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View Full Version : Utilities Help! How can I reduce my electricity charges in Tenerife?



poshbird22
04-04-2012, 10:13
Please can I have some advice.
My hubby and I rent a 3 bedroom apartment. 2 of the rooms are not used, ( ready for when family visit in the summer). The apartment is all electric with a 50 litre boiler for water. We are not people that leave lights on, constantly use hot water or leave electrical appliances on for lengthy periods of time. Since we have been here in this aprtment our electricity is working out approx 80 euros a month????? where we lived before we were paying average 45 a month and that was last summer with 2 fans running constantly! HELP! If this keeps on we will need to think drastically about our lovely future on this wonderful island. Any advice or info will be appreciated.

Suej
04-04-2012, 10:29
If it's any help my Electric bills have shot up too! I used to pay around 45-48€ per month but now pay around 60-70, over the cold snap we were using an electric patio heater and also a small fan heater indoors for a short while nearly every day and my last bill was 100€ for the month. It seems it was cheaper when we were on bi monthly bills! Not to put a downer on it I believe Electricity is going up again!:confused:

jazza
04-04-2012, 10:41
the first bill is an estimate then the next months bill should be a more accurate bill .....so ive been told lol

cainaries
04-04-2012, 11:03
I think the price also depends on which type of electricity you are on. Newly installed 'triple phase' seems to be at least twice the price. So, if OP has moved to a newly built place this might account for the increase.

No doubt 9Plus will be along in a minute to go pffft at my suggestion!

And, yes, it goes up all the time. pffft to that as well.

Suej
04-04-2012, 11:07
the first bill is an estimate then the next months bill should be a more accurate bill .....so ive been told lol

I agree they don't always read the meter but it still works out much the same...A lot more! :wink:

cheery
04-04-2012, 14:30
Our electric and gas combined is about £90 a month (small 2 up 2 down) so €80 a month isn't too bad if you ask me. Just another thing for people to consider if they are thinking of moving over there.

9PLUS
04-04-2012, 14:53
To be able to obtail your monthly consumption you would have to devide 2 monthly bills by 2


from a Lectura real to Lectura real (bills that have had the meter read)


Over the last 4 years electricity on your adverage domestic bill has risen around 14%


Electricity prices have just risen again between 5%-7%


Between 2 months reads you will always pay for what you use.

Unless there is a massive difference it's unlikely the meter would be OUT of calibration

chifleta
04-04-2012, 15:06
having the fans on or off won't make much difference to the bills.... i've just found a couple of ways to save a few euros every month, so I don't cook so much in the oven any more, bit by bit, when we can afford it, we're changing our light fixtures to the new energy saving fixtures/light bulbs, I only iron once a month for about 20 minutes now (basically I tricked my 19yr old son :raspberry2: LOL told him he's doing ironing from now on, so if the washing isn't hung on the line nicely or when brought down, not folded or hung up straight away, then he'd have to iron it.... amazing how we went from an hour or so ironing a week, to 20 mins a month) .... short of making sure the last two multi sockets are turned off when not in use, there isn't much else I can do now.

Like 9PLUS said, lekky is going up 5-7% again soon, and i've also heard a whisper that it might go up once again in a couple of months .... we'll just have to wait and see.... wondering how much an LCD tv uses, as it throws out quite a lot of heat¿¿¿??? :dontknow:

cainaries
04-04-2012, 15:22
I haven't ironed anything for years! (It probably shows but I've given up caring). OH is always nagging me to turn the computer right off when I'm not using it (but when is that?). We have friends who unplug their tv/digibox every night but what a pain it must be waiting for it to reboot each time you want to watch tv. It certainly seems to me it's gone up more like 114%.

Any tips on what uses lekky even when we're not thinking about it?

chifleta
04-04-2012, 15:32
I haven't ironed anything for years! (It probably shows but I've given up caring). OH is always nagging me to turn the computer right off when I'm not using it (but when is that?). We have friends who unplug their tv/digibox every night but what a pain it must be waiting for it to reboot each time you want to watch tv. It certainly seems to me it's gone up more like 114%.

Any tips on what uses lekky even when we're not thinking about it?

