Electricity

Jerry

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About a week ago the DR1 news reported that there was an agreement between the government and the electric companies to provide more hours of service. I was wondering if those living there have seen an improvement yet. Also I know it depends on what section of town you live in, but what are the average of the present lengths of outages.

Jerry
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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All depends on your location. At our location we have been having 2-3 outages per day, but they only last 30mins or so. I know others living in Los Prados that are experiencing blackouts from 2-12hrs daily.

As for the deal to provide more hours of service, I think most people just ignore quotes like this. They have heard it all before, many, many times.
 

Jerry

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I know but kind of hope that the government will wake up before it is too late. But still 2 hours a day is not too bad all things concidered. The areas that have "only" 2 hours of outage, are they the sections that have real high bills?

Jerry
 

PJT

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Jan 8, 2002
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Hope???

Will the gov't wake up before it is too late? A friend of mine in Higuey informs me he has a RD$3,000 bill a month for his electric use. Yet, he experiences outages ranging from 2-12 hours a day and is still expected to pay whether he has service or not.

I have not observed any reports of improved supply since the renegotiated contracts between the gov't and electric companies. Has any of the DR1 posters noted any improvement in supply?

Promises, promises, promises........


Regards, PJT
 

Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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When I lived in Ens. Julietta the power went out everyday for at least a few hours a day. But now I live in Zona Colonial power outages are rare..may every few weeks it goes out for a short time. My electric bills seem to me to be very low. About $300 a month. Not bad at all concidering what others seem to be paying. I still shut off everything every month and make sure no one is stealing from me.
 

Jerry

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WOW is that $300US? Seems kind of steep to me. Does that include like an air condictioner? If that is US dollars I can see why Santo Domingo rated so high in the most expensive cities to live in. Anyone out there that can compare these prices to maybe like Floridia where the climate might be similar?

Jerry
 

Jim Hinsch

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Just like the USA, the eletric company often bills an estimate and it says so right on the bill. There is a problem in that they went some two years in some cases without reading the meter. If the estimates were low, individuals are hit with huge bills to make up the difference.

That is why people were still getting billed as though they had 24x7 power even when the power was out and that is why one is expected to pay even if the power is completely off.
 

Jerry

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Jim

That is an explaination that is feasible. So my next question would be, when a person moves into a new house do they read the meters so that you start with a clean slate or are you charged for the previous person?

Jerry
 

Jim Hinsch

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If you rent, you will sign up for service in your name and are not responsible for the previous rentor, but they may not agree to connect the electricity if there is a large outstanding bill. In that case, the owner would have to pay else never be able to rent the place. Note that many houses have separate meter for the water pump, air conditioner (if it is a 220 line), and main house power.

In my neighborhood, people were hit with huge bills and screamed "Ladrones", saying they would not pay. Several of them have been disconnected already. Next comes the monthly game of (they disconnect me, I reconnect me), or the little bribe to the disconnect man to come again another day.

Anybody with a meter should keep track themselves to avoid surprises.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Disconnect if you can

We are currently carrying out an experiment at the beach house. We have eliminated the Electric Company! We have solar panels, a large inverter and 8 batteries.
We have lights-low consumption variety, and fans for sleeping.

Unless there is abusive use of fans over long periods-days in fact-there is always enough electricity to provide comfort: water pump for bathing, fans for sleeping and lights for reading...

We are getting a propane gas fridge for the final touch....

Will update as things progress.

HB, future beachcomber
fish047.gif
 

Tom F.

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Hillbilly

Great to read you have converted to solar at your beach house. How many watts of panels do you have on the roof, amps/hrs of batteries and the size of the inverter? You can get 12v or 24v ceiling fans if you want to conserve a little more energy. I would also recommend a solar refrigerator also. I used one for a year and did a cost comparison with propane refrigeration. As with solar your original up front investment is higher because of the panels and batteries. 24v is proffered with refrigerators and should open from the top. If I remember right; a medium sized frig; 2, 75w solar panels; 4 6v golf cart batteries, and a small regulator/controller was around US$2000. I installed it separate from the other system and had so problems except sometimes it got a little too cold. With your gang Hillbilly, you would need a regular sized unit, and a bigger battery back. If it is for periodic use, you can reduce the panel capacity and increase the battery back.

