# What electricity plan from Iberdrola?



## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

Hello, currently im on a plan that charges me minimum 30 euros every month when I use nothing. Does this sound expensive?

I used the plan finder on Iberdrola and it told me that my optimum plan is the night plan and that it will cost 16 Euros per month.

My questions are: Will I be economic to use my computer and a fan and a TV in the daytime with the night plan? I surely can do clothes washing and dishwasher at night, but the rest I need to use in daytime.

Or are there other plans that are more suited for me? In the winter I need some a electric radiator in my bedroom and I like to use the computer a lot in daytime as I dont work, but I am good at being efficient and turning off everything I dont use.

What experience do you have with Iberdrola?


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

The static charge with Iberdrola depends on what you have contracted to use, we have a
5.75KW contract which costs around 20€ per month.

The night and day tariff you are referring to is 14 hours night @ .061€ per unit and 10 hours day @ 0.145 per unit

So, as you say, the big ticket items like water heating, washing, & tumble drying should be done at night, currently 23.00-13 00 (22.00-12.00 when we alter the clocks next).

There are several levels of static charges, so if you are paying 30€ you must have a higher potencia than 5.75KW. If you can live with a lower potencia then get Iberdrola to lower it so you pay a lower static charge. You can go as low as 3.75KW I believe, but if you are using a kettle and washing machine at the same time, when the fridge kicks in your electricity will trip off and you will have to turn an appliance off before power can be restored.

Iberdrola use a high static charge and a low unit charge so that they maximise their profits from holiday home users whilst leaving residents virtually unaffected.


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## ayrez (Sep 15, 2016)

There is an eight hour plan that yuo can use. Either a full eight hours or two four hour blocks. The cheap rates are the same price as day and night rates. We have cheap electricity from 10.00 to 14.00 and again from 16.00 to 20.00.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

ayrez said:


> There is an eight hour plan that yuo can use. Either a full eight hours or two four hour blocks. The cheap rates are the same price as day and night rates. We have cheap electricity from 10.00 to 14.00 and again from 16.00 to 20.00.


For a supply of 5.75kW, the standing charge (including the 5.11% tax and IVA) is 27€ per month.

We are on the 8-hour plan where you can choose which hours you want at cheap rate and those that aren't. It can be in 2 4-hour chunks, 4 2-hour pieces or 8 1-hour pieces

We pay 8 cents for the 'cheap' rate and 16 cents for the rest.


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

Thanks for answers. Actually it says on my bill I only have 3.5 kW and I know for sure the standing charge is about 30 euros.

But I saw I have something called Home Plan or Plan Hogar, can that be why its so expensive?

I also read that I cant cancel the Home Plan until after a year which is fine because its soon been a year.

What you guys know about the home plan and why my 3.5 kW is so expensive?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

smint1234 said:


> Thanks for answers. Actually it says on my bill I only have 3.5 kW and I know for sure the standing charge is about 30 euros.
> 
> But I saw I have something called Home Plan or Plan Hogar, can that be why its so expensive?
> 
> ...


If you post a picture of your bill or PM me, I can explain all of the elements to you.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

stevesainty said:


> The static charge with Iberdrola depends on what you have contracted to use, we have a
> 5.75KW contract which costs around 20€ per month.
> 
> The night and day tariff you are referring to is 14 hours night @ .061€ per unit and 10 hours day @ 0.145 per unit
> ...


I've often wondered why my apartment trip switch always goes when I have the kettle and the washing 
machine going at the same time - and put it down to the sensitivity of the trip switch, which would be
understandable if one of your light bulbs goes with a bang and the trip switch cuts the power ( as you
would expect in the UK for safety reasons ) but not when your boiling water in the kettle for a cup
of tea and you've got the washing machine on at the same time, like in my apartment in Spain.

Always mean't to call an Electrician to check out the sensitive trip switch but never got round to it and
simply got in the habit of making my tea first before putting the washing machine on.

Now your saying that my trip switch might have been programmed to cut the power off ( leaving me in
the dark ) whenever I've got certain electrical appliances going at the same time !!!!

:hurt:


Which makes me wonder if there's any other Expats who are browned off with their trip switch ?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Williams2 said:


> I've often wondered why my apartment trip switch always goes when I have the kettle and the washing
> machine going at the same time - and put it down to the sensitivity of the trip switch, which would be
> understandable if one of your light bulbs goes with a bang and the trip switch cuts the power ( as you
> would expect in the UK for safety reasons ) but not when your boiling water in the kettle for a cup
> ...


If you are already on a smartmeter, then you should NOT have any breakers tripping!

Before the smartmeters were introduced, there was a breaker (ICP) in your box that would trip if you tried to draw more current than you had contracted for. smartmeters now have this facility within them.

It's more likely that the circuit that is tripping is trying to draw more current than it is designed for. In this case, an electrician can establish this for you and either 'balance' the circuits better or increase the breaker size.

If you don't have a smartmeter yet, then it could be that you are trying to use more electricity than you have contracted for.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Williams2 said:


> Which makes me wonder if there's any other Expats who are browned off with their trip switch ?


 It's not necessary to use the word expats in this sentence; Spaniards can also have problems like this.
As you say, you should have asked an electrician to come round and check, but you didn't. It sounds like you need to move up the amount of units contracted. If not, you've got a problem in the wiring and that could lead to any number of problems including fire. 

You need to find an electrician asap


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

snikpoh said:


> If you are already on a smartmeter, then you should NOT have any breakers tripping!
> 
> Before the smartmeters were introduced, there was a breaker (ICP) in your box that would trip if you tried to draw more current than you had contracted for. smartmeters now have this facility within them.
> 
> ...