I have my computer on approx. 8-10 hours a day, I leave it on even if i'm popping out for an hour, i'm back and forth on here in the afternoon/evening, I watch tv programmes here, and my lekky bill averages 65€ a month, so i'm sure it doesn't use that much.... but big TV only on for 1 or 2 hours a day max, i bet that uses more....

I think the only way is to get white goods that are grade A (long term savings), light fixtures that use energy saving bulbs, turn off at the main plug anything that has a little light (pain in the backside, but I suppose all the little things add up to a €uro or two less in Endesas' pocket!!). I think that's why I haven't noticed the bills going up, because every time they do, i've found another think to unplug LOL but this time i'm buggered as it's only the multisocket for the tv/canal+ boxes and the microwave that's left to unplug, but i'm going to give it a go. There is NO WAY i'm turning off my adsl box :wink:


"think to unplug" sheeesh que pasa, who typed that?¿?¿

poshbird22
04-04-2012, 18:03
Thanx all for the info. Looking at the messages, it seems this amount may be right. I will certainly be more careful with lights and sockets..... might as well walk about in the dark and cook on open coals!!!!!! ha ha thanx anyway all. x

Suej
04-04-2012, 18:23
I wonder how much leccy we use by leaving things on standby when we are not using them! one thing I do with my laptop is put it in sleep mode when I am away from it even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes!

delderek
04-04-2012, 19:17
I wonder how much leccy we use by leaving things on standby when we are not using them! one thing I do with my laptop is put it in sleep mode when I am away from it even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes!

Probably 3 or 4 euros a year. Lighting uses very little as do fans. Water heating, A/C, fan heaters, use a lot. LCD TV's not a lot, Plasma a lot more. As your water heater gets chalked up, it will use a lot more electricity.

kathml
04-04-2012, 19:23
The water heater is probably the problem along with the cooker

Suej
04-04-2012, 19:36
Probably 3 or 4 euros a year. Lighting uses very little as do fans. Water heating, A/C, fan heaters, use a lot. LCD TV's not a lot, Plasma a lot more. As your water heater gets chalked up, it will use a lot more electricity.

A friend of mine put his water heater on a timer to come on twice a day but he didn't think he saved that much! I would think that the reason might be that it takes more electric to heat the water from cold than letting the thermostat retain the set temperature. Not sure?:dontknow:

cainaries
04-04-2012, 20:15
A friend of mine put his water heater on a timer to come on twice a day but he didn't think he saved that much! I would think that the reason might be that it takes more electric to heat the water from cold than letting the thermostat retain the set temperature. Not sure?:dontknow:

I've always used that argument, Suej, as I like to have lots of hot water on tap:laugh: When we were in the UK I used it about the Central Heating as well.

Our cooker broke down before Carnaval. Although the spare part apparently arrived 2 weeks ago the tecnico has not yet been to fix it. So we are only cooking on a hob and we don't often use the microwave. But our bills haven't gone down.

Megaloo
04-04-2012, 20:21
I have bought a mini oven, as I tended to put the big oven on for just a jacket potato do not like them done in microwave, I will see what differnce it makes to the bill.

cainaries
04-04-2012, 20:49
I have bought a mini oven, as I tended to put the big oven on for just a jacket potato do not like them done in microwave, I will see what differnce it makes to the bill.

We've got one of those and it's brilliant for almost everything but we couldn't work out how to do a full Sunday roast in it. It's very good for everything else though. And only €99.

Megaloo
04-04-2012, 21:38
We've got one of those and it's brilliant for almost everything but we couldn't work out how to do a full Sunday roast in it. It's very good for everything else though. And only €99.

I bought mine at Lidl it was only 42.90 Euros and it is fan assisted. I must admit I have not cooked a full Sunday roast but a friend of mine before she moved always cooked in one and did a Sunday Roast I must ask her how she did it. Mine takes a small casserole dish enough for the two of us and also a 6 size muffin tin.

cainaries
04-04-2012, 22:21
I bought mine at Lidl it was only 42.90 Euros and it is fan assisted. I must admit I have not cooked a full Sunday roast but a friend of mine before she moved always cooked in one and did a Sunday Roast I must ask her how she did it. Mine takes a small casserole dish enough for the two of us and also a 6 size muffin tin.

