About CompareElectricity.ie

CompareElectricity.ie exists because the Irish electricity comparison market is broken. Every major comparison site — Bonkers.ie, Switcher.ie, and others — shows you “savings” calculated against a fictional average consumption figure. That figure is often set by the suppliers themselves, and it bears no relation to how much electricity you actually use.

The result: a household using 3,000 kWh/year and a household using 6,000 kWh/year see exactly the same savings percentage — even though their real costs are completely different. This is actively misleading.

NightSaver and EV tariffs are particularly badly served. These tariffs have higher day rates than standard tariffs — they only save money if you genuinely shift usage to nighttime hours. Comparison sites routinely show them as “cheapest” for households that use electricity entirely during the day. The household switches, and their bill goes up.

This tool shows you your actual annual cost, calculated from actual unit rates and your actual kWh figure. Nothing hidden. Nothing fictional.

We collect unit rates, night rates, and daily standing charges directly from each supplier's published tariff pages. Rates are stored in a database and updated as suppliers announce changes.

All rates displayed include 9% VAT (the current Irish electricity VAT rate). We do not add VAT on top of displayed rates.

Annual cost calculations follow this formula for standard tariffs:

For NightSaver and EV tariffs:

For smart tariffs:

The 0.4/0.6 split for smart tariffs (40% peak, 60% off-peak) is a default assumption. Actual savings will vary based on your real usage patterns.

Rates are manually verified against each supplier's published tariff page and updated in our database. Irish electricity suppliers typically change rates a few times per year, often following energy market movements or CRU (Commission for Regulation of Utilities) decisions.

The date displayed in the comparison tool reflects when our rate database was last updated. We aim to update rates within 48 hours of any supplier announcing a change.

Important:Always verify current rates directly with your chosen supplier before switching. Rates can change between our updates and your switch date. Your supplier's own website or a bill from after your switch date is the authoritative source.