# Average Apartment ESB Bill



## wanderer (17 Jul 2007)

Hi,

Just interested in what the average ESB bill is for a 2 bed apartment. 
Mine is around 150 yoyos per 2 months. 

However, i've got friends in 3 bed houses with 3 kids and they ony pay around 80-90.

I've been switching off the water heater the last 2 months and only switching it on for about an hour a day to see if that made any difference, but was just slapped with a bill for 144 euros.

Doesn't make sense to me. Single person, all on me lonesome, no microwave etc. only stuff left on for extended periods are the TV & the PC. 

Any thoughts?


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## Sue Ellen (17 Jul 2007)

wanderer said:


> Hi,
> 
> However, i've got friends in 3 bed houses with 3 kids and they ony pay around 80-90.


 
Find this very hard to believe.

There are a few previous threads on average ESB bills so if you run the search option you should be able to have a read through them.


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## ClubMan (17 Jul 2007)

Check out the many existing threads on electricity usage and checking bills. Basically you should monitor your meters to check that you bill is not incorrect (and not consistently (over)estimated either). If necessary you can get a plug in unit to monitor the electricity usage of individual plugged in applicances.

You don't make it clear what your heaviest loads are but I would guess water immersion, storage heaters (are you on _Nightsaver _for both of these?), clothes washer/drier (especially the drier!) if applicable, oven/cooker/fridge/kettle etc.

Not sure why you mention microwave but that would normally be a small part of a household's overall electricity usage.


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## Teabags (17 Jul 2007)

Check out the ESB website (www.esb.ie) - there may be details of how much each appliance costs to run.  Some time ago the ESB have sent out a leaflet with this info (enclosed with their bill).  I find that the cooker & dryer are costly to run.


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## MsGinger (18 Jul 2007)

Our bills for a 2-bed apt are similar, last one I think was €145.  Like yourself, the items most used are TV, PC & immersion.


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## ClubMan (18 Jul 2007)

Similar thread ongoing at the moment.

storage heating in an apartment


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## thos (18 Jul 2007)

First thing is to check the bill is actually correct, and how ESB are calculating it - ie; estimated or proper reading. You can do your own reading, compare, and then submit it to ESB.

After 12 months the ESB still hadnt read my meter, and my bill was €120+ (2bed apartment, 1 person), after submitting my reading I was €250 in credit with them.


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## my2leftfeet (18 Jul 2007)

Are your friends paying by the month? We are currently paying €80 per month for 4 bed semi d.


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## seriams (18 Jul 2007)

I live in 3 bed house and no joking our lowest bill was €48e and highest was €80. We use our electric oven  and washing machine regularly but I refuse to use a dishwasher or dryer. We simply have absolutely nothing on standby when we go to bed at night.


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## eimsRV (18 Jul 2007)

I live in a 2 bed duplex - and our ESB bill for Feb & March was 206euro! It was mainly because of the storage heating (although we only ever used the one in the sitting rm). We stopped using the storgae heating in April, and the next bill was 80euro for 2 months. Now the biggest user is the immersion. We are on night saver and don't use dishwasher or dryer, and we're fairly good at turning off things when we aren't using them!

Eims


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## ClubMan (18 Jul 2007)

Here's an earlier post of mine that might be of interest. Must update it again sometime soon...


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## finbar (18 Jul 2007)

Storage heaters chew electricity as they are on all of the time , during the night they are on to store the heat and then let it out during the day.
Builders save money on not having to use a plumber in fact no plumbing at all in relation to heating- no radiators- piping no boiler. Cheap for the builder
but costs the apartment dweller a fortune. If you had central heating/gas
it would be a lot cheaper, gas + electric.


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## ClubMan (18 Jul 2007)

finbar said:


> Storage heaters chew electricity as they are on all of the time


Not true - if properly installed they only use electricity at night on the _Nightsaver _rate. They charge up and store the heat for release during the day. Admittedly this storage/release mechanism is crude and doesn't offer much flexibility. I think that you are confusing the fact that they may be hot all/most of the time with them actually using electricity. They may be switched on all of the time but they only charge at night. Dual mode storage and convection heaters have a convection heater that can be operated separately on demand. As a user I agree that there are probably more economical options.


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## Wexfordman (18 Jul 2007)

4 bed detatched bunglow, ours cost nearly 120 pm!!!


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## ClubMan (19 Jul 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Here's an earlier post of mine that might be of interest. Must update it again sometime soon...


I've updated the post to clarify that the data points on the graph represent two monthly billing periods in case there was any confusion and people assumed that these were monthly amounts!


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## Leo (19 Jul 2007)

Wexfordman said:


> 4 bed detatched bunglow, ours cost nearly 120 pm!!!


 
But I'd imagine it's worth it for the amount of toys you have installed in that place, eh?


