# ESB Electric Ireland: "Pay as you Go" PAYG prepay electricity meters & arrears



## RichInSpirit

I've had an Electric Ireland Prepay meter installed a few days ago. 
I was a little behind with my bill so this was offered as an option. 

It has a lot to recommend it. 

Firstly there is a 4% discount on the electricity price as you are paying for it in advance. 

Bill arrears are dealt with by 25% of every top up going towards arrears. 

Thirdly it's a lovely modern meter with heaps of information. 

So far I highly recommend it.


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## STEINER

I didn't realise there was a 4% discount.  Thats a good incentive.  I don't want a prepay meter but if someone is not in arrears can they get one installed?  Any installation charge?

I remember my parents had a meter back in the 70's right up to the 90's.  It used the 2 shilling coins/ ten pence coins.  I don't remember the meter reader emptying the box of coins, maybe he did that when I was very small.  The odd time we'd forget and the " lights would run out ". I think you just type in a top up code now or use bank card.


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## RichInSpirit

The man who installed it had 3more to install that day. 
You top up using payzone to get a code which you input into the meter. €10 is the minimum top up.


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## mandelbrot

Do you not pay double the standing charge though? i.e. you pay a daily standing charge for the meter PLUS you still pay the ESB standing charge?


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## RichInSpirit

*Standing Charge*

According to the meter the standing charge per day is 46.03 cents.
And unit price is 18.47 cents. 
Both including vat I assume.


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## pudds

RichInSpirit said:


> According to the meter the standing charge per day is 46.03 cents.
> And unit price is 18.47 cents.
> Both including vat I assume.




wow!! Standing Charge 46.03 = €168 annual charge before you use a drop of juice at all.

ESB Standing Charge 30.36 = €110 Annually.

Unit price: 16.99.  

I cant see your 4% discount on unit price, looks more like 4% increase


I'd only recommend these yokes as a last resort.


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## ClaireM

pudds said:


> wow!! Standing Charge 46.03 = €168 annual charge before you use a drop of juice at all.
> 
> ESB Standing Charge 30.36 = €110 Annually.
> 
> Unit price: 16.99.
> 
> I cant see your 4% discount on unit price, looks more like 4% increase
> 
> 
> I'd only recommend these yokes as a last resort.




I think that standing charge includes recovery of arrears due.


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## AlbacoreA

I'd like to see that on one of their websites. A quick search didn't find me any hard facts.


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## RichInSpirit

pudds said:


> wow!! Standing Charge 46.03 = €168 annual charge before you use a drop of juice at all.
> 
> ESB Standing Charge 30.36 = €110 Annually.
> 
> Unit price: 16.99.
> 
> I cant see your 4% discount on unit price, looks more like 4% increase
> 
> 
> I'd only recommend these yokes as a last resort.



30.36 plus 13.5% vat is 34. 45 cents including vat.

16.99 plus 13.5% vat is 19.28 per unit including vat.

Conversely 16.99 minus 4% =16.3104 plus 13.5% vat = 18.51 which is not equal 18.47,  so my 4% discount is wrong  
It should be a 4.4% discount.


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## JohnJay

I cant see why Electric Ireland dont give everyone the option to get one of these. I'm sure a lot of people (myself included) would be happier to pre-pay their electric bill and not to have to wait for the surprise bill at the end of the month. 
I know a lot of landlords use these in the UK. It cuts out a lot of issues with transfering accounts, etc


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## markpb

If EI won't give you one of those meters, there are several other companies in that market. I'm sure one of the others would facilitate you, www.prepaypower.ie for example.


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## Time

EI will only give these to people in arrears. They don't want to know if you just want one and are in good standing.

Prepay power will give anyone a meter.


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## ericsson

I'm with prepay power and I find it great. I know that technically it works out more expensive however for me who is terrible at budgeting, knowing I won't get a shocker of a bill is worth it. Also as my meter is in the hallway at the foot of my stairs I am very conscious of wasting electricity as I can visually see the meter counting downwards which reminds me to knock off the Emerson, dryer etc. I have a prepay gas meter also from bord Gais which I would not be without. No scary bill in times of extreme cold weather.


