# Huge esb bill - €4,000



## electricapps (19 Jan 2011)

Hi all,

I moved into a place in October 2009 and the landlord gave the latest esb readings into ESB. Every 2 months I have been paying the esb by direct debit. It was only about 100 euro every two months and came out regular as clockwork. Now, I moved to Bord Gais for my electricity over the Christmas and an ESB Networks guy came out to take a final reading.

Bill came in last week for 4,000 euro. That was a huge shock. Turns out the bill had been estimated all this time and I assumed the reading was being read at least twice a year as they are meant to come out 4 times a year or at least make contact.

Anyhow it turns out they never came out to take a reading. I was none the wiser as the bills were being paid and i was paying them what they asked me for.

So now i have been underpaying them. Fair enough I owe them the money for the units I used. But has there been a price hike for esb lately and if so when? and if so am I paying these rates at the new rate??!

Its really quite annoying as our night saving units are large as we do all the washing and heating on night saver electricity. We use electricity for everything no gas or oil here. So it works out to be 260 euro per month for esb for a couple in a three bed house. 6 storage heaters would be on during the night.  The house seems well insulated but could the storage heaters be the problem here?

Also, are esb flexible with payment options? I have the money to pay it off but 4k to drop in one go is a huge wedge. Anyone any experience in this situation?

I've also checked appliances to see if there are problems and all seem fine. 


Thanks in advance.


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## vandriver (20 Jan 2011)

A quick Google brought up the running cost of a single storage heater at anything up to €20 a week!.As we have had two hard winters in the billing period,it would indeed seem that these heaters are the culprits.I remember my brother living in a one bed apartment used to regularly get winter bills of over €400 and that was 10 years ago.


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## fizzelina (20 Jan 2011)

absolutely it's the storage heaters, my sister moved out of a rented 2 bed apartment as the ESB bill was huge due to storage heaters. Do you rent the house you're in, would you consider moving? You need to negotiate with ESB, tell them you feel they are partly at fault for not reading the meter and that you will enter into a payment plan of €20 a week to pay the amount or else you can offer them a one off lump sum of €2,000 in full settlement. You have nothing to lose. At €20 now or €2k they may well settle.


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## truthseeker (21 Jan 2011)

fizzelina said:


> .....tell them you feel they are partly at fault for not reading the meter....


 
Partly at fault? Fully at fault imo. The OP has been paying the bills they have been sending him, how could it be remotely his fault that they didnt read the meter?

I agree with Fizzelina - offer them a lump sum (Id go lower, 1000 euro) or 20 euro a week.


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## callybags (21 Jan 2011)

The ESB state clearly on their bills if the reading is estimated and request that you take a reading and phone it in.

At the end of the day the OP used the electricity (unless there was a fault that we are not aware of) and must pay for it.

If they can negociate an extended payment period or a discount then that is a bonus.


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## Bronte (21 Jan 2011)

Both the ESB and the OP are at fault. OP should have realised that 600 Euro a year after two difficult winters was way low. Plus he knew the bills were estimates. He should have read the meters himself. ESB/Bord Gais etc are very amenable to payment plans at the moment. If OP cannot get that option from the ESB than he has to go to Mabs who will negotiate it for him as Mabs have agreements with utility suppliers. 

Storage heaters in my experience are the worst form of heating and in addition cost the earth.


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## electricapps (21 Jan 2011)

Bronte said:


> Both the ESB and the OP are at fault. OP should have realised that 600 Euro a year after two difficult winters was way low. Plus he knew the bills were estimates. He should have read the meters himself. ESB/Bord Gais etc are very amenable to payment plans at the moment. If OP cannot get that option from the ESB than he has to go to Mabs who will negotiate it for him as Mabs have agreements with utility suppliers.
> 
> Storage heaters in my experience are the worst form of heating and in addition cost the earth.




The 600 per year or 100 every 2 months - for two people - I would have thought may have been a little low - perhaps 50-80 euro low, but to find out the esb was averaging out at 300 per month for two people - that's one heck of a shock to the system.

*Anyone who has esb only* - do you find your bills in the 250-300 region *every month*? I understand oil and gas could bring this cost down if you use either of these coupled with esb.

Storage heaters have been turned down or off - time to light the fire earlier now.


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## PyritePete (21 Jan 2011)

we are on the Smart Meter Plan with ESB - for the 3 of us, our monthly bills range from 95 per month to 115 per month. 

HTH


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## electricapps (21 Jan 2011)

Supersers - €125

Are these things false economies? For 125 once off and a gas bottle a month ~ 30 euro (??) I could pretty much shut down the bulk of the storage heaters and wheel this yoke around with me (hahahaha)

Any experience with this as a cost saving measure for storage heaters?


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## daniela (21 Jan 2011)

*esb bill*

hi, 
i m new in the country i moved here 3 months ago,and from 2 month and something  i moved in a 1 bed apartment with my husband.i have i quire regarding ESB bills?It is normal for two people in 2 months and half to consume 700 units without heating and hot water because is gas used ?
and if somebody know how much unites consume the oven?if u used for 1 hour for example?
thank  you


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## Macattack (21 Jan 2011)

[broken link removed]
try this link on their website

Also, ESB forecast your bill, they dont actually know how much energy you have used each time you get billed. Call them and tell them the meter reading and they will issue you with a bill that reflects what you have used


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## daniela (21 Jan 2011)

thank you for advice and i forgot to mention i was today to see the clocks and is real but i m wondering how can be so much also i have some ventilation for the boiler (heating) i suppose is electric staff and it s working full day but is  set to be low because i can t close it .
in conclusion what is the normal bill for electricity for two people in one bed ?the gas it wasnt so huge 93e/2 month and something i think
i will be glade that somebody can help me.


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