Mitzyboy

Strangely I stopped using the skimmer for the chlorine as well, its in a plastic "flying saucer" anchored to one corner of the pool, and its worked fine :-)

karenj66

It heats our room up very nicely, one of the best things we have purchased so far and no as expensive to run as our electric heating.

So what are you saying, you shouldn't have a portable gas fire because they produce water and may attract mould, as well as potential carbon monoxide problems and a fitted gas fire in a fire place wastes heat as it goes up the chimney.

What sort of heat can we have which doesn't cause waste, pollution or mould?

EsuriJohn

I don't have skimmers and have always used the flying saucer for my chlorine blocks works fine.

EsuriJohn

Re newable electricity.

ForHotspot

Thanks very much Don. You must have set your rads on the high side.

amideislas

That would be an interesting bite in Endesa's arse. They make €millions on the "estimado" facturas and their overly complex system of billing.

I don't know how that would work in my neighbourhood. The never read our meter. Every factura is "estimado", usually at least 2x, and on a few occasions, 10x our actual consumption.

I'd love to see this actually implemented, but I reckon they would simply ignore it.

fadingstarlight

I find my bills with Iberdrola are always 250$ and up. I am not on dual tariff I dont think. I have changed all my lights to low energy, i rarely turn lights on and live in the dark expect for the tv at night. we rarely run our heater/ac unit and defiently use our washer and dishwasher during off peak times which i am not sure matters if i am not on dual tariff.
my latest bill was 390 euros and i actually did way more over the last 2 months to use as little power as possible. they take regular readings.

called Iberdrola all they say is we can check your meter but it will cost you 80 euros.
how can I be using that much power?? how can you check if maybe the wiring of my place is bad? we had all the wiring redone in 2010 but we dont think the job was done well ggrrrrr I know electricity costs alot more then it did in Canada where I am from... but this is crazy. I used to have 600-800 bills..... now it is 250-400... I dont run much of anything... i pay more then stores... and i am on reduced usage so if too much is running my breaker shuts off. is there something i can do to stop having Iberdrola rape me every month??

Mitzyboy

I'm horrified by some of these figures coming up. Unless you have a mansion you cant be using that much electricity based on what you have said.
As I said above, try turning your power off at the fuse box, and then go look at the meter to see if it has stopped. If it hasnt, then you may be feeding someone elses electricity :-)

As stated, I am running oil radiators, cooker, plasma tv, two computers, pool pump, coffee machine (never off!) bathroom heater, electric blanket, and my bills are a fraction of what you are quoting. Three bed two storey villa, although tbh we tend to heat the upstairs only in the winter

amideislas

Not any surprise here. Almost everything we have is gas... and we don't use much electricity, as the meter will confirm.

But the energy companies routinely print whatever figures they want on the facturas. Our last one was €868.14 (estimado). The actual consumption proven by the meter readings was less than €200 for 2 months. No surprise here, it's always like that and always has been. We have to go through the dispute process with each and every billing period, or pay the overcharges. 2 choices only.

Read your meter religiously. And always file an official dispute whenever they try to bill you for more than what you actually use (in our case, it is every billing period).

Mitzyboy

I do, and I also read and lodge my own meter readings now to stop this estimation nonsense

It doesnt pull away from the fact though that in the UK in my offices where we had 5 office rooms and a warehouse with 19 odd people working there 6 days a week, our monthly electricity bills were less than your last bill

Michael74

From what you say you are using those bills certainly seem way over the top. If you are on the two part tariff your meter will be white and the readings will be digital with the date and time. There will also be two readings, one for peak and one for off peak.

amideislas

Yes, I know. For the first couple of years, we naively assumed that electricity in Spain was just extremely expensive, as you point out.

Then we were advised by our neighbours and others friends that the energy companies hold political licence to overcharge and use complex billing to justify it, and it's become simply a part of life to religiously read the meter and dispute their facturas.

What do you know? They were right.

For those of you who've followed my other rants on this subject, I can now confirm that our last dispute ended up exactly as expected:

1. Nice letter of apology the following day after disputing €868 factura with actual meter readings.

2. Certified letter demanding payment of €868.14 prior to 2 April or supply will be cut

3. New factura issued for €868.14 with the previously "estimado" meter readings now declared as "real".

4. Subsequent dispute of 2nd factura ultimately rendered new factura with actual meter readings totalling €189.72. Just received it and paid it today.

Can't wait to receive next month's factura. Likely at least €600, prompting the usual dispute ritual at Endesa office.

I am hopeful that the consumer watchdogs will indeed impose the legal requirement to abolish the estimation system and simplify their billing systems. Naturally, the energy companies will fight it, since it is a very profitable system which they lobbied extensively for (and perhaps even paid millions in various "gifts" to politicians), not to mention that it relieves them of the obligation to read the meter, which requires costly labour.

searcher48

Why not phone in your meter reading every month or enter online then you will not have problems. We have done this for about 5 years, first by phone then registered online and enter online for 2 years.

searcher48

I believe if you use alot over your "billed allowance" ie 2.5 kw or 5kw the rate is much higher like a fine?? we are on 9.5 kw big house (but gas cooker & c/h) pool pump, dishwasher, washing machine, 3 laptops, big tv, satbox, mainly economy bulbs, bill average €75 pm (using dual tariff) Try to analize your bill

johnnyone

I don't think that's correct. When you exceed your potencia the power trips out.