# Average Electricity Bill



## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

Hi, I hope you can all help me. I was wondering what the average MONTHLY electricty bill should be for a 3 bedroom semi detached house. 2 Adults and 1 Toddler. 

My average bills are about €120 per month (I pat monthly with airtricity) is this about average. There is no-one in the house during the day until about 6 oc. We are not running any huge amount of appliances, the immersion is on a timer and the washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer get normal use for 2 adults and a child. 

I have looked on the forum for other threads but they are a bit outdated. 

Any body any ideas?


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## Maggs065 (15 Oct 2009)

Seems a bit high. Our bill averages €90 every 2 months for 2 people in a 3-bed terrace.


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## packard (15 Oct 2009)

Tumble driers are a menace for running up bills, as is an immersion. Can you out the clothes out to dry for a while to see come your next bill if it has made a difference. Also, do you have downlighters?, they may look small but they eat electricity. As for the immersion, how long do you have it timed for to stay on?


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

The Immersion is only on for possibly 2 hours a day. 

We have spotlights in the kitchen, about 8 of them, are these what you mean by downlighters?

Geez Maggs bill above is only about 45 per month. Mine is about 3 times that, surely I cant be using that much electricty? By the way I am submitting meter readings so they are not estimates that I am getting billed for. 

This might sound odd but could my meter be clocking up units too fast? Is this possible?

Wife and I really trying to get a budget up and running as things are getting tight. Electricty was one of the first things we tackled but cant seem to get it below €110/€120 per month


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## within29 (15 Oct 2009)

Lucky you.
Mine averages about 170e bimonthly with ESB. 2 Adults 2 kids. No emersion. 4 bed & only few rooms used.


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

Lucky?? The 110/120 is PER MONTH. Thats 240 bi-monthly


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## packard (15 Oct 2009)

Don't think the meter could be the problem but you never know. Yes the spotlights, you have 8 of them at 50watts each. thats 400watts you've on for the best part of the evening and they will only be on for longer with the winter closing in. Hop them out and replace with LED's, they may cost you a few quid to buy them at the start but they'll pay themselves off very quick. I have 5 watt LED's at home that i use, so if you had 8 5 watts your only using 40 watts instead of 400. Quite a difference there for you.


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## spursman (15 Oct 2009)

within - what are you doing? running some kind of nuclear reactor?


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## demoivre (15 Oct 2009)

Unless you're comparing like with like comparing ESB bills is pointless.


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## within29 (15 Oct 2009)

Apologies JMCC didn't read it correctly. 240 is crazy. Have you asked your neighbour about their one?


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

packard said:


> Don't think the meter could be the problem but you never know. Yes the spotlights, you have 8 of them at 50watts each. thats 400watts you've on for the best part of the evening and they will only be on for longer with the winter closing in. Hop them out and replace with LED's, they may cost you a few quid to buy them at the start but they'll pay themselves off very quick. I have 5 watt LED's at home that i use, so if you had 8 5 watts your only using 40 watts instead of 400. Quite a difference there for you.


 

Thanks for that info, very useful. I still seem to be using a hell of a lot of electricty. Need to find out where.


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

within29 said:


> Apologies JMCC didn't read it correctly. 240 is crazy. Have you asked your neighbour about their one?


 

They dont speak english


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## phanteon (15 Oct 2009)

I would think your bill look a bit high but is almost definetly correct. Ours is about 350 euro for two months but i know we are heavy users with tvs and computers on constantly plus lots of lights. Add in Washing and drying and it all adds up. And blow heaters are deadly. 
We have just changed to Bord Gais to cut down on the bill and we are also been more careful about wasting eletricity.
Some people are thrifty and others are not.  You have to live a bit as well.


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## within29 (15 Oct 2009)

If their bill is anything like yours I wouldn't be able to either.


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

within29 said:


> If their bill is anything like yours I wouldn't be able to either.


 

 Ha Ha.


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## TLC (15 Oct 2009)

Our average bill every 2 months is approx €90, 3 bed-semi, 3 adults, no tumbledrier but plenty of use of tv, laptop, oven etc. Don't use the immersion to much.  Just changed to Airtricity the other day so I'll see if it drops any.


