At home. Capture the power. Electricity

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1 BGE/RE/AH/0210 Capture the power photography competition runs from 25th January 26th March See page 3 Capture the power 2009 winning photo by James Fleming, Skerries Community School, Co. Dublin FEBRUARY / MARCH 2010 Electricity in this issue Capture the Power Find out about Readiscover week 3 Ladies National Football League 4 Reporting loss of supply 4 How to read your meter 5 Saving energy around the home 6

2 Welcome to Whether you prefer staying in and relaxing with a good book, getting out to a game or getting out with your camera we have something for you in this edition of Electricity. We have teamed up with your local library to encourage people to visit and discover the numerous facilities available right on their doorstep. There is also information on what to do if the lights go out unexpectedly and you need help to get your electricity back on. Sending in your own meter reading can improve the accuracy of your bills but if you are not familiar with reading your meter you might assume it is difficult. Find out how to read your meter accurately with our simple guide. And if you are looking to save more on your energy bills check out our energy saving tips. TRACEY KENNEDY Customer Services Manager BoRD GÁIS ENERGY VITAL STATS 359 The number of libraries participating in Bord Gáis Energy Readiscover week 1 million This winter Bord Gáis Energy have donated 1m to SVP and ALONE to help those in need during the prolonged cold weather 4,677 The number of entries in last year s Capture the Power schools photography competition

3 Sponsorship Capturing the power around you Bord Gáis Energy launches the second year of their highly successful Capture the Power photography competition for students of all ages across Irish primary and secondary schools. This year the competition will be extended and run for nine weeks, from 25th January 26th March. Capture the Power encourages talented young photographers to take pictures which capture the energy from the environment around them. Winners will be selected in each of the four age categories (primary 5-9, and secondary 12-15, 16-19) with the overall winner selected to win the star prize. Last year Bord Gáis Energy received 4,677 entries from students nationwide with 587 schools participating in the competition. There are lots of fantastic prizes to be won this year including Canon digital cameras and much more. For details on how to enter please visit the website Competition hotline: Readiscover your local library Readiscover week runs from 19th - 24th of April 2010 Bord Gáis Energy is delighted to announce that we are teaming up with the Library Council and the public library service to bring you the Bord Gáis Energy READISCOVER week. Running throughout Irish public libraries from the 19th -24th of April, the Bord Gáis Energy READISCOVER programme encourages people to visit their local library and discover the numerous facilities available right on their doorstep. There are 359 public libraries and 29 mobile libraries throughout the country and Bord Gáis Energy READISCOVER will give lots of reasons to go and find yours. Visit or for more details

4 Sponsorship / reporting Bord Gáis Energy Ladies National Football League Reporting loss of supply 4 In 2010, Bord Gáis Energy will enter the second year of its sponsorship of the Ladies National Football Leagues. It was an exciting opening year to our partnership with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the upcoming season promises to bring more of the same. The inaugural Bord Gáis Energy Teams of the League ceremony saw 45 players from 22 different counties selected as the best performers from Divisions 1, 2 and 3 during the league season and each player was presented with a specially commissioned kit to mark their terrific achievement. The first round of fixtures commence on Sunday the 7th of February with finals being played on the weekend of 8/9th of May. For more information and a fixture list for all divisions go to or visit the Bord Gáis Energy website. If your electricity supply has gone off firstly check to see if a fuse has blown or circuit breaker has tripped in your home; ask for help if you are not confident doing this yourself. The power may have gone in your area so take a look around to see if there is light in neighbouring houses or street lights. If you do not believe you have an internal fault you can call the ESB Networks emergency service which, when possible, gives details of existing faults and estimated restoration times. ESB Networks is responsible for building, operating, maintaining and developing the electricity distribution system and as a Bord Gáis Energy customer you can avail of their services in exactly the same way as you would have before. Emergencies For emergencies, such as a supply failure, or if you see damage to the electricity network, such as a fallen line, call ESB Networks on When calling ideally have your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) from the top right of your Bord Gáis Energy electricity bill to hand as it will help locate you more quickly.

5 your meter reading Reading your electricity meter Below are instructions to assist you with reading your meter. 24 HOUR METER 24 When reading your meter only count the black digits, not the red one DAY / NIGHT METER Please note both day and night readings NIGHT METER Even though your electricity is supplied by Bord Gáis Energy your electricity meter is still read by ESB Networks. They provide the meter reading service to all electricity customers in Ireland and provide us with your meter readings and estimates of your usage. You will normally get six electricity bills a year. Four are planned to be based on actual meter readings (if they can get access to your meter) and two on estimates. If you have had a number of estimates and want to improve the accuracy of your electricity bills you can phone in a meter reading at any time. Simply call the service provided by ESB Networks on Have your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) from the top right of your Bord Gáis Energy electricity bill to hand and your meter reading ready. We have provided illustrations of the various types of meter to help you take a reading. The reading you give will not necessarily be used on your bill but will go towards improving future estimates of your usage. 5 Phone to submit a meter reading

6 energy saving tips Energy saving tips! Simple ways to cut costs 6 Below are some simple steps you can take which will help you make some more savings on your energy costs and reduce your carbon emissions. Lighting IN THE KITCHEN - Replace, where possible, ordinary light bulbs with CFL bulbs - Switch lights off when leaving a room for a period of time - Install motion sensors and timers for outside lights Hot water - Take a shower rather than a bath. A typical shower uses around one fifth of the energy of a bath - Most of the energy consumption of a washing machine is used to heat the water. Use the colder wash settings where possible and try to do full loads - Insulate your water tank with a lagging jacket, minimum thickness 75mm heating your home - Choose heaters that are thermostatically controlled and have a timer fitted - Insulate your attic with insulation at least 200mm in thickness - Defrost fridges and freezers regularly to improve their efficiency - Toasters are far more energy efficient than the grill for toasting - Position fridges and freezers away from cookers - Don t overfill the kettle, just boil what you need - When cooking vegetables only use enough water to cover the food and keep lids on during cooking Electrical appliances - Switch the TV, DVD, PC off when not in use - they still use electricity in standby mode - When buying new appliances or replacing old ones look for appliances with energy labels (Energy efficiency is rated on a scale from A to G with A rated appliances being the most energy efficient) Visit the website of Sustainable Energy Ireland for more tips: