Are my esb bills very big (With geothermal) ?

celine26

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Hi we moved into our house last August. It was gutted, extended and refurbished. We put in tons of insulation and scored a B1 rating on the BER. We also put in a geothermal heat pump and night rate meter. The house is around 1800 square feet and a bungalow. We have the temp set at about 21 C.

We got a few tiny bills last year. Before Christmas we got one for about €350. Then after Christmas one came for €600 and our latest one is €400. I know that they were estimating for a while so I can understand the big one for €600 but I think the latest one is a bit steep. I need to start monitoring units etc to try to work out where we're going wrong. I have turned down the heat in the past few weeks because we're finding the bills hard to pay.

We have all new appliances mostly with A ratings. We run the dishwasher and washing machine at night and try to keep windows closed etc. I dont have a dryer or any other really greedy appliances, we dont even have out outside lights installed yet. The only other change I can think of that I have to make is to change all the bulbs to the energy saving ones.

Are these bills normal? Am I expecting too much from the heat pump? Any help would be most welcome.

Many thanks
 
Seems quite big. My wife and I live in a 3 bed semi-d, just the two of us. Our last ESB bill was €120 for two months (Jan + Feb).
 
There was a huge thread on this which you can find here : http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=34579

Bear in mind that electricity costs are much higher (approx 61%) than when that thread was started too.

I couldn't open the source page of the 61% stat - but from here: [broken link removed]

(Electricity prices to industry in Ireland were 43% higher in real terms in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2010 than in the
year 2005. Real prices are where the effects of inflation have been removed, essentially a constant price. Electricity
prices to households in Ireland were 2% higher in real terms in Q4 of 2010 than in the year 2005.)
 
I also have Geothermal in a 2,800sq.ft house - from Sept '09 to Sept '11 the total cost (paid) of Electricity was c.€6,000 incl. Vat and standing charges. The electrical pumps to circulate the heating are the biggest cost together with using an immersion heater to boost the heat-pump heated water from 40deg to 60deg.

I have just today completed an in-depth check (based on my photo records of meter readings) of charges made by my supplier V's amounts paid and a difference of c. +€1,200 has come to light. I did the check as I received a bill last week for €800 for Jan-Feb - 100% increase on the average!! Worth checking.
 
You need to put an energy monitor on to the items that you think are the large drawers of elctricity. Have to say those geo thermals appear to be savage energy users.
Am in C2 BER house after piling in a stove, attic insulation and pumping the walls.

As a comparison, in our detached bungalow we spend 150€ bi-monthly on electric and 70€ on oil heating monthly. Stove is a wood and coal burner and probably costs 20€ per month.

Reckon all round I am coming out better than the geothermal.
 
I have geothermal 4500sqft and thought my bills were high I checked the electric for a year, taking readings and worked out the machine only costs me €500 of my bill for the year, just lights in winter add a good bit and the oven on a Sunday uses 13 units a days extra electricity, electric showers and old fridge freezer can add a good bit.

I run my machine for 4 hours 4-8am to make use of night saver and found that 1 hour at about 4-5pm on cold days is more than enough to heat the house. The year before i let it come on and off when need and it costs a lot more for the year.
 
Thank you for all the help and advice it is great to hear other situations. Bluemac I didnt know that the heat pump can be put on a timer I thought it had to work on a thermostat so I'll definitely be having a look at that. I also need to change my bulbs which are just normal ones. I've had a look at the meter and figured out how to calculate it so hopefully I can get a better handle on these bills.
 
Just an aside on the energy saving bulbs, I bought my parents 3 CFLs back in 1994/95. They are still working, I don't know whether current offerings would beat that!
 
Hi we moved into our house last August. It was gutted, extended and refurbished. We put in tons of insulation and scored a B1 rating on the BER. We also put in a geothermal heat pump and night rate meter. The house is around 1800 square feet and a bungalow. We have the temp set at about 21 C.

We got a few tiny bills last year. Before Christmas we got one for about €350. Then after Christmas one came for €600 and our latest one is €400. I know that they were estimating for a while so I can understand the big one for €600 but I think the latest one is a bit steep. I need to start monitoring units etc to try to work out where we're going wrong. I have turned down the heat in the past few weeks because we're finding the bills hard to pay.

We have all new appliances mostly with A ratings. We run the dishwasher and washing machine at night and try to keep windows closed etc. I dont have a dryer or any other really greedy appliances, we dont even have out outside lights installed yet. The only other change I can think of that I have to make is to change all the bulbs to the energy saving ones.

Are these bills normal? Am I expecting too much from the heat pump? Any help would be most welcome.

Many thanks
Hi celine, I presume this is running with Underfloor heating?
these bills do seem high but and leads me to recommend:

  1. employ an UFH & GSHP specialist to assess the system
  2. presuming thats OK, get a heat loss assessment (thermal imagining) and possibly an air-tightness test also (really al of the above should have done while you were refurbishing)
unfortunately the BER system is merely a rough energy rating system and is not a good design tool - particularly where 'deep' retro-fit is being carried out along with GSHP. there is a chance that your homes thermal bridging/ heat loss and air-leakage may be part of this problem - it may also just be the case that the systems needs to be Serviced/checked/troubleshooted.
 
We have a 3,000sq ft house with geothermal, new build and we're in it a year. Just checked our bills from April 2011 to February 2012 and it works out as €82 per month including all appliances and lighting.
 
We have a 3,000sq ft house with geothermal, new build and we're in it a year. Just checked our bills from April 2011 to February 2012 and it works out as €82 per month including all appliances and lighting.

Hey Bartbridge, I'm looking at installing GSHP in a new build. Can you tell me the make/model of the pump in use, and who supplied and installed it for you?
 
Hi, has anyone installed PV solar to use the power to help keep down the electricity bill where geothermal is used
 
OP, For all your energy heating/water heating and all appliances over winter and at 21 degrees is high but doesn't seem excessively high.

21 degrees for me would be way too hot. Could you try 20 degrees. That would reduce your bill .

With the shutdown maybe you and your family is at home more using more energy.
 
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