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## pudds

The private companies like prepaypower have an 'annual service charge' according to this anyway.



> *How Much Extra Does it Cost ?*
> There are companies such as Prepaypower and Pinergy  that will install a  meter for free if you switch to them as your electricity supplier.  The  basic unit rate they charge is the same as the Electric Ireland  “Standard Rate” (which is their highest rate) – BUT they also add on an  annual service charge of *€136.69* .
> 
> 
> 
> So that means someone using PrepayPower who consumed 4000kwh a year of electricity would end up paying  *€1065* a year if they went with a prepay meter from Prepaypower. The same usage would cost just *€839* with Airtricity (Direct Debit and ebilling). That’s a difference of  *€226 a year* . For people on low incomes – that is a significant amount.   See more details of the *Lowest Electricity Prices
> *
> *
> *
> The use of prepay meters might encourage people to use less  electricity – especially if they keep running out of credit !   In our  opinion – for most people  it makes more sense to switch to the lowest  priced supplier if possible – and then be pro-active about cutting down  your electricity usage rather than getting a prepaid electric meter  installed.



http://www.*****************.com/category/electricity-charges


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## Time

Well for those in their ivory towers to say that.


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## ClaireM

The discount with a prepay meter is not as great as the discount for have a direct debit. Prepay meter are not aimed at that market, they are great for someone who finds they incur charges from bounced direct debits.


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## rayn

Don't forget direct debit discount is only for 1 year, I think.


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## pudds

rayn said:


> Don't forget direct debit discount is only for 1 year, I think.



lasts 12 months but then it's up to you to renew it or not, they don't remind you.


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## demoivre

JohnJay said:


> I cant see why Electric Ireland dont give everyone the option to get one of these. I'm sure a lot of people (myself included) would be happier to pre-pay their electric bill and not to have to wait for the surprise bill at the end of the month.



As _Time _said above if you're in arrears they'll offer you one so don't pay a few of their bills ( keep the money aside !!) and wait for them to offer you a prepaid meter.


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## pudds

A workmate wanted to get  a prepay meter but has always paid bills on time and is not in arrears, so bord gais said it would cost him €110.

There is no such thing as a 'free' meter/lunch


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## RichInSpirit

The meter is in 12 days now and I've used 97 units up to a few minutes ago.
There was €5 on the meter starting off, which could have been the emergency credit and I've topped up with €20 near the beginning which all went to the meter.

I topped up this morning with a €10 top up and I noticed on the top up slip that €2.50 was going towards my bill arrears and €7.50 to the meter. Which is what I had been told by the ESB, 25% towards arrears and 75% to the meter. Or a 3:1 ratio which is the same ratio as the old school income to mortgage ratio. 

I'm being rather miserly with my ESB units. Sometimes I switch off a trip switch for the house if leaving for the day. 

I was averaging over€6 a day during the winter while on a bill and now I'm down to around €1.50 a day. 
And I've now got a notebook in the meter box to record stuff. !


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## RichInSpirit

Correction to above €1.50 plus €0.4603 standing charge per day.


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## STEINER

RichInSpirit said:


> The meter is in 12 days now and I've used 97 units up to a few minutes ago.
> There was €5 on the meter starting off, which could have been the emergency credit and I've topped up with €20 near the beginning which all went to the meter.
> 
> I topped up this morning with a €10 top up and I noticed on the top up slip that €2.50 was going towards my bill arrears and €7.50 to the meter. Which is what I had been told by the ESB, 25% towards arrears and 75% to the meter. Or a 3:1 ratio which is the same ratio as the old school income to mortgage ratio.
> 
> I'm being rather miserly with my ESB units. Sometimes I switch off a trip switch for the house if leaving for the day.
> 
> I was averaging over€6 a day during the winter while on a bill and now I'm down to around €1.50 a day.
> And I've now got a notebook in the meter box to record stuff. !