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

Thanks TLC, I must be using too much somewhere.


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## Brouhahaha (15 Oct 2009)

jmcc99_98 said:


> Thanks TLC, I must be using too much somewhere.



The only way to find out is to monitor the usage using the meter. The immersion and tumble dryer are prime suspects so take a meter reading before and after use (with nothing else on bar light). Multiply by 0.16 (cost of 1 unit) then by number of uses per month to estimate cost.


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## GreenQueen (15 Oct 2009)

Have you tried using the ESB Appliance Calculator:

[broken link removed]

Simply put in all the appliances that you use and how often.  I've found it extremely accurate for my bills.

HTH


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## MANTO (15 Oct 2009)

You might not think it, but the Imersion on 2 hours can hit you hard, try your best to cut down there and see how the bills reflect


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## jmcc99_98 (15 Oct 2009)

This is all very useful. In relation to the immersion issue - we currently have the central heating on for about 3 hours per day - Should this not heat the water anyway and thus eliminate any use for the immersion during the winter months?

I apologise for all teh questions. Im hopeless when it comes to this stuff


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## colm5 (15 Oct 2009)

Yes, it will heat the water. The immersion element could be, lets say 3kW, for 2 hours a day = 6kWh * 30 days = 180kWh * 15cent = about 27euro per month.

I don't think I have ever used my immersion. Gas is generally a cheaper way of heating water if you have a decent boiler.
1kWh of gas = around 5cent, where as electricity is 15cent.

My Airtricity bill is 36euro per month, for 2 adults, 3 bed house.

Get energy saving light bulbs and don't use a dryer if possible, turn appliances on only when full (dishwasher, washing machine), don't leave stuff in standby mode, it can consume 20% of the energy as when in operation (TV, computer, micro wave, anything with a transformer).


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## phanteon (15 Oct 2009)

As pointed out to you, you should go to the ESB apliance applicator.
By my calculation if you have the immersion on for two hours a day that this is costing a lot. Im suprised your bill is not higher.


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## di74 (15 Oct 2009)

Ours averages about €120 bi monthly....we're also in a 3-bed semi 2 adults and 1 toddler. Use the usual house hold appliances - washing machine, dryer, electric shower with TV and computer on in the evening. I think your immersion may be running up your bill, I time mine for 30 mins twice a day and it's usually plenty. With heat on in the evenings I just time the immersion for 30 mins in the morning. Definitely try cutting back your immersion and see if it makes a difference.


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## TLC (15 Oct 2009)

jmcc99_98 said:


> Thanks TLC, I must be using too much somewhere.


 I should have added that we don't use it for heat (oil) but do for cooking.


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## gembem (16 Oct 2009)

one day after a ridiculous bill arrived my Mam made me stand at the meter for nearly the whole day while she tried different appliances to see how much electricity they use, my dad drinks tea like it's going out of fashion and suprisingly the kettle we had used a lot of electricity, so did the microwave, so we bid farewell to them that day and got a kettle to use on the gas hob, things like filling the kettle to the top then boiling it takes longer to boil, therefore using more electricity rather than just putting in enough water to do a cuppa!! test out different appliances to see how much electricity they use!!


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## fobs (16 Oct 2009)

GreenQueen said:


> Have you tried using the ESB Appliance Calculator:
> 
> [broken link removed]
> 
> ...


 
Mine too was extremely accurate and made me realise the amount of appliances I had when I had to count tvs etc...I line dry my clothes and only use the dryer to finish off the clothes and also have an a-rated dryer with a sensor so it cuts off when clothes are dry. I have a 4 bedroom detached house and our last bill was 118 for 2 months.


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## GarBow (17 Oct 2009)

I tried out the ESB calculator too, came in within a euro or two, great tool to see where your money is going. 

That American fridge freezer doesn't seem like such a great idea now. Using approx. 1/4 of the total bill. 

Ours is appox. €70 bi monthly for 2 bed appartment (GCH)


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## journeyman10 (17 Oct 2009)

Recently got my bill from airtricity - 190 for 2 months. 3 bed semi-d, 2 adults and 2 children.  Seems very high, so have been making some changes. 