We woz robbed! We can roast a chicken in it but no room for roasties to be cooked at the same time. Yes, small casserole dish, I agree, then cook the veggies on the hob. It works very well. We managed with it happily for months when our kitchen was being done up and are now managing again whilst waiting for our oven to be mended. If it weren't for the roast/roasties problem we wouldn't bother getting it mended.

Suej
04-04-2012, 22:28
We woz robbed! We can roast a chicken in it but no room for roasties to be cooked at the same time. Yes, small casserole dish, I agree, then cook the veggies on the hob. It works very well. We managed with it happily for months when our kitchen was being done up and are now managing again whilst waiting for our oven to be mended. If it weren't for the roast/roasties problem we wouldn't bother getting it mended.

Do the meat first and let it rest in Tin foil then whack the slightly pre boiled spuds in on a higher heat! Hey I might be able to cook after all!!!:idea:

cainaries
04-04-2012, 22:30
Do the meat first and let it rest in Tin foil then whack the slightly pre boiled spuds in on a higher heat! Hey I might be able to cook after all!!!:idea:

Hmmmm. Roasties take a while. I think the meat might be cold by the time they're cooked although I suppose you could take out the roasties, wrap them in the tin foil and just give the meat a blast ... having taken it out slightly underdone. .... nope, I still can't cook.

Suej
04-04-2012, 22:35
Hmmmm. Roasties take a while. I think the meat might be cold by the time they're cooked although I suppose you could take out the roasties, wrap them in the tin foil and just give the meat a blast ... having taken it out slightly underdone. .... nope, I still can't cook.

Give it a try it worked with my Turkey crown at Christmas because of the carcass it stays quite hot! This Leccy thread is going slightly the way of a cooking thread! Join you down in the Dungeon, white should be suitably chilled by now!:ashamed:

slodgedad
05-04-2012, 00:08
I don't know where the increase figures come from but in reality my leccy bill has almost double in 5 years.

What I used to pay every 2 months is not much more than I now pay monthly.

In my mind when they changed the billing structure it was a blatant cover up of price increases.

BTW. Same apartment, same appliances, same usage. (plus I'm a compulsive switcher offer)

Megaloo
05-04-2012, 09:00
I don't know where the increase figures come from but in reality my leccy bill has almost double in 5 years.

What I used to pay every 2 months is not much more than I now pay monthly.

In my mind when they changed the billing structure it was a blatant cover up of price increases.

BTW. Same apartment, same appliances, same usage. (plus I'm a compulsive switcher offer)





Totally agree so has mine yes the monthly billing is a cover up as meters are still only read every two months, waste of paper and postage.

chifleta
05-04-2012, 14:20
I don't know where the increase figures come from but in reality my leccy bill has almost double in 5 years.

What I used to pay every 2 months is not much more than I now pay monthly.

In my mind when they changed the billing structure it was a blatant cover up of price increases.

BTW. Same apartment, same appliances, same usage. (plus I'm a compulsive switcher offer)

yup, when we had bi-monthly bills, mine averaged 94€ for two months.... now I pay 65€ each month........ and since it went up last year and year before i've been pretty obsessive about turning everything off or unplugging (except my lovely computer LOL) so it could have been even higher than 65€...

I watched briefly something on Telecinco this morning regarding swapping light bulbs, removing phone chargers (though these were minimum consumage .. is that a word? I think i've been here too long), unplugging coffee perculator when not in use. One thing they said used a lot was the cable with the black box used to charge up your laptop, so i've told my son to remember to unplug that when he's not using it (laptop usage between 8-12€ a month.... wow... but didn't say about PC tower, so I don't know what uses more)....

I wonder if anyone knows about the external hard-drive, might be worth unplugging that and just plug it in once a day/week!!! ??¿?¿?¿?¿ :dontknow:

cainaries
05-04-2012, 15:33
yup, when we had bi-monthly bills, mine averaged 94€ for two months.... now I pay 65€ each month........ and since it went up last year and year before i've been pretty obsessive about turning everything off or unplugging (except my lovely computer LOL) so it could have been even higher than 65€...

I watched briefly something on Telecinco this morning regarding swapping light bulbs, removing phone chargers (though these were minimum consumage .. is that a word? I think i've been here too long), unplugging coffee perculator when not in use. One thing they said used a lot was the cable with the black box used to charge up your laptop, so i've told my son to remember to unplug that when he's not using it (laptop usage between 8-12€ a month.... wow... but didn't say about PC tower, so I don't know what uses more)....

