Which Electricity Tariff?

[Hanser]

I'm with Endesa and on their Tempo tariff. The details say:

"Hired potency: 10.392Kw Discrimination time: With discrimination Rate: 2.1DHA2"

We will only visit occasionally for the next few years. The standing charges are the bulk of the cost. It's only a small apartment and I wonder it the 10kW tariff too high. The kW was changed when the smart meter was fitted. The standing charges seem very high.

Has anyone else been through this?

 

[bobley]

I'm on 5.75kW (2.0DA??) in a 3 bed room town house. My only real consumer is the immersion heater. The house has had it's electric hob removed and uses gas now. I've not had a bill yet though.

You've got me worried now.... the phone app is really good though!

 

[bobley]

I've just worked out that my standing charge is €3.78 /kw.month so thats about €21/month. It does appear to be very easy to drop your peak power level. You'll need to go round and add things up. You can also set a warning in the mobile app so you'll know when you're getting close

 

[MPH133]

Endesa are offering a happy hour - 2 hours per day free electricity or one day per week free
Their website even recommends which hours you should use so seems a good idea to do it! I have selected 6pm to 8pm

 

[Hanser]

I've just worked out that my standing charge is €3.78 /kw.month so thats about €21/month. It does appear to be very easy to drop your peak power level. You'll need to go round and add things up. You can also set a warning in the mobile app so you'll know when you're getting close

Thanks. I've installed the app. It's very good and works well although I get "unexpected error' on the Notifications feature.

 

[bobley]

Thanks. I've installed the app. It's very good and works well although I get "unexpected error' on the Notifications feature.

I've got that too but I think its' due to lack of history in the app. Maybe after your next bill etc it'll work better...

 

[Shaun&Caro]

On the topic of potencia...

...if you reduce the potencia to reflect your 'normal' life in PP, but on a rare occasion all of your electrical items are switched on and the demand for power outstrips the potencia, what happens?

Is it simply that the master switch on the consumer unit trips out?

Thanks for your thoughts

 

[Rockape]

Ive just discovered my first bill from Endesa was 185 euros which is surprisingly high considering the house has only been occupied for two weeks and not exactly using much power. I haven't seen the actual bill though as it was a DD and I'm wondering if a paper bill would have been sent to the house? Any thoughts anyone?

 

[bobley]

Ive just discovered my first bill from Endesa was 185 euros which is surprisingly high considering the house has only been occupied for two weeks and not exactly using much power. I haven't seen the actual bill though as it was a DD and I'm wondering if a paper bill would have been sent to the house? Any thoughts anyone?

I've only had a letter about the contract sent to the house but if you know your contract number (it'll be shown on the direct debit document) then you can log in at endesaclientes dot com and set everything up on line and you'll be able to read the bill directly.

 

[Rockape]

I've only had a letter about the contract sent to the house but if you know your contract number (it'll be shown on the direct debit document) then you can log in at endesaclientes dot com and set everything up on line and you'll be able to read the bill directly.

Thanks Bobley, I'll give it a whirl!

 

[supamac]

Trying to register with Endesa website in English. It will not allow me to identify myself as the document drop down doesn't work and will not let me type anything in. Am in touch with their customer service about this.
In the meantime, our potencia is nowhere near enough - tele, dishwasher and iron at the same time or other appliance permutations and the circuit breaker cuts everything off. There is 4,400 kw on our potencia and it clearly isn't enough! 3 bed, 2 baths property.
Has anyone increased theirs and is it easily done? We've talked about this often over the last 10 years and been talked out of increasing the potencia but it just isn't man enough for our use.
Do I need to go to the Endesa office (i have reasonable Spanish) and if so where is the office these days?
Thanks

 

[Hanser]

Try registering using the Spanish pages. I had trouble with the English pages for registration. It took a few hours for my online account to start working but it is worth the trouble.

Their customer services people were helpful.

4.4kW is equivalent to just 19 amps so you can see why the circuit breaker is tripping. I recommend that you get it raised to just under 10kW, probably 9.9kW. The standing charge is a multiple of your kW and the rate goes up above 10kW.

You also pay more per kWh for consumption above 10kW.

 

[supamac]

Thanks Hanser - learned a lot in the last few hours! Logged on to the Spanish site and managed to get a chat in English which was most helpful. She completed the registration for me after I downloaded my passport and I now have my own account and use the English option. I try in Spanish but things like electricity are a bit complex!! I also asked on the chat about increasing the potencia and she gave me a calculator link and this told me I may need 10.39. However, back on the chat I asked how I made it happen - they challenged 10.39 and said they could not believe we'd need more than 5.75 - and I was given the links. One problem - anything higher than 4.6 and you need a certificate from an electrician saying you're ready for the increase. Once I have that it's €45 per extra kw as a one off charge and an extra charge each month which will be well worth it to us.

 

[Hanser]

I've just used their calculator and it seems to underestimate. It gave 4.6kW for my place. By design, and depending on their type, circuit breakers trip actually trip well above their rating. So, for a potencia of 4.6kW, one could possibly use 6kW or even more before it tripped.

The website says homes with a swimming pool could get away with under 10kW. That would have to be an unheated pool.

I guess the question is, what potencia do people have on the forum?

 

[bobley]

5.75kw is as high as you can get without a certificate. The wiring in my house is a bit dodgy and i can't go higher than 5.75 without a massive rewire job. The previous owners of my house had the dishwasher and electric hob taken out. Not had any problems so far but it's early days.

 

[Gommar Goffer]

My potencia is 11.5 which is probably way too high. I've got 4 bed 2 bath, no air con, no electric hob and my last bill (I am now living here was 288€
On average before it would be 100 - 120€ per 2 months.

 

[supamac]

Bobley - on the website if you Go to My Endesa > My Contracts > Select contract > Power and tension > Modify and then select 5.75, it is clear you need a certificate for that level - the line is drawn after 4.6 as it stands today.
I have found an electrician who will come and assess on Monday morning and give me the necessary certificate assuming our current wiring arrangements can take it. He suggests he will certify higher than we need for future use in case the suggested 5.75 does not suffice.
We'll see how we go - just slightly concerned we may need expensive re-wire job!
And surprised it underestimated Hanser! We owned up to 3 electric rads, 2 aircon units, oven, hob, dishwasher, washer/dryer, vacuum cleaner, kettle, iron, toaster, TV & DVD, hairdryer etc and there it was at 10.39!!!

 

[bobley]

I think someone did a bit of nudge nudge wink wink backhander when our house was signed off. Aparently it was set to 1.75kW prior to 2007, then got a re wire and set to 5.75kW.

I think 5.75kW may be a bit on the lean side for you. Maybe 7 or 8? After all, you need to be realistic about how you utilise all you devices. The dishwasher and washing machines could be on timers so they run through the night one after the other? I'd be tempted to sack the electric rads if they can be swapped out for reversible AC units as an AC unit on heat mode will produce 4kW of heat for 1kW of electricity. You dont mention your hot water though? Have you got a gas boiler?

 

[supamac]

Yes Bobley think you're right we'd need more.
We're keeping the rads (brand new Rointe super efficient wall mounted that look like gas ones but aren't) and our aircon units are reversible but we simply don't like the dry heat emitted and prefer the rads in winter months (when we are here) but it is beyond a joke running around to switch the rads off before we pop the kettle and toaster on! And yes I can control things like when the washer and dishwasher are on but that was exactly the last straw last week when the dishwasher was on and I thought I'd get through a bit of ironing while I caught up on Coronation Street!!! Pop - off it went!!
Hot water is the only thing on gas and the bills are ridiculously low as a result.
We'll see what happens Monday when the electrician arrives......