Thats great for you that you are being thrifty and using the meter to deal with the arrears, eliminating unneccessary wastage etc.

€2 a day usage is good. My bill is averaging €95 every 60 days. €6 a day in the winter is shockingly high, your bill was €360.  What was the main consumer of power, electric heating presumably?


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## RichInSpirit

Yes, electric heating was the main culprit I think. But on the flip side I didn't use oil or other fuel so maybe the electricity usage wasn't over the top.


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## RichInSpirit

I've the washing machine and the immersion going at the same time now and I can see the meter red light blinking like mad. (The meter is in the kitchen).
I looked at the KW load and it's 5.29 
Probably over €1 an hour.


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## Leo

Easy enough work out. 5.29kW for one hour is 5.29 units. Just multiply that by your unit cost.


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## seánieboy

price per unit is 0.1699 with electric ireland and the standing charge is 30.66 a day but if one is a low user with electric ireland they bump up the standing charge per unit up to 44 cents per day so they catch you with a decent enough bill whether your using electricity is used or not . i think this is a disgrace


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## Leo

This only applies to people who use an average of less than 2kWh per day to ensure they are paying an appropriate standing charge to cover the costs of providing the service. It was introduced so the rest of us aren't subsidising the costs of such low users (typically vacant houses, seldom used holiday homes, etc.) 

If you want to rant about this, pleas post in LoS. Otherwise, let's keep this thread focused on PAYG meters.


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## RichInSpirit

EnergyElepht said:


> Pre pay meters are the most expensive way to get you electricity. Avoid unless you have no other choice (or like paying alot more for stuff).



You have an interesting site there Mr Elephant!

But some of the prices quoted are only available by direct debit which I hate with a passion. 
With the ESB pre pay meter the unit price has a 4% discount off the 16.99 standard price. 

And the thing I really love about the whole setup (at the moment) is I have an interest free loan off the ESB to deal with my arrears.


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## AlbacoreA

How does the Prepay meter impact on things like burglar alarms, smoke and carbon detectors. I assume it will run down their internal batteries. Does it effect home insurance?


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## Time

There is no impact if you keep it in credit. Most people do.


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## AlbacoreA

I wonder does the insurance see it like that.


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## Time

I wouldn't know seeing as I don't have any.


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## Leo

AlbacoreA said:


> I wonder does the insurance see it like that.



T&Cs just say that if you claim a discount for having an alarm, is must be functioning correctly, and armed while away. The only issue that would arise is if you went to make a claim for a break-in while the power was out, and the alarm system backup batteries had been drained, you would not be insured.


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## RichInSpirit

Had a quick look at the meter this morning and it was down €4 from yesterday.
I've 2 electric heaters(oil filled radiators) running constantly but turned down very low. The cold weather must be causing them to come on more frequently. 
I'm thinking of buying plug in timers for these to see if i can cut the electricity.
I'm keeping a good (paper ) record of the meter since installed and might post up a computer version here sometime when i get a chance.


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## Leo

RichInSpirit said:


> I'm keeping a good (paper ) record of the meter since installed and might post up a computer version here sometime when i get a chance.



That'd be interesting to see, if you need help formatting it to display well here, just let me know.


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## SDMXTWO

Is this still an active thread? I am on PAYG due to arrears but now have it sorted and am in credit on every bill. I got used to paying 30€ pw. I know it is the most expensive option so what should I move to and be able to continue to pay on line pw. Thanks.

I am using 5'080kw pa. approx 845kw per bi-monthly bill.


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## RichInSpirit

Hurray !! I've payed off my arrears fully recently. Wow 5 years since I got this meter. Time flies.


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## AlbacoreA

Well done. Not sure if you got the best deal considering the time. But sometimes you have to go with what works for you.


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## lledlledlled

5 years after this thread was started, it is still the case that Pay As You Go is the most expensive way to pay for electricity, unless you stay with your supplier past the discount period (usually 12 months). The trick is to change supplier every year and pay by Direct Debit.
Sites like Bonkers.ie are great for comparing the best elec & gas rates of the day.


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