We have now stopped using the immersion (was 2 hours per day), as I've finally managed to get the gas boiler heating water.

I'm also now monitoring our electricity usage with the OWL Electricity Monitor - http://www.theowl.com/index.php?page=about-owl . Very interesting. 

Of course, it has pointed up all of the usual suspects - power shower (by far the largest user, but it's not on for long), dryer, kettle, dishwasher, washing machine, electric cooker. However, quite a bit of variation in the usage of each of these. Additionally,  the 50w spotlights  (we have 12) are a big contributor. So, I'm going to replace them with LEDs. Also, a couple of our standup lamps use a lot of electricity , so going to replace them too. Interestingly, fridge, computers, mobile phone chargers, TV (LCD) do not really contribute very much.

journeyman


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## Pedro1 (18 Oct 2009)

The OPs bill is huge. Wife in house all during the day with kids and TV would be on for some of this time plus washing machine and cooking lunches etc with electricity and out bi-monthly bill is only 110 or so.
I did get an energy meter (Lidl offer) and it's amazing what items consume even when they're not in use (LCD TV - 30W in standby, Computers 15W, phone chargers aren't worth talking about as they are very low), so we don't tend to leave anything plugged in if not in use.

We did replace may bulbs with CFLs (including downlighters 40W replaced with 7W CFLs) but the other thing we did was to install a 15/30/60 minute timer on the immersion. This way the immersion can only be on for one hour max and the fact is that half an hour heats the tank enough for two showers anyhow. 

We originally had a timer with only a 1 hour boost setting. What used to happen before was the we'd hit the button for the 1 hour boost and then within 20 mins the water was hot enough for a shower, but the immersion was on for a further 40 minutes more than required.
This meant we were using 3 times more electricity than we required for a shower so we changed for the 15/30/60 minute timer. I'm sure the timer has paid for itself a number of times over by now.

For those interested the timer was a Horstmann Electrisaver E15, got it in Heat Merchants, but can't remember the cost, but I'm sure it was less than €30.


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## cnu (20 Oct 2009)

GreenQueen said:


> Have you tried using the ESB Appliance Calculator:
> 
> [broken link removed]
> 
> ...



Goraib Maith Agath!


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## Andarma (22 Oct 2009)

We also live in a 3-bed semi, 2 adults, 1 toddler, out all day at work/creche. We recently switched to Airtricity and our monthly bill is €39. We don't have a tumble dryer and never use the immersion - have an electric shower.


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## john m (23 Oct 2009)

I only wish my electricty was that low. Over the last 12 months ours is averaging €62/week!! We have an air to water heat pump for heating running off electricty and the rest is just your normal cooking and lightling. The house is about 2000sqFT and there's only my wife, myself and a baby living there. The washer and dryer are constantly going because of the baby clothes but other than that nothing thats a big power consumer. We moved to Board Gais and bills have come down but the winter months bills are huge, last year at the time of the snow the 2 monthly bill was over €900!


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## GreenQueen (23 Oct 2009)

john m said:


> I only wish my electricty was that low. Over the last 12 months ours is averaging €62/week!! We have an air to water heat pump for heating running off electricty and the rest is just your normal cooking and lightling. The house is about 2000sqFT and there's only my wife, myself and a baby living there. The washer and dryer are constantly going because of the baby clothes but other than that nothing thats a big power consumer. We moved to Board Gais and bills have come down but the winter months bills are huge, last year at the time of the snow the 2 monthly bill was over €900!



That's astronomical!  Have you had your heat pump serviced and checked that it's running correctly?


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## phanteon (23 Oct 2009)

I believe you John. You have a fairly big house and probably have the heat on a lot. Our house is 2200 sq feet and we have oil heating. the bill last winter was over 400 euro for two months.
Since then we have cut the bill down to about 250 euro. We have at least 40  50watt bulbs in the ceilings which are very hard on eletricity.
Kids involved in sport so washing machine and tumble dryer on a lot.
we have replaced some of the 50w bulbs with energy savers and turn off lights when not in room.
Changed to Bord Gais so expecting bill to be lower. Immersion on very little now.


