Electricity price hike - Why so high? - Page 11

Thats shocking we have a 4 bed quad no solar on the cheap rate 10pm to 12 pm 14hrs... 50 a month max.

Sorry jimtaylor

I do not want to hijack this / your thread, however I have read every post / moans about the cost of Electric.  The one thing that springs to mind is, we could save quite a chunk of cash if we insulated our properties, both in the winter months and the summer.  The problem is no one seems to do it around the coastal areas.  My property has cavity walls, a 50 mm (2 inches in old money) with nothing in the gap, also a massive emtpy space above the ceiling.  

Jim, what are you going to do now your partner in crime Geoff L has deserted you LOL

Syd

Hi Syd. I assume that's the (in)famous Mr Eccles, VIP member of the La Marina forum?! If so, please be as active on this forum as you were on the old one.

You've got a cavity wall! What's one of those? Our house has no cavity walls, no damp course, and no roofing felt under the tiles. However, I totally agree with you about insulation. If the requirement for that and for damp courses isn't in the building regulations yet, then it certainly should be. The increased comfort levels and savings in heating and cooling costs would certainly make it worthwhile. However, at my age, the cost of doing something about it, or installing solar electricity, make it a non-starter.

There are plenty of people I know, but not many I regard as close friends, and Geoff was one of them, so he and Sue will definitely be missed. Apart from his personality, one of the things I liked was that Geoff was always up for doing things himself, and is the only other person I know who did his own tax returns.

Hi Syd  I agree with what you say but

1  the community would not let me do anything on the outside

2  the rooms are not very big to start with and it would make them a lot smaller if you did it inside.

I suppose you could put up some insulating panels but what would you do to the roof

Denise

Hi Jim

Yes Geoff was always having a go at me to so my own tax returns...….and he has helped me a couple of time trying to sort mine out, I ended up paying tax in 2 countries as Spain would not issue me with a fiscal certificate, in fact I still have 3 written refusal letters.  Sorted it in the end thanks to Geoff and a couple of visits to Elche.  

Syd

Back to insulation to cut down on electric costs.

A lot of the older properties have a massive space above the concrete/plaster type ceiling tiles as these are hung on a Yesa and Horse hair type system.  Also another massive space under the roofing tiles and the pots that sit between the vegas/concrete joists.  I would have thought it not too difficult to blow in some type of Rockwell insulation. 

As for the walls, if you don't have a cavity, then not a lot you can do unless you could add some form of polystyrene boards to the outside and then re-skim it, chino etc so that it matched the existing finish.  However I am not a civil engineer, so I could be talking from were I shouldn't .

I sure someone will be along to point the error of my ways

Syd

Syd, if you need any help with this year's tax return, send me a PM.

Like others have replied, Ibedrola put you on a higher tariff until challenged. Our bills have gone form 140€ a month to between 79/90€ using the night tariff we changed to when we complained. Not sure if you have to be with them for 12 months before you can change but worth trying.

This is true but Ibedrolla own Scottish Power in the UK who are one of the cheaper suppliers in the UK.

For the information, I'll add my situation regarding Iberdrola.

In ignorance (until recently) I'd been on the Plan Hogar and paying approximately €30 a month in more or less standing charges for the past 11 years whilst I worked out my final years before Retirement age.

Now returned and realised I had other options for price plan and being on my own decided on Plan 8, preferring that over Noche as I tend to be sleeping then;-)

Basically Plan 8 gives you the reduced rate for 8 hours of your choice and can be changed when you want to.  First, I went to their office in C/Ramon Galud situated near the old English Bookshop and using my basic Spanish explained I wanted to change to the lower Potencies of 3.45kW.   This was done straight away and she issued a new Contract.  The lady speaks English by the way.   However, she was not able to change me into Plan 8 and have me a number.

I did then try to do this online, Iberdrola's website has an option for English language, but I had massive problems on affecting the change (turned out there were website issues anyway) so resorted to the telephone.  The number given was for Spanish Speaking and the options a little difficult to understand.   Eventually I got another number which is for English speakers.  It is 900 322 044.   Always busy though, but I eventually got through after leaving a message and they actually turned my call mid evening!

They changed me over to Plan 8, but be aware it doesn't happen straight away; in my case about 4 working days.

Not mentioned on these pages is their mobile App.   I have an Android phone and if you go to Play Store and type in "Iberdrola Clientes" you can download their app.   It is brilliant!   So much information (oh, you can get it in English if you want) with a full breakdown of usage, monthly, then daily and even a flow chart to show hourly use which then shows the usage for both Hi and Lo Tariffs.

I can't find the actual rates at the moment, but from memory approximately 9¢ per kWh lo, 17 or 18 hi.

Hope this may be of assistance.