter), you can’t do much about the evenings milking and cooling but if in the morning you have your milking and cooling done 8am in the winter or 9am in the summer then your mornings milking will come in under the night rate so where else would you save 50% (night rate is 50% price if daytime rate) just like that!


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    #8
    cjpm
    Registered Users Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭cjpm


    grass wrote: »
    Just to get an idea of what farmers are paying for electricity on there farms. We changed our parlour and provider and our electricity bills have gone mad, for the first 2 months €2900 and the second two months €2400 we are on a day rate of .172 and a night rate of .08 plus vat.

    just wondering what kind of kw/h are dairy farmers using on average ?



    Closely watch your water pump in case it's faulty. Either a leak somewhere or if the well is gone low she might be struggling to pump up water. Make sure it's shutting off as it should be

    The other culprit could be an air compressor that's left on 24/7. A leak will eat units


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    #9
    Castlekeeper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭Castlekeeper


    whelan2 wrote: »
    That sounds crazy. I pay around 400 per month and my usage is high being on every day collection. You must be using a serious amount of electricity. Are you on a plan with your provider? I changed to airtricity last month. Are you submitting meter readings every month/ 2 months? I submit a reading the same day each month
    I know it's a side issue but spartan from the tank washer what difference does everyday collection make? It's the same amount of milk to be cooled everyday.


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    #10
    Starchasers
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Starchasers


    cjpm wrote: »
    Closely watch your water pump in case it's faulty. Either a leak somewhere or if the well is gone low she might be struggling to pump up water. Make sure it's shutting off as it should be

    The other culprit could be an air compressor that's left on 24/7. A leak will eat units

    I’d a case last month, an unoccupied house and farm yard covered by a single 24 hour meter, the main switch was off in the house and all that was on in the farm yard was a mains fencer and a deep well pump. The meter tested 100% ok but we found after that that 5 amps was being drawn 24/7 by the well pump being on constantly. It made E500 or so out of what should have been a genuinely small bill


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    #11
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,112 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Castlekeeper wrote: »
    I know it's a side issue but spartan from the tank washer what difference does everyday collection make? It's the same amount of milk to be cooled everyday.

    It's the fact the tank is going from around 18 degrees after washing it takes longer to cool. My tank is a disaster anyway. Milkman comes at 4am each morning


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    #12
    cjpm
    Registered Users Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭cjpm


    Starchasers wrote: »
    I’d a case last month, an unoccupied house and farm yard covered by a single 24 hour meter, the main switch was off in the house and all that was on in the farm yard was a mains fencer and a deep well pump. The meter tested 100% ok but we found after that that 5 amps was being drawn 24/7 by the well pump being on constantly. It made E500 or so out of what should have been a genuinely small bill

    In my case it was drawing 8 amps. About 16 hours a day. Well was gone down a fair bit but not dry. Took a while to figure it out.


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    #13
    grass
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭grass


    Thanks for all the replies. We bought a efery meter that measures the current,
    We measured the current for the fuse board that controls the milking machine,water heaters, milk tank and power hose, compressor and feeders.
    I hope I am reading it correctly but on the following days

    11th 137.7 kw/hr
    12th 158.7
    13th 145.5
    14th 134.0

    We milk our cows in the morning at 6.45 finished for 7.45 so i presume we are under night rate

    say on the 12th at 158.7 Kw x a tariff of .18cent/kw x 60 its a bill of €1713 this does not include night rate.

    I am testing the usage now on the well and the house


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    #14
    cjpm
    Registered Users Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭cjpm


    You'd be better off measuring the parlour for 3 hours. 1 hr milking and 2 cooling milk.

    160kWHr over 24 hours doesn't tell you much as there is such a difference between peak load and normal. Hence the need to measure a smaller timeframe


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    #15
    Aravo
    Registered Users Posts: 853 ✭✭✭Aravo


    Use bonkers.ie here each year. Staying with the same supplier always costs you in the long run.


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    #16
    Starchasers
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Starchasers


    grass wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies. We bought a efery meter that measures the current,
    We measured the current for the fuse board that controls the milking machine,water heaters, milk tank and power hose, compressor and feeders.
    I hope I am reading it correctly but on the following days

    11th 137.7 kw/hr
    12th 158.7
    13th 145.5
    14th 134.0

    We milk our cows in the morning at 6.45 finished for 7.45 so i presume we are under night rate

    say on the 12th at 158.7 Kw x a tariff of .18cent/kw x 60 its a bill of €1713 this does not include night rate.

    I am testing the usage now on the well and the house


    Finishing at that time (7.45am) you should be ok but be sure that you factor enough time in for the hard work of cooling to finish. Just remember that if you are on the night rate (that you have a day&night meter and that it’s written on your bill somewhere on the top- “MCC02” (MCC01 is that you have a domestic like 24hr meter) that during the night rate it’s more like 9c per kWh rather than the typical 18c per kWh for the day rate. During the winter the meters are set to run at night time 23.00 to 08.00, they keep the same time so during the summer the clock is one hour out so the night rate in the summer corresponds to 00.00 to 09.00 is night.


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