Tom F.
 

mondongo

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Hillbilly....thats a great way to fight back...disconnect all together...I like the idea of solar...and I think that there is a business opportunity in the making here...

TomF...you seem to have experience in this field....question for you...is it possible to develop a solar panel "farm" that charges up batteries....then the batteries are sold/recharged for regular users....this way a homeowner might not have to have many solar panels in his own property...


thanks in advance
 

Jim Hinsch

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What about the hot water heater? The toaster? The microwave? The blow dryer? The air conditioner? What about the loud motor running sound the planta makes when the power goes out, reminding all the neighbors you are of means?

Besides, you would not want to destroy that multi-planta harmony that gets going in those neighborhoods where people are of means when the power goes out. A fine harmony of platas and dog barking.

Batteries are good, but they require replacement every few years and remember the hurricane? How well did those things work then?

You can always hook up a generator to an excersice bicycle, or run a wire out to the car. The car actually can provide a good amount of power, rather quiet, for hours at a time. They sell some pretty good inverters for cars. If you've got a decent vehicle, that's they way to go.
 

El Jefe

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HIPPO INTRODUCES NEW TAX

The President after hearing of HB's new solar outfit is introducing a new tax on sun light.
 

Jerry

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Hillbilly

My boss was in town last week (I work remote) and was talking to him about solar. He is in to ham radios and uses solar in Ohio to power his hobby. I also heard that some people buy the DC light bulbs like some RVs use and that has helped them because the invertors are not the most effiecent animals around.

When I was flying out of Puerto Rico, they used solar panels on the top of the barracks for the hot water and it worked real well.

Here is a question that I was thinking about, when I lived in Maine I was reading about heat pumps. My understanding is that they bury a coil of some kind in the ground below the frost line. Because the temperature is fairly constant at about 55 or so, in the winter you would pipe this fluid through the ground and use it to pre-heat the house so the furnance had less work to do. In the summer you could use it cool the house. Would something like that work in the DR or is the ground too hard?

Jerry
 

Tom F.

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Jan 1, 2002
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solar

You have understand there are three types of solar energy; passive, thermal (hot water) and photovotaics (silicon cells converting to dc electricity). I worked with the later and higher recommend all three where it makes sense.

Speaking of photovoltaic panels, they really only make sense in remote areas off grid. The DR is not the normal place and sometimes (like Hillbilly) it makes sense to use solar even when you can connect. Sometimes wind is better depending on the location, but most of the time renewable energy systems need to be used in combination in medium to large systems unless you are pumping the electricity directly into the grid.

The idea of having a charging station has been tried in Brazil and a few other places. It was an attempt to reach a section of the population of the poor in developing world that spent between US$5-10/month on electricity. I'm not sure if these projects lasted the lont term without outside help. Most of the people who use solar panels in the DR (probably 10,000-15,000 rural households.) are willing to pay the equivilent of US$10-20/month to not have to carry a car battery back and forth.

You must remember that these systems are replacing kerosene lamps, dry cell batteries for a small radio and having to carry to battery to the grid once a week for a small black and white tv. Any of us who are used to living in a urban area would have to spend US$10,000-$20,000 to satisfy our energy needs. You would have everything except air conditioning. If you invested in 12v and 24v dc appliances and changed some habits you could live with a US$5,000 system (2 people)

Jim, be careful, I have read that 90% of microwaves start to leak after 2 years.
 

mondongo

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Jan 1, 2002
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TomF, thanks for the response. You mention that using 12V and 24V appliances can cut cost of energy susbstantially. Why is that? Is it because the DC appliances are that much more efficient? Or is it because there is a significant energy loss when converting the DC battery power to AC battery power? Do you have a link where I can learn more about this battery charging station experiment in Brazil?

very curious,
mondongo
 

Jim Hinsch

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Re: solar

Tom F. said:
Jim, be careful, I have read that 90% of microwaves start to leak after 2 years.

Can you provide a reference? My quick internet search so microwaves generally never leak unless the door is damaged, and that microwave leak testers sold to consumers are junk.