I wonder if anyone knows about the external hard-drive, might be worth unplugging that and just plug it in once a day/week!!! ??¿?¿?¿?¿ :dontknow:

Interesting about the 'black box', chifleta, thank you. My printer has got one of those as well and I certainly don't need to have that plugged in all the time. Don't tell OH about the computer usage. I wonder if it is better to run the laptop on battery and then recharge it? Mine's so old, though, I don't think that's an option. Some friends have just bought a new one which runs for 5 hours before running out of battery.

chifleta
05-04-2012, 16:11
Interesting about the 'black box', chifleta, thank you. My printer has got one of those as well and I certainly don't need to have that plugged in all the time. Don't tell OH about the computer usage. I wonder if it is better to run the laptop on battery and then recharge it? Mine's so old, though, I don't think that's an option. Some friends have just bought a new one which runs for 5 hours before running out of battery.

yeah, great technical wording huh? LOL ................. omg i've just rummaged around all the cables and my printer has the same thing too, i'm going to unplug that AND my external hard-drive, every lickle penny (or cent) is worth being in my pocket thankyouverymuchly, even if it is only 1€ a month, by the end of the year I can go to the spa :laugh:

my sons laptop is so old and decrepit that he can't turn it on unless it's plugged in, luckily he hardly ever uses it anymore as he's got an iphone.... and no, definately not telling OH, mine now thinks the big TV uses more lekky, so i'm not reading some of the above comments to him...


<<<<<< is now sticking labels to cables so I know what's printer, what's external HD etc, because I unplugged fritzbox by mistake :ashamed:

louisecox
05-04-2012, 17:11
Try changing to Iberdrola, will cut your electricity bill, no hassle changing over and no need to stay with them for a fixed amount of time.

9PLUS
05-04-2012, 18:13
Go Gas and notice the difference

chifleta
05-04-2012, 19:04
sorry are you for or against it ???

for my hot water the bottle last about 3 weeks so €5 a week

plus can just turn it on and off

wow is that was a big silver bottle costs nowadays 15€??? wow, I remember paying 500 pesetas .... so you use a bottle every 3 weeks, do you cook with gas too? oven roast dinners etc? and how many people, is it just you?

9PLUS
05-04-2012, 19:52
sorry are you for or against it ???




Whether i'm for gas installations or not is irrelevant


The fact that slashing your electricity bills by changing your water heater, oven & hob to Gas is a massive saving



cheers

kathml
05-04-2012, 19:57
With electric water heater you're heating 50 litres of water at a time
with gas you're only heating what you use

Modern gas heaters have electronic ignition so no pilot light either much safer than previously

warbey
05-04-2012, 20:22
Looks like Solar Panels will soon be attractive, if You can afford the Capital Expenditure to start off with.

Its Tenerife and Sunshine is free.

chifleta
05-04-2012, 20:32
no my dog has showers in it as well and i dont have roast dinners or brown windsor soup i live in tenerife not the british raj:raspberry2:

well that didn't answer my question totally, so still none the wiser as to whether it's cheaper using gas or not then ... presumably it's just you and your dog and you don't eat.... so 15€ for 3 weeks hot water actually sounds a lot too....... sorry satellite, that wasn't much help..... where's that "thanks.... not" button when you need it LOL

nothing wrong with roast dinners by the way.... potaje de verduras one day, roast chicken the next, que problema hay?

ps maybe the question was too complicated.... how much is your monthly electric bill then? (those of you that use gas)

kathml
05-04-2012, 21:52
well that didn't answer my question totally, so still none the wiser as to whether it's cheaper using gas or not then ... presumably it's just you and your dog and you don't eat.... so 15€ for 3 weeks hot water actually sounds a lot too....... sorry satellite, that wasn't much help..... where's that "thanks.... not" button when you need it LOL

nothing wrong with roast dinners by the way.... potaje de verduras one day, roast chicken the next, que problema hay?

ps maybe the question was too complicated.... how much is your monthly electric bill then? (those of you that use gas)

you already said I think that you are paying 65 euros a month electricity gas at 20euros a month for water heating is cheap apart from aircon water heating is probably the most expensive part of the heating budget