Hi my last 2 esb bills have me baffled. October bill was 289, thats was a little high considering dh was home alone and in work most days and no heating or cooking!!!!!!. December went up to 550. feb bill 800e. My bills up to now were normaly between 250 and 400. 400 being xmas bill (always dearest) so it has doubled compared to last xmas. There is no aparent reason. I have compared my bill with 3 neighbours, and i seem to be using alot more units than them. Now were i can see that id use more day units the night units are double theres. we all have the same heating (storage) and are on night saver. I put my dishwasher and washing machine on at night but that it. How could i use 4000 units in the nightime? I rang them in december and the girl told me to check the reading cause it might be a diget out but it was right. We live in an apartment block but mine is a house and the metor is in the appartments. I have no gas all electic.
Comparing monetary values is of little use although quite understandable. You need to look at your usage pattern - the number of units billed each period. Have any of them been estimated? Are you able to access the meter and take regular meter readings? Can you tabulate, period for period, over the last two years what the readings and consumptions were and which if any were estimated?
Neither is there much to gain by checking your neighbours' bills. People with identical appliances can use electricity in very different ways depending on their family circumstances and readiness to economise.
My advice is to take daily readings for a week or so. These will tell you what you are using and you should, hopefully, be able to reduce your usage based on that knowledge.
Check out the ESB website (www.esb.ie) where there is a lot of very useful information on how to use electricity wisely.