The Current #014: Your Electricity Discount Has Probably Expired
Shamrock Electrical
If you have not switched or renegotiated your electricity in the last year or two, this week's lead is almost certainly the biggest single saving sitting in your house. Also inside: what a summer like the one we have just had actually means for Irish homes, and the Budget date that is now confirmed.
The saving nobody reminds you about
Most electricity deals in Ireland are a 12 month discount. When that year is up you are moved onto the standard rate automatically. There is no phone call, no letter in red ink, and nothing on the front of the bill to shout about it. Hundreds of thousands of Irish households are sitting on exactly that, paying more than they need to and not knowing it.
- The comparison sites put the saving at €300 to €500 a year for a typical home. The average annual electricity bill in Ireland is now around €1,817, so this is real money rather than small change.
- Switching is free. It takes about 10 to 15 working days, your supply is never interrupted for a second, and the new supplier handles the paperwork. Nobody calls to the door and nothing is dug up.
- The trap to avoid: do not shop on the headline discount percentage. Compare the total annual cost instead. A very attractive unit rate often sits beside a high standing charge, and the standing charge is the part you pay every single day before you use one unit of electricity.
- Check the contract length and whether the price is fixed or variable while you are at it. A tempting rate that can move in three months is a different product to one that is locked.
- If you would rather not move at all, ring your own supplier and ask what they can do for you. Retention rates exist and they are rarely advertised. The call takes ten minutes and is worth making either way.
Ten minutes with your latest bill and a comparison site is the whole job. Do it now and the better rate is in place before the heavy months arrive, rather than in January when the damage is done.
What a summer like that means for Irish homes
We have just come through another very warm summer, and it has started a conversation that would have sounded odd in Ireland a few years ago: are our houses actually built for heat?
- No Irish record actually fell this summer, and that is worth saying plainly rather than joining in the hype. Moore Park in Co Cork came close to matching the longest heatwave on record here, 14 days back in August 1976, and did not get there.
- The trend underneath is the real story. Seven of the ten warmest years on record in Ireland have happened since 2005, and last year was the second warmest ever recorded here.
- Researchers now estimate that up to one in ten Irish homes is at risk of overheating, affecting more than half a million people. Mark Mulville of TU Dublin, who leads that research, met Department of Housing officials in August, and the Department has confirmed it is preparing a report assessing overheating risk using more extreme future weather modelling.
- The homes most affected are not the draughty old ones. They are middle and upper floor apartments, and newer A rated houses built to hold heat in. As Mulville put it, they are designed to retain heat for winter and are not designed for the heat we are now getting in summer.
The encouraging part
Officially the question has moved from odd to live. What it means for your own house, though, is a good deal less dramatic than the headlines suggest.
- Most overheating in Irish homes is sunlight through glass, not hot air from outside. That is genuinely good news, because it is the cheap thing to fix.
- Close blinds or curtains on the sunny side of the house during the day, before the room has a chance to heat up. Shading on the outside of the glass works better again than anything fitted on the inside.
- Open the house up late in the evening and overnight to flush the heat out, then close it up in the morning. It feels backwards and it works.
- Any halogen or old bulbs still in the house are small heaters. An old 50W halogen downlighter turns most of that energy into heat in the room. LED does not, which is one more reason the swap pays for itself twice over.
- Air conditioning is a fair question now rather than a silly one, but go in with your eyes open. A single room split system runs roughly €1,500 to €3,000 installed, a multi room system €4,000 to €8,000, and then there is the electricity to run it. Fix the free things first and see where you stand.
The other end of the year
The flip side of all that is the part we are heading into now. An Irish home increasingly has to handle both ends of the year, and September is the month the heating question comes back around.
If there is a room you only use sometimes, a spare room, a home office, or the back room that is always a bit colder than the rest of the house, an electric radiator on a timer heats that one room properly without firing the whole house for the sake of it. It is the cheapest way to make one room comfortable in September and October, before the main heating really needs to go on.
Free delivery from the first euro on everything in store. Call us on 01 401 9907 if you want a hand sizing one for the room.
Budget 2027: the date is set
One short note for the diary, because it decides a lot of what lands on household bills next year:
- The date is confirmed: Tuesday 6 October.
- The Government has now put its direction in writing, moving away from universal measures like energy credits and towards targeted supports for the households most at risk. Plan your winter on your own numbers, not on a credit that may not come.
- Worth watching on the day: targeted supports, any change to Fuel Allowance, and whether the 9 percent VAT rate on electricity and gas holds. It is currently set to run to the end of 2030.
REVIEW SPOTLIGHT
“The guys in the shop couldn't be more patient and sound with helping me get the things I need and talking me through everything. Highly recommend.”
Dexter, on Trustpilot last week
Have we looked after you? A 30-second review helps other homeowners find us.
Review us on TrustpilotAbout Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Shamrock Electrical Supplies is an electrical retailer and wholesaler based in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. We supply homeowners and professional contractors across Ireland, with free delivery from the first euro.
Find Us
Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road
Greenogue Business Park
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 1pm
Sunday: Closed