Electricity Bills

[Herman]

I cannot help but think that my electricity bill is very expensive. I have a 3 bedroomed villa in Pollenca and a large outdoor pool that is NOT heated. I also have an irrigation system in the garden too. My bill for the last year is €1500. How does this compare to anyone else in a similar villa? My energy supplier is Endesa and as far as I know I am not on any special price deal. Is it possible to have other suppliers? Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Hernan

 

[James]

You're not alone in thinking the electricity bills are very expensive. They are expensive! I'm also with Endesa on a 5.5KW/h potencia standard rate and, in total, my annual electricity bill ends up being between €1400 and €1800

I have a three bedroom 108m2 apartment which I occupy for about 60 days spread throughout the year. Adding my parents additional use, it is occupied for about 10 weeks throughout the year.

In the summer (May to October) the only electical appliance I leave on in my absence between visits is my fridge. In the winter (November to March) between visits I set electric heaters in two bedrooms to come on overnight for 8 hours to counter the effect of winter damp that plights the port.

God knows how much the bill would be if I lived in PP full time! A scary thought - the electricity bill that is rather than living in PP full time!

 

[alcanadakid]

For comparison -

We have a 450m2 house and occupy it about 10 days each month. We also have an irrigation system (May to Oct) and an unheated pool, We leave 4 lights on timers when we are not here. Heating is by oil (€1400 per annum). We have air conditioning in the bedrooms (June to Sept). Last year we spent €1380
on electricity with Endesa and this year it looks like being similar.

I had an heart stopping moment with the last bill which shows a big usage for September when we weren't here at all, then I saw that it was an estimate. Panic over.

Have you check that you have an ICP switch? If not that could give you a high bill. See the previous posts in this section "ICP switch"

 

[Mark]

Has any considered buying an electricity monitoring device so you can check the power consumption when back in England ?

( You would need a router with a permanent internet connection and a spare Ethernet port to plug a network cable into)

At home I have a Current cost EnviR with the netsmart device plugged into our router so the data is uploaded. ( No PC needed)

An example screen grab attached:

Ignore the blue line as that is temperature in the room where the device is located. Temperature scale is on the right of the graph in degrees C.

The orange spikey line is power consumption with the scale on the left of the graph in watts.

This was from Sunday and the graph starts at midnight on the left and you can see the overnight background continuous consumption was about 500 watts due to fridge, freezer, outside lights, router,network drive etc, etc, I put the kettle on at about 07:40 ( look at the spike) and we where out in the afternoon from about 14:00 to about 19:00 hence very low power consumption for a few hours in the afternoon.

This graph is also available on a mobile phone browser so when I am working away I can see what is on at home as I have the website bookmarked on my phone.

Individual appliances can also be monitored but that gets a bit more complicated. You can see from the second graph below my PC uses about 45 watts and was switched on at the same time I put the kettle on

I am a Geek and proud of it

Some links.

Current Cost - Reducing your energy bills so you can live a greener life

The Schuko version would be needed for those fortunate to have property in Spain as most of these devices have UK plugs etc.

EnviR:
Current Cost - Reducing your energy bills so you can live a greener life!

Netsmart:
Current Cost - Reducing your energy bills so you can live a greener life!

Also often found on ebay as people get them for free from energy companies and then sell them.

A villa owner that rents out could easily monitor power consumption to see just how much guests use each hour or day etc.

Hope that helps someone and its not an advert and if anyone needs help or links just ask.

 

[pollensa]

Mark,

you're worse than my Dad & my husband

Do you run around turning off lights & telling everyone to wear more clothes if they're cold?!

What happens if someone uses the kettle when you're out?

Sorry about that. I will NOT be showing this to my husband (or my Dad)....

Still, as Xmas presents...

 

[eleanor]

My husband too! I need more than a basic skills course here! Gosh a foreign language! My mind took this a step further too in thinking it was a good way to check that no one was using a property without permission lol but that's just me!
Thanks Mark but I think I might just pass on this but great idea for some.

 

[Deanscroft]

I live here full time in a 3 bed, 2 bath villa, no pool. Heating is all electric. Last year I paid Endesa 1500 euros. Something to think about - ordinary electric radiators use 3 to 4times as much electricity for the same heat output as reverse-cycle air conditioning.

 

[James]

I live here full time in a 3 bed, 2 bath villa, no pool. Heating is all electric. Last year I paid Endesa 1500 euros. Something to think about - ordinary electric radiators use 3 to 4times as much electricity for the same heat output as reverse-cycle air conditioning.

Hi Deanscroft. Out of interest, do you know what your KW potencia is & do you have reverse-cycle air conditioning rather than radiators? I'm rather envious that your bill is roughly the same as mine despite living in PP full time!

 

[clinkham]

Geeky maybe, but just the job to nail the cost of Mrs Clinkham boiling a kettle each bedtime to fill the hotwater bottle. (I know: its 3kW x time to boil = xKwh x cost of 1 Kwhour of electricity. If my memory is correct)

Disappointingly I guess the system can't keep tabs on the amount of gas used for the central heating.

