Changes to Electricity Tariffs

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qe2ex
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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby qe2ex » Sat Aug 21, 2021 8:36 pm

dxf wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 10:00 pm Now my Grand Plan was to think about charging batteries between midnight and 8am and running the whole house of the batteries - so only paying 0.065€ or six and a half cents per unit - but the cost of sufficient batteries was too high - unless anyone knows better
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Hehe. That's a sneaky idea.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby jonbar.1 » Mon Sep 06, 2021 1:10 pm

On Aug.10th ( in the middle of this large thread!) I smugly announced that despite all the talk of higher electricity prices, my last 3 bills had each been €10 less than last year.
I am pleased to update that my latest bill is €9 less than last year....what am I doing right?

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Wicksey » Mon Sep 06, 2021 4:50 pm

I don't know as prices have risen for us. Our Kwh usage this August was less than last year, being not so hot, but the bill is about 8€ more. Have you bought something new and more efficient? We replaced our water heater a couple of years back and noticed the difference.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby jonbar.1 » Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:03 pm

Good question Wicksey.
At the end of last year our Landlord installed a new aircon/ heating system.
It seems more modern & efficient than thecold one.Even the "fan-only" setting works well ( apart from August of course!).

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby El Cid » Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:48 pm

That’s almost certainly why your usage has dropped. I had the same experience.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby jonbar.1 » Mon Sep 06, 2021 7:09 pm

It's amazing that a new system can not only compensate for the price increases,but also be even lower than last year.
To be honest our landlord was pretty chuffed with himself; going on about how energy saving the new aircon would be!

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Wicksey » Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:38 am

We had our aircon units installed about 3 years back. Before that we used either the wood burner or electric radiators in the winter. It's noticable how much more efficient the aircon units are for heating. We only bought 22€ of wood last year (partly due to lockdown) compared to 150€+ in past winters, and stopping using the electric radiators has reduced the electricity usage as well.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby katy » Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:08 pm

markwilding wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:28 pm I don’t deal with the electric or gas so I didn’t realise until yesterday that the tariffs had changed for us as well.

Wife is now doing the washing machine at night. The problem is that she forgets to hang out the washing in the morning or tell me that there’s some in the machine.
Perhaps try doing it yourself :wave:

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby spanish_lad » Fri Sep 10, 2021 8:26 am

Apparently today it has gone up again? Record highs, 150€ a kW or something??

It's on the Spanish news now
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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Wicksey » Fri Sep 10, 2021 8:51 am

I must admit we have changed our routine a little to make the most of the cheap rate all weekend. I used to do the washing when the basket was full and I only do a couple of loads a week at the most, but now I only do it at the weekends. Unfortunately our machine has developed a fault which makes it unbalanced and the previous owners built a concrete base about 80cm high to perch it on, so it is often in danger of falling off. I have to therefore monitor it :roll: . Plus I like to remove the washing the moment it's finished and shake it out as I iron as little as possible :thumbup:

We run the dishwasher after 10pm but only run it two to three times a week, but we have thought about when we do things a bit more to make use of the cheapest rate if possible. The water heater is now on and off again before 8am as well. Every little helps :D

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:17 pm

How much is the average monthly electric bill? I am asking about how much people could expect to pay if they didn't try and pick times when to do the washing etc.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby El Cid » Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:37 pm

Impossible to say. It just depends on what electrical appliances you have, whether you use it for heating etc

It’s a bit like asking how much petrol does a car use. A Bentley driven 50000 miles a year tends to use a bit more than a Mini driven 5000 miles a year.

Our annual bill is about € 2500, that is certainly not typical.

Whatever your bill, managing when you use it which you can easily do with the differential hourly tariff can save a lot of money.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:59 pm

Yes i do understand why you have said that it could be impossible to say and i didn't think that the answer would be that straight forward,just interested in what people are using and what their bills are working out at.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Cádiz » Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:15 am

Do these changes apply to all Electric suppliers in Spain...
The OP is just from one company...

Thanks...

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Free at Last » Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:37 am

Pamela1 wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:59 pm Yes i do understand why you have said that it could be impossible to say and i didn't think that the answer would be that straight forward,just interested in what people are using and what their bills are working out at.
For 2 people living in a 2 bedroom, all electric apartment our bill for the 3 months of May, June and July (the supplier sent a single bill for the 3 month period as it took them ages to implement the new billing system) was €135. For the same months last year the bills totalled €155. We still have a tariff where we pay the same unit cost for electricity no matter what time of day or day of the week it is used, which we prefer.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Wicksey » Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:28 am

I am with EnergiaXXI, an associated branch of Endesa. We have a small two bed house with 2 aircon units, a full gas cooker and a 1.5Kw water heater, plus dishwasher and washing machine. Our yearly bills have been around 650-750€pa. We've had the aircon 3 years now and they have reduced the electric heating bills as they are more efficient than the electric radiators we used to use.

