'Every time I visited the tenant, I switched on the hall light. By the time I reached the living-room, she had switched it off..." You cost me money,' she said. O.k, she had an infant, lived on social welfare which about paid the rent She needed to economise by trimming costs at every turn.
African and Eastern European tenants, I notice, live in dusky light, because to them, Irish electricity bills are a cost too far, outside of their domestic budget. The Africans came from townships, where kerosene was the staple source of light in the evening. Eastern Europeans had been used to minimal housing costs. Electricity bills went unnoticed, the product of nuclear power.
They had lived in massive apartment blocks, where communal heating came with low rent, part of the communist housing policy. Heating was mainly piped into boilers that served entire districts.
For both immigrants, electricity costs were a major 'adjustment' to Irish life. The Eastern Europeans came from much colder climates, yet their former apartments were warmer in winter than their Irish houses in summer . The Africans, used to warmer climes all the year round, were cold in an Irish summer and needed level of heating higher than us natives, 'hardened out' by generations of a damp climate. Africans practically freeze in what we call a mild winter But for both ethnic groupings, so to speak, economics was the bottom line and made them use electricity sparingly because of exorbitant costs.
It set me thinking on my ESB bills , which also seemed extortionately high in my early ownership of a terraced house. The State utility company stoutly resisted any enquiry, until my own investigation of the meters came up with an explanation. Surprise, surprise, some bright 'spark' in the flats next door had connected his entire supply to mine, by deftly running a main cable into my meter, which was attached to a mutual wall under the stairs.
In spite of demonstrating this theft , ESB continued to 'estimate' my bills for years on this inequitable basis, until repeated threats of legal action forced a realistic adjustment. I do not for a moment blame on-the-ground workers - or indeed the linesmen up poles, - but rather the career high-flyers who - in the best traditions of mandarin duplicity - fobbed me off for years with corporate guff until forced to retract.
Such personal history disposed me to monitor the complaining tenant's bills. She was paying about 300 euros a month in ESB bills for a one-bed roomed apartment , in which all the heating and lighting was electric She cooked in the flat, heated one livingroom and in the evening mainly watched television with her child. During week-end, the cartoons on the VCR helped occupy the children of neighbours who visited.Hot water was from an immersion, with a thermostat timed for peak needs.
We tried to reduce electricity costs. Did you know that a tv plugged out - when not in use - delivers savings? That appliances left in 'stand-by' mode are using energy? There you go, something learned every day.
Lowering your thermostat by a few degrees on your (lagged) immersion heater - saves money.
Switching off at mains those appliances we take for granted - cookers , VCRs, kettles, computers - saves money . As for mobiles - how long do you leave yours plugged in ? Probably hours more than it needs....And of course, a long-life light bulb saves energy. How many ESB managers does it take to switch it on...One to read the instructions and two to hold the torch.
Anyway, we tried the advice The tenant was pleased to see her bills reduced. Until this month.
Boom, they shot up again. Since the beginning of this year, ESB consumers are now paying a hefty 15% extra in domestic charges . So in spite of everyone's best efforts, she is back to living in semi-darkness and does her domestic chores by the glow of the television.
With that penalistic price hike, it's not only immigrants who are feeling the reality of energy prices. Natives, too, are feeling hard done by...I am not a member of the Commission for Energy Regulation. I am a Landlord.