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## josie80 (19 Jul 2007)

I live in a 1 bed with my boyfriend in winter our bills can be as high as €197 - €220, summertine they're usually €80 - €90, we blame the storage heater in winter


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## ClubMan (19 Jul 2007)

Every month or two months?

You should not need to guess where the electricity is being used. Your bill should give a breakdown of day and night units used. If you want to dig deeper then you can monitor the meter and individual loads (or simply switch them off for one period of 24 hours and on for another and check the difference) to get an idea of where most electricity is being used. Where night rate immersion and/or storage heaters are used then these will most likely be the major loads especially in winter.


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## poppy1 (19 Jul 2007)

Hey i know how you feel
our last bill was 170, this time it was 149. we live in a 2 bed duplex. use 1 storage heater a few times a week to dry the clothes, put the wash on at nite as we use nightsaver and also have the immersion timed for an hour during the nightsaver.  we are not there from 8-6 but we cook every nite. my parents have a 4000sq ft house and pay about 120 every 2 months and they have radios, tv, kettle, cooker, recessed lights etc going all day long? does nt make sense.  
i checked to see if our bill was an estimate bill but it doesnt look like it??


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## ClubMan (19 Jul 2007)

poppy1 said:


> use 1 storage heater a few times a week to dry the clothes,


You mean you switch it on to charge overnight and then dry the clothes when it's warm and then switch it off before the next nightly charging cycle? Or do you mean that you stick the built in convection part which uses full rate electricity during the day?


> put the wash on at nite as we use nightsaver


 Not a good idea from a safety point of view to put such appliances on at night or when leaving the house.


> does nt make sense.


 As I mentioned above and in several other similar threads it's not rocket science but may take a little effort to find out exactly where the electricity is being used.


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## Murtapalooza (20 Jul 2007)

3 bed semi-d.

ESB: Last seven 2-monthly bills have been 56, 72, 66, 73, 54, 63, 33... averages ~30 per month.

Gas: Last seven 2-monthly bills have been 96, 157, 146, 162, 105, 62, 72... averages ~55 per month.


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## poppy1 (23 Jul 2007)

Ya clubman, we put the rad on at nite, then turn if off in the morning.  I know its not a good idea to put the washing machine on at nite, but isn't that when esb is cheaper.  Is nightsaver only for storage heaters? 

Quote:
Originally Posted by *poppy1* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=453871#post453871 
_use 1 storage heater a few times a week to dry the clothes,_

You mean you switch it on to charge overnight and then dry the clothes when it's warm and then switch it off before the next nightly charging cycle? Or do you mean that you stick the built in convection part which uses full rate electricity during the day?

Quote:
put the wash on at nite as we use nightsaver 
Not a good idea from a safety point of view to put such appliances on at night or when leaving the house.

Quote:
does nt make sense. 
As I mentioned above and in several other similar threads it's not rocket science but may take a little effort to find out exactly where the electricity is being used.


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## ClubMan (23 Jul 2007)

poppy1 said:


> Ya clubman, we put the rad on at nite, then turn if off in the morning.  I know its not a good idea to put the washing machine on at nite, but isn't that when esb is cheaper.  Is nightsaver only for storage heaters?


As far as I know (need to double check) when the night meter kicks in at 11PM or midnight all electricity in the house is charged at the night rate. Are you sure that you're switching the storage heater part and not the convection heater part on at night?


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## KalEl (23 Jul 2007)

Mine is 250 in the winter...about 150 in the summer.

2 bed, electric cooking and heating.


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## poppy1 (23 Jul 2007)

yep clubman 
it only has one switch on the wall.

Then you turn the temp from 1-8 during the day!!


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## ClubMan (23 Jul 2007)

KalEl said:


> Mine is 250 in the winter...about 150 in the summer.


Per month or per two months?


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## KalEl (23 Jul 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Per month or per two months?


 
Per 2 months.
I thought only businesses got monthly bills or can you request a monthly bill?


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## noodles (23 Jul 2007)

I'm in a 2-bed apartment also - and bills are €70 give or take a few €€€s every two months.  Use CFLs and don't run the clothes dryer...  

Heating is gas though - usually another €70 every two months in the summer, €100 in winter.  It's a timberframe building though with great insulation which really keeps the place toasty.


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## ClubMan (23 Jul 2007)

KalEl said:


> Per 2 months.
> I thought only businesses got monthly bills or can you request a monthly bill?


Not sure but a few people have posted what they claim are monthly bill amounts and I wonder if, in fact, they are actually two monthly bill amounts leading to some confusion when comparing costs?


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## Wexfordman (23 Jul 2007)

Leo said:


> But I'd imagine it's worth it for the amount of toys you have installed in that place, eh?



Well, I have'nt turned them off if thats what you mean


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