All of our lightbulbs are low wattage ones and we are not high users of the washing machine and dishwasher, about twice a week each. We do not waste electricity .... I was brought up in a house where we always had to turn the light off if we didn't need it on :lol: The water heater is on a timer and is on for about 40 mins a day at the moment, and that will increase as it gets colder. I feel that we don't have high usage but I think the bills are quite high relatively, considering how careful we are and we don't use electricity to cook.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Pamela1 » Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:32 pm

FAL...considering you are all electric then i think your bills are pretty good, who are you with?

Wicksey it sounds like you are on top of being careful and are keeping your electric consumption in check...I too am with EnergiaXXI , and i have noticed a difference when comparing with previous years.Our electric was billed at 83 euros for the last month, we were there for 3 weeks and had it been a week longer then i'd guess it would have been easily around 100 e. We ran 3 aircon units but never through the day,mostly through the night, the washer was on twice a day every day, ( there were 8 of us ) dishwasher once a day. The pool pump and two fridges and one freezer, cooking and water is run by gas. The tv was never on but the kettle quite often :lol: I didn't stick to using the electric at certain times of day for washing/dishwashing but if i was there permanently i would certainly start taking more notice of what i was using and when.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Free at Last » Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:00 pm

Pamela1 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:32 pm FAL...considering you are all electric then i think your bills are pretty good, who are you with?

Wicksey it sounds like you are on top of being careful and are keeping your electric consumption in check...I too am with EnergiaXXI , and i have noticed a difference when comparing with previous years.Our electric was billed at 83 euros for the last month, we were there for 3 weeks and had it been a week longer then i'd guess it would have been easily around 100 e. We ran 3 aircon units but never through the day,mostly through the night, the washer was on twice a day every day, ( there were 8 of us ) dishwasher once a day. The pool pump and two fridges and one freezer, cooking and water is run by gas. The tv was never on but the kettle quite often :lol: I didn't stick to using the electric at certain times of day for washing/dishwashing but if i was there permanently i would certainly start taking more notice of what i was using and when.
I think our bills are pretty reasonable too, especially considering we cook two separate main meals each day as we don't eat the same things, and don't have any extra heating costs for gas or logs. We do have an open fireplace in the apartment but have never used it. We installed all new appliances including the aircon unit when we bought and renovated the apartment in 2017 and looked out for energy efficient ones. We use the washing machine 4 or 5 times a week, but almost always on cold wash only which I think makes quite a difference, and usually run the dishwasher twice a week. We use aircon very little in the summer, just have a ceiling fan on all night. The bills are higher in winter when we use the aircon for heating and use the oven more often, my most expensive monthly bill last year was €76.

Our supplier is Naturgy (one of the big 3 in Spain along with Endesa and Iberdrola). We are on their Por Uso tariff where we pay the same unit cost no matter what time of day or day of the week we use the appliances (we prefer that). They are giving 25% discount on the potencia element of the bills for one year, plus 5% discount on the electricity consumption.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby Wicksey » Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:18 pm

Throughout August we did have fans on all night long and we have a fridge freezer, plus another very old freezer and they always seem to be whirring away. We have a small vinoteca too for the summer that seems to be constantly on. Since the tariffs changed, then we do make an effort to do the washing at the weekends, hoover (it's a 2KW one, but we have a rechargeable for during the week!) and have changed the water heater timer. We don't have an electric kettle either, always had one that goes on the gas hob.

They are minor adjustments that seem to have made a difference as our cheapest rate electricity is by far the largest proportion of our bill. In the height of summer we had the aircon on in the afternoons and evenings, but the bills weren't too bad. We have a log fire but I think the aircon is actually cheaper to use, unless it's a really cold and wet spell then we'll light the fire and keep it going all day.

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Re: Changes to Electricity Tariffs

Postby El Cid » Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:01 pm

The situation is now beginning to get a bit clearer.

Unquestionably wholesale electricity prices have gone through the roof and there is now very little government subsidy. They have reduced IVA temporarily and stopped the 5% electricity tax.

Each supplier is handling the situation differently and offering all sorts of deals.

Some users have not had any changes, yet, to their contracts but it’s only a matter of time before everyone will have big increases. It’s unavoidable as the suppliers cannot afford not to put up prices.

I have been on fixed annual contracts for some years and by changing suppliers have kept my bill the same. My current contract has just been increased by over 50% so I have been looking at alternatives of which there are plenty, but all the fixed rates have increased enormously as the suppliers have to hedge their bets and there is no evidence in sight that prices will come down.

It seems to me that the best option is to avoid any form of fixed price deal (unless you are lucky enough to have a supplier that hasn’t increased prices but they will have to eventually). I have just signed up with another supplier who charges you the actual daily cost of energy and just takes 3.5% as commission. That seems to be the fairest way of doing it at the moment and almost all of the UK pundits agree. Any fixed rate contract is going to favour the supplier for obvious reasons. This sort of variable contract assumes the 3 charging periods so there is potential to optimise your savings by adjusting your usage as discussed earlier.

It’s still in a bit of an interim phase at the moment, but one thing is certain, whatever your bills have been over the last few months, they are going to go up by a very large amount.

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