A pool can make a huge difference depending how long you run the pump for each day.

Many people run it for 8 hours a day and bearing in mind that most pool pumps use about 1kw then that works out at about 240 units a month which is more than Lynn R uses in total!

Personally I run the pump for 90 minutes a day and that's on an off peak supply so it costs very little.

It was charged as a "necessary refit" when we demanded to change our contract from the "obligatory" (not) 10.8Kw to 5.4Kw ( which of course, we were assured would be "gratuito"). On top of that, we had to pay €300 for a "boletin" to prove our electrical system could handle the "downgrade" before they'd agree to the lesser potencia, which was also a joke, since some electrician simply stamped a document - nobody ever inspected anything. But that's just Spain, not just Endesa.


I never agreed to any rental charge. When Endesa installed it (after months of begging them to do it after continuous threats of cutting our supply if we didn't), they made the invoice out to reflect charges of €300-something for "installation" (which took only 15 minutes). The cost of the ICP is about €20 at Leroy Merlin, so I had assumed that the installation had included the purchase of the ICP. Silly me!

We've fought this and can't win. Endesa says if we can produce a factura for the purchase of the ICP, then they will remove the rental charges. Unfortunately, we can only produce a €300-something factura for the installation. Clever, eh?

The most brilliant irony of the entire thing is that the ICP isn't even necessary
anymore. Pure profit for absolutely no reason. And it's all perfectly legal.

First, getting Endesa to do anything at all would be pretty lucky. The last time they've set foot on the property is when we changed the contract, and only to install the meter. For example, they haven't read the meter since then (December 2011). Every factura has been "estimado" since then. Every month we bring the actual meter reading to the local shop and force them to correct it before we pay it. We cancelled direct debit so that they would stop draining our bank account for grossly over-estimated billing.

By the way, our total actual billing (including standing charges, IVA, etc) is always less than €100, but the estimado facturas are often double that (when we had a 10.8kw contract, estimado facturas ranged from €400-€900 per month, so the 5.4Kw contract is a lot better).

Anyway, that's just what you have to do to avoid getting raped. And so far, it works better than anything else we've tried, because it prevents them from getting the money first. Once they have the money, you're basically screwed, so this puts the advantage in our hands instead of theirs.

Well, everyone we know has had similar problems, some even worse. Endesa is about the most hated authority around here.

Maybe you should add on the €43 a month I pay for the gym to go and use their pool (amongst other things) and then it won't seem so bad! I do that because
a) it's indoors so I can use it all year round, and
b) I really like swimming and swim 1km (50 laps of a 20m pool) 3 times a week, if I tried that in a typical sized domestic pool I'd be dizzy from all the turns!

I love swimming too and think that swimming a couple of times a day is one of the best exercises you can get far nicer than going to the gym.

It's great but not weight-bearing exercise which is essential for keeping your bones strong and osteoporosis at bay, nor unless you are swimming at near-Olympic pace is it all that good for the cardiovascular system - a mix of various activities is best.

Humble apologies for going off topic, all this has nothing whatever to do with ovens!

I noticed it when I was watering the plants. At the time, I thought it was because the hose was in the sun but it got hotter the more I used it.

Ours was 106 euros-pool pump, freezer, fridge freezer, air con, many fans tv etc. I thought that was high enough!
Have you thought of using a halogen oven, to avoid using the main one?

Just to make you all feel happy as low consumers our standing charge for 2 months, inc tax is now €108 and in March/April the total bill was €511 and that's with the benefit of the off peak tariff!

Now, you all feel better about your bills I hope.

We spend a fortune on our pool, being colour blind as well I can't maintain it myself. It's worth every penny.

We swim every day in the summer, and try to exercise in the winter but it's not the same. By October the various machines in the garage are left to their own devices.

And every year we make the same promises, when the pool finishes, we use the gym in the garage, but we never do. Heating the pool all year round is not an option unless we win the lottery.

Can you explain more about a halogen oven? 106 euros for two months!

There's loads of info on halogen ovens-just google it or watch the TV shopping channels. I don't use it all the time, just occasionally, to save the big oven. 106 euros to me is a high bill. I cannot understand how others have such enormous bills-511 for 2 months-unbelievable, what do you live in? Thought it was supposed to be cheaper to live in Spain?

Looks like we have found our electricity problem. A friend brought over for us to borrow an N-Power electricity monitor and it found that the pump/press control was sticking when we turned a tap on. Still need to sort it but at least can manually go out and unstick it for the time being until we can get the plumber in.

Will have a look at the halogen ovens though.

That's good. Hopefully you will see a big reduction in your electricity bills from now on.