Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
First though, what costs more, boiling your kettle or making toast? And is using the dryer a complete no-no? Irish Times Consumer Affairs correspondent Conor Pope is with us now to break down energy costs and tell us how we can reduce our bills. And Conor, this is really front of mind, I think, for everybody because if we haven't seen our bills go up already, we are expecting it, aren't we?
Even over the summer because of what's been happening internationally. That's exactly right. And we don't know yet just how much our energy bills will go up. I think Dara O'Brien said last week that electricity bills might go up by 9%.
Chapter 2: What costs more: boiling a kettle or making toast?
And then Peter Burke, another minister, said that energy bills in total, which would obviously include things like petrol or diesel, could go up by as much as 30%. Now, if you just split them down the middle, that would see the average Irish household worse off by around €500 a year. And as you say, it's all down to global volatility.
And there's very little that we as individual consumers can do. to challenge those costs because we are totally at the mercy of what's happening outside of this country.
Chapter 3: How can we reduce our energy bills effectively?
And I think one of the things that we can do is we can look at our own usage and we can try and take back a little bit of power because that's all, for want of a better word, because that's really the only choice that we have. And by that, by saying that, I mean we can maybe reflect on how much we're using and see if there's any way that we can save money on our bills.
Now, one of the things that we've talked about ad nauseum on the show is switching. So I'm not even going to talk about that now because that's on the table for a lot of people. But there are other ways. But just before you move on, Conor, you do say in your piece today in the Irish Times that if you haven't switched, you really should.
Like it's still worth it, in other words, because I think people feel that there isn't the value to be had now by moving. Oh, listen, I can't stress enough to your listeners how important it is.
And it's important to act now, because one of the things that happened after Russia invaded Ukraine was energy bills went up, but also another thing that happened was the discounts offered to new customers virtually disappeared. So that means that we're all paying a standard unit rate, and let's say the standard unit rate is 35 cents per kilowatt hour.
If you move from company A to company B, you could see that standard unit rate now fall by 10 or 20%. Now, that could easily knock 600 quid off your bill, yet more than 70% of us don't switch. And whatever about switching your brand of cornflakes or your brand of broadband or your brand of health insurance,
It's an absolute no-brainer when it comes to energy for the very simple reason that there's no difference in the quality of supply or the quality of the product. I have never once in my life heard someone saying, do you know what, the gas from Electric Ireland is really good. Because it's the same with every single company. There's no discontinuation of supply.
And the thing is, if you use the likes of switcher.ie or bonkers.ie, you can do it while you're sitting on the couch tonight in 15 minutes. And I guarantee your listeners, if they were to do that while they're watching the telly tonight, they will save themselves hundreds of euros. So if you haven't done that, that is the very first thing that you need to do.
OK, so then you explain this 60-20-20 rule. What's that?
Exactly.
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Chapter 4: What is the 60-20-20 rule for energy consumption?
which is good for electricity. And just on the night rate there, getting the half price electricity between 11 and 8, and a lot of people who have EVs now are going for that night rate, aren't they? But it does mean that you've got to put your appliances on at night as well. You have to remember to do it.
And if you don't, you put your appliances on during the day, you're paying a lot more, aren't you? Exactly. So I think there's around 2 million houses now have smart meters and there's various discounted rates offered to smart meters. So the simplest one is the one that would have been in existence for donkey's years, which is the day and night meter.
And you pay a lot less for your nighttime electricity usage. But the smart meters, if they're used efficiently, can be really good. Now, the key word there or phrase is if they're used efficiently. Because if you have a smart meter, for instance, and some of the smart meter tariffs will give you free electricity on a Saturday.
So that would be the day to do your tumble drying and to charge your EV if you have an EV and to do all your heavy energy usage. But of course, that means that you're working on a Saturday doing all your chores, which is not necessarily ideal for everybody. And then there's the smart meters that will allow you much heavier discount rates at nighttime versus between 5 p.m.
and 7 p.m., which is, as you will know, the most high energy intensive usage in the country. By the way, with that listener who got in touch, I think the one word that jumped out at me when you were reading out that text was the word may. because that listener made their switch last May. And what I would implore them to do this May is make the switch again.
Because the way the electricity and gas sector works is you are offered the discounted rate for a 12-month period. And once the 12-month period ends, you go back up to the higher rate that she would have been paying the standard unit rate. So it's tedious, but it is very important for everybody who wants to save themselves money on their energy bills. You've got to switch once every 12 months.
It's not just a one hit and you're out kind of thing. You have to do it once a year. And if you don't do it once a year, you do end up paying the higher rates. And just a quick one before we finish, because there's some questions coming in on the air fryer and whether it's energy hungry, is it?
No, actually, an air fryer, if you use an air fryer, it will use a lot less energy than if you use the cooker for an hour. I'm just trying to think. I think I have it somewhere here. I can't remember, but it is much cheaper. Than sticking it on the oven. Yeah, if you use an air fryer for one hour, seven days a week, it will cost you a fiver, which is, you know, it's a lot.
You're not going to be using it for an hour, really, unless you're baking potatoes. Exactly. You'd be using it for kind of 20 minutes at a time. So you'd be looking at it costing you maybe 250. And that would be cooking something in the air fryer every single day, costing you 250. If you put it on the oven, you've got to heat it.
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