I sent you my bill, can you please enlighten us with your opinion? Please dont post my bill here without blurring. Thanks


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

smint1234 said:


> I sent you my bill, can you please enlighten us with your opinion? Please dont post my bill here without blurring. Thanks


You are on a VERY low potencia of 3.3kW (not 3.5) which is barely enough for a kettle these days never mind radiators as well.

Also, you say the standing charges are 30€ - you don't. Having looked at your bill I can see consumption of about 5€ (plus taxes etc.). The major part of your bill is taken up with two insurances (8€). So only standing charges of about 15€ in fact.


You have "Protecion Electrica Hogar" and "Seguro Protecion de Pagos Plus". I suspect the first is for appliances and the second is in case you can't pay for some reason. These together total 8€ per month.

Do you need these insurances?

I suspect you need to be on a higher potencia (5.75kW?).


Other than that, your bill is quite normal.


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

snikpoh said:


> You are on a VERY low potencia of 3.3kW (not 3.5) which is barely enough for a kettle these days never mind radiators as well.
> 
> Also, you say the standing charges are 30€ - you don't. Having looked at your bill I can see consumption of about 5€ (plus taxes etc.). The major part of your bill is taken up with two insurances (8€). So only standing charges of about 15€ in fact.
> 
> ...


Yeah I probably need more electricity, but I was able to operate a 2000 watt radiator and my laptop at the same time.

No I dont need those insurances. I need to remove them. I have online access to my electricity subscription at Iberdrola at Iberdrola.es.

Do you know how to remove those two things?

Should I just switch to the night plan at once becuase it asks me on my profile at Iberdrola if I want to switch. Or do you have some other recommended plans?

Ive heard the Home Plan (Protecion Electrica Hogar) Has a contract period for one year which cant be broken under that one year period unless I pay a fine for breaking the contract. Where can I disable that home plan on the online page?

And thanks for helping me.


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

I just spoke with Iberdrola and my Spanish was decent. I was able to talk with her and explain my needs and she said theres no fee to cancel the Home Plan and Seguro de Pagos.

I just had to choose a new plan to remove those insurances and it would not be any fee.

She would then send the offer electronically for me to sign.

Im gonna call the English speaking department tomorrow just to be 100% sure theres no miscommunication.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

smint1234 said:


> I just spoke with Iberdrola and my Spanish was decent. I was able to talk with her and explain my needs and she said theres no fee to cancel the Home Plan and Seguro de Pagos.
> 
> I just had to choose a new plan to remove those insurances and it would not be any fee.
> 
> ...


Great news.

Before you do anything rash (like signing up for the night plan), make sure this is what you need.

I find the 8-hour plan is much more useful as you can break the 8-hours in any way you want (even down to individual hours) and have them anywhere.

For example, if like most people, you use power when you're awake, why not have the cheap rate then? We have some in the afternoon and some in the evening.


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

snikpoh said:


> Great news.
> 
> Before you do anything rash (like signing up for the night plan), make sure this is what you need.
> 
> ...


Yeah I told her I wanted to review all the plans possible and for me its between the 8 hour plan or night plan, but I guess the 8 hour plan is better because you can adjust which hours in realtime.

One positive with the nightplan is in the winter you can have a radiator on plus laundry, plus dishwasher, plus hot water.

But I have a brand new hot water heater and it takes 50 min for a single shower.

Definitly the 8 hour plan looks best because you can heat up the room you sleep in for a few hours and then go to sleep.

Its interesting these plans, in Norway we dont have plans like this. We have have to pay rent to rent their cables and equipment and then we are charged on what we use, theres no roof how many appliances you can use at once or a standing charge.

Anyways, I think I will go for the 8 hour plan.

For those interested: https://www.iberdrola.es/en/electricity/plan-comparison#resultados

EDIT: The stable plan isnt that bad. Its decent if you are not very stingy and dont like to plan your electricity use.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

snikpoh said:


> For a supply of 5.75kW, the standing charge (including the 5.11% tax and IVA) is 27€ per month.
> 
> We are on the 8-hour plan where you can choose which hours you want at cheap rate and those that aren't. It can be in 2 4-hour chunks, 4 2-hour pieces or 8 1-hour pieces
> 
> We pay 8 cents for the 'cheap' rate and 16 cents for the rest.


Looking at the 8 hour plan it looks very good on the face of it but it is more expensive than the night plan.

8 hour plan cheap rate 0.074613€ expensive rate 0.168531€ (Iberdrola Website)

Night plan, currently 23.00 - 13.00 0.069775€ 13.00 - 23.00 0.148533€ (our new contract from6 June)

We have hot water from a gas boiler and the high ticket items, tumble drier, washing machine, & dishwasher we can arrange a delayed start so that they operate overnight (apart from the tumble drier that we ensure we stop using before 13.00) so the night tariff suits us well. 

Our heating is taken care of with a log burner with short periods of the air con in heating mode which uses very little electricity anyway.

I suppose, if you had property that you let, choosing the eight hour plan carefully would mean smaller bills during the summer when visitors are using air conditioning a lot.


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## smint1234 (Mar 30, 2016)

stevesainty said:


> Looking at the 8 hour plan it looks very good on the face of it but it is more expensive than the night plan.
> 
> 8 hour plan cheap rate 0.074613€ expensive rate 0.168531€ (Iberdrola Website)
> 
> ...


Yeah, it depends on how much you can get done during the night. Im only one person so I wont be running the washing machine and dishwasher that much, but I shower every day. 

My hot water heater has anti legionella feature so I recon I can let the water stay in there for days without having to have it on.


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