 

[Deanscroft]

Reply to James
The Potentia of my supply is 5.75kw, however this doesn´t make a great deal of difference as the standing charge is roughly only 1.90€ /kw/month. I heat with a mix of reverse-cycle air conditioning and modern multi-element panel heaters.

 

[Herman]

I would like to try and get my bill reduced somewhat and have a better understanding of how my bill is priced. I have tried online to login to the endesa account but for some reason my registration is not getting accepted. The numbers on the website are all 902 numbers and cannot be dialled from the UK. Does anyone have a Pollenca number to call Endesa or another spanish number staring with 971? Either that or an email address where I can send an email to. I do remember there being a GESA shopin Alcudia. Are GESA part of the Endesa group?

All help appreciated.

 

[fil6699]

Unfortunately Endesa appear to be a law unto themselves as they are the sole provider of Electricity. Combine this with the way they take payments direct from your bank with a strict "No LIky No Lighty" system in operation in other words if you don't pay they simply and instantly cut you off.(no red letters or warning as in the UK) I had a bill I wanted to dispute a couple of years ago and was told by a number of people including the bank to pay and try to fight after but under no circumstances refuse to pay and dispute it as they will simply cut off your supply. As we all know they had no problem cutting of the supply to the council swimming pool and indeed even removed the meter. So imagine the chance we have. Herman I am sorry but its just one of those things but when you put that small negative against all the positives of owning Property in PP the positives always win. A bad day in PP is always far better than a good day in the UK. So bottom line don't let Endesa get you down trust me its not worth the fight

 

[Lorenzo]

Electricity bills

I managed to save quite a bit off my bills after I had a timer for the hot water tank put in. Maybe it's also possible to turn the thermostat down in your place as really hot water in the Summer is not really what anyone wants or needs.

I've also changed all the bulbs over in my place to the mini-fluorescent ones - which I buy in the UK as they are cheaper here

Maybe you could consider putting some solar panels - I know that Paul at Project has good experience of doing that sort of installation.

 

[alcanadakid]

Mark - I like toys too - I have to get one!

 

[alcanadakid]

Mark,

Since you seem to be an expert you have set me thinking. Earlier this year our house was destroyed by burst pipes in the loft while we were away

Is there anyway that I can monitor the UK house (loft) temperature while I am in Mallorca? - and be able to switch on the UK heating while here? Preferably through the UK router which is left on all the time.

Currently I have a wireless temperature probe in the loft transmitting to a panel downstairs, but it not USB capable

It would be great if i can.

 

[Deanscroft]

Reply to fil6699
The energy market here is no longer a `one party state´. About a year ago everyone got a letter giving them the option to change to a different company if they wished. Doing nothing about the letter meant you stayed with Endesa. Different Companys regularly advertise and leaflet to attract customers. Also - you do not have to pay by direct debit. If you cancel your direct debit then your electricity bill will come with a bar code on the bottom. Take the bill and a wad of cash to the post office and pay there.

 

[fil6699]

Reply to fil6699
The energy market here is no longer a `one party state´. About a year ago everyone got a letter giving them the option to change to a different company if they wished. Doing nothing about the letter meant you stayed with Endesa. Different Companys regularly advertise and leaflet to attract customers. Also - you do not have to pay by direct debit. If you cancel your direct debit then your electricity bill will come with a bar code on the bottom. Take the bill and a wad of cash to the post office and pay there.

Thanks for the info we never received the letter . And have never seen any other company. And for sure wouldn't dare cancel the direct debit LOL. Did you move and ? would be interesting I am sure for many on here to find out what alternative there is to Endesa

 

[Smiddy]

electricity bills

I know what you mean about getting cut off, due to change over at the bank by a couple of days i somehow missed a bill for the grand total of 16 euros, i can only assume when they wanted payment it wasn't there, but there was plenty to cover it a day or 2 later. This was in Nov, some bod turns up the following June and cuts off the supply, whilst some friends were in the apartment. So they'd taken Dec, Jan,Feb,March,April,May June out of my account but didn't bother taking the 16 euros out. Luckily i had a freindly neighbour who headed down to Alcudia, got the offending 16 euro bill,paid at the post office, went back to Endesa and a man turned up the following day and put the electricity back on. Strangely enough i wasn't charged for this, well i don't think i was, it's hard to keep track.

 

[whaleywanderer]

I know what you mean about getting cut off, due to change over at the bank by a couple of days i somehow missed a bill for the grand total of 16 euros, i can only assume when they wanted payment it wasn't there, but there was plenty to cover it a day or 2 later. This was in Nov, some bod turns up the following June and cuts off the supply, whilst some friends were in the apartment. So they'd taken Dec, Jan,Feb,March,April,May June out of my account but didn't bother taking the 16 euros out. Luckily i had a freindly neighbour who headed down to Alcudia, got the offending 16 euro bill,paid at the post office, went back to Endesa and a man turned up the following day and put the electricity back on. Strangely enough i wasn't charged for this, well i don't think i was, it's hard to keep track.

You'll probably be billed next summer.

 

[overthehill]

endesa office in Alcudia

Do you know the address/phone number/opening times of the Endesa office in Alcudia and do they have anyone that speaks English?
We need to inform them of an address change for our property. Thank you town council for giving us this task!!