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## chris20051 (23 Oct 2009)

Max 40euros per month, two adults 3 bed semi detached house, no children yet, one on the way.

We have a electric cooker and dish washer.

I always knock off things that are not in use, i.e lights in the house, not leaving tv on standby. use the dishwasher at night and only when full.

Washing machine couple of times a week but pm only when possible

Switched from ESB which was aroud 50euros per month to Bord Gais which is much lower

All these small things add up.


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## john m (23 Oct 2009)

Our house is only 2 years old and teh heat pump is working fine, neighbour has the same system on a 3000sqFT house and his bill was €1200 for the same 2 month period. We have a lot of those recessed ceiling lights and they're in the areas we live most, those contribute a fair bit to the bill but the LED energy efficient ones are up to €25 each but they are much more efficient, the only drawback is they produce a different colour light. People confuse eco friendly with energy efficient, our house is eco friendly, no fossile fuels, well insulated etc but its expensive technology! The heap pump is on 24/7 and 365 days of the year, thats just the design and the way it works with undefloor heating.


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## phanteon (23 Oct 2009)

So John your heating is coming from eletricity?. If you were using oil it could be 2000 euro a year for oil.


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## GreenQueen (23 Oct 2009)

I wouldn't describe a house that uses €400 a month of electricty of being eco friendly! 

Have you considered installing a wind turbine or similar to generate the electricity for your heat pump?  If your bill is that big the initial outlay might save you in the long run.

I can't get over some of the bills here.  I know I didn't mention it at the start but we're a 4 bedroom house.  I'm here all day.  We have plenty of appliances that are used everyday including a drier, washing machine, dishwasher, tv, cooker, laptop but the only item that doesn't have an "A" energy rating is our drier.  Our electricity bill works out at approx €45 per month.


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## circle (23 Oct 2009)

phanteon said:


> We have at least 40 50watt bulbs in the ceilings which are very hard on eletricity.


 
Amazon have a great sale on energy saving lightbulbs at the moment, including some of the fancy fittings.


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## ajapale (23 Oct 2009)

Moved from  Money Makeover to Home Engergy which is where this type of question is discussed on AAM.


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## RMCF (25 Oct 2009)

I always had bills from ESB of €110 per month.

Switch to Bord Gais, and along with the recent price decreases announced by all the providers, my bills are now approx €86.

Happy enough.


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## RMCF (25 Oct 2009)

circle said:


> Amazon have a great sale on energy saving lightbulbs at the moment, including some of the fancy fittings.



Just had a look and couldn't see any good deals. Everything was very highly priced compared to the likes of Homebase, Tesocos etc.

I have, and can contoinue to get, deals like 5 bulbs for £1 off these folks.
Just the other day I was in Homebase and seen bulbs 99p each or 3 for £1. Amazon are FAR more expensive than that.


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## maura (27 Oct 2009)

I just checked out the calculator thingy and I can't believe the electric shower uses so much electricity.  I usually stand there in a dream, thinking about anything and everything.  I think I will have to dream somewhere else as its costing a fortune.   Surprisingly all the hours on the computer, watching our tv and having the lights on are not as much as I would have thought. Thanks for the tip of the calculator.


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## Dubliner28 (28 Oct 2009)

I no this sounds like a silly question >

I have cancelled my account with Bord Gais but ESB say i have to wait 20 days after the cancellation to re-actaiveate my account with them.
If there is a 1-2 day delay from my final bill say Nov 10 to the date i re-sign with ESB say Nov 12. Would i still have power.

I no they take an estitamte reading so i should be ok correct ??? 
​


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## fkells (19 Nov 2009)

Ours is 70euro for 2 months. 2 bed terrace with 2 people. No tumbledryer or dish washer.


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## quentingargan (20 Nov 2009)

Why not get one of those electricity monitors. They are available from Maplin, or you can find one . They can tell you exactly what you are using at any moment in time. 

You can also get a plug-in monitor (there were some in Aldi a while back). You plug them into a socket and plug appliances into them to get a read of energy used. I got one and next week bought a new fridge - found the old one was costing a fortune!


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