anonymouse
New member
OK so how long before the work is finished and where do you plan to go next
Not too long and not sure yet, depends on weather
Energy Savings In Portugal
- Thread starter canoeman
- Start date
Not too long and not sure yet, depends on weather
Munz
New member
Nah, what could possibly go wrong....
Your spoiling other people's entertainment!
And in any case if it all go's pear-shaped, apparently it's not too expensive to get a boat trucked to Portimao, wasn't one of the steel boat owners in the yard looking into that recently?
Otherwise there is also the unsolicited boat launching option as befell a certain dutch boat painter a few years back....
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nortada
Well-known member
Your last sentence.... Don’t leave us all agog, give us the whole story, we won’t split - honest?
LampTramp
New member
Greetings from Faro.
This is our third over-winter stay here in Portugal.
Having previously wintered in Lagos & Portimao, we decided on Faro this year because of the easy airport
& train connections. But boy, what a mistake.
Cant wait to get outahere now & as soon as the staff return in the New Year we're off.
The guy who clearly runs the place comes over as some kind of control freek & just walks away when you
politely enquire as to why the power keeps getting cut off. That is so bloody rude & made me so angry.
Weekend before last we were without power for 4 days. Since then there have been constant power cuts
& no power at all in the evenings or overnight . Ok so there were problems but they have had 2 weeks now
to correct the faults, but still this evening we are once again without electricity and not one single word or
communication from the yard to say why or when power supplies will return to normal.
We live in the dark & they keep us in the dark.
We won't be back again & would recommend fellow cruisers to think twice before booking a haul out here,
This is our third over-winter stay here in Portugal.
Having previously wintered in Lagos & Portimao, we decided on Faro this year because of the easy airport
& train connections. But boy, what a mistake.
Cant wait to get outahere now & as soon as the staff return in the New Year we're off.
The guy who clearly runs the place comes over as some kind of control freek & just walks away when you
politely enquire as to why the power keeps getting cut off. That is so bloody rude & made me so angry.
Weekend before last we were without power for 4 days. Since then there have been constant power cuts
& no power at all in the evenings or overnight . Ok so there were problems but they have had 2 weeks now
to correct the faults, but still this evening we are once again without electricity and not one single word or
communication from the yard to say why or when power supplies will return to normal.
We live in the dark & they keep us in the dark.
We won't be back again & would recommend fellow cruisers to think twice before booking a haul out here,
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
For those not present at Bruce's right now, one of the present liveaboards, who has had his boat here for several years, spoke to Bruce this week.
Initially he was as annoyed as any of us, as he calculated our battery chargers and immersion heaters might be using as much as 6kW or 8kW.
After speaking to Bruce he circulated this email:
I recommend an Ikea Strandmolke to your friend, @canoeman - mine is keeping me toasty on the coldest nights.
I find an electric kettle more convenient and economical than gaz when I'm on shore power, but only use it for about 1 minute per hour, whereas an electric heater is a constant load.
I think Bruce will ultimately need to bite the bullet and have extra supply put in, but the impression I have of him is that he won't accept this right away. He must have a turnover in the region of €500,000 per year, so one might think the business could afford the expense.
Initially he was as annoyed as any of us, as he calculated our battery chargers and immersion heaters might be using as much as 6kW or 8kW.
After speaking to Bruce he circulated this email:
I have just had a very long and detailed and amicable discussion with Bruce accompanied by Hans and Marc both of whom understand electrical systems a lot better than me.
Initially Bruce showed us a graph on his smart phone of the yards electrical consumption for the last 24 hour period which showed a sharp rise in consumption between 5 and 7 pm yesterday evening, which at its peak got very close to tripping the supply to the yard.
He then explained that during the day the yards system with the help of the solar panels was able to supply up to 40kVA or 40,000 watts which the daytime consumption never gets anywhere near reaching.
However when the sun goes down the most that the yards system can supply is 18kVA or 18,000 watts, any consumption in excess of that and the supply trips out, and has to be manually reset on site.
The supply to each boat is via a 10 amp MCA so each boat can use around 2500 watts before it trips the boats supply. From inside the yard panels Bruce was able to check each boats consumption some were quite low but one was 2000 watts, It would only take 9 boats running at similar loadings to trip the yards supply on a night some electric kettles use over 2000 watts.
As you know the yard is currently on holiday so Bruce obviously does not want to have to keep coming in each morning to manually reset the supply to the yard, with an app on his smartphone he can monitor the yards consumption and also remotely disconnect the supply, which he plans to do each evening as the load increases and then remotely reconnect each morning when the solar panels come on stream.
The only way I can see around this problem is for everyone to refrain from cooking on an evening using electricity and also heat the boat during the day but not in the evening using electricity and stop using electric kettles and battery chargers after say 4 pm, if we can do that and Bruce can see that the peak has been flattened we may be able to maintain the supply.
Personally my solar panels keep my battery bank fully charged and I never have to use my battery charger, and I now totally cook using gas, and I plan to restrict my use of my small 500 watt heater to between 10am and 4 pm and only if needed.
Hopefully if others can do the same we may enable us to retain our supply overnight, which would greatly assist those who are solely reliant on mains electricity for lighting.
In conclusion I would like to thank Bruce for taking the time to explain the yards situation so clearly to us and hope that we can have similar discussions on other topics that may cause concern to both the yard tenants or the management.
Initially Bruce showed us a graph on his smart phone of the yards electrical consumption for the last 24 hour period which showed a sharp rise in consumption between 5 and 7 pm yesterday evening, which at its peak got very close to tripping the supply to the yard.
He then explained that during the day the yards system with the help of the solar panels was able to supply up to 40kVA or 40,000 watts which the daytime consumption never gets anywhere near reaching.
However when the sun goes down the most that the yards system can supply is 18kVA or 18,000 watts, any consumption in excess of that and the supply trips out, and has to be manually reset on site.
The supply to each boat is via a 10 amp MCA so each boat can use around 2500 watts before it trips the boats supply. From inside the yard panels Bruce was able to check each boats consumption some were quite low but one was 2000 watts, It would only take 9 boats running at similar loadings to trip the yards supply on a night some electric kettles use over 2000 watts.
As you know the yard is currently on holiday so Bruce obviously does not want to have to keep coming in each morning to manually reset the supply to the yard, with an app on his smartphone he can monitor the yards consumption and also remotely disconnect the supply, which he plans to do each evening as the load increases and then remotely reconnect each morning when the solar panels come on stream.
The only way I can see around this problem is for everyone to refrain from cooking on an evening using electricity and also heat the boat during the day but not in the evening using electricity and stop using electric kettles and battery chargers after say 4 pm, if we can do that and Bruce can see that the peak has been flattened we may be able to maintain the supply.
Personally my solar panels keep my battery bank fully charged and I never have to use my battery charger, and I now totally cook using gas, and I plan to restrict my use of my small 500 watt heater to between 10am and 4 pm and only if needed.
Hopefully if others can do the same we may enable us to retain our supply overnight, which would greatly assist those who are solely reliant on mains electricity for lighting.
In conclusion I would like to thank Bruce for taking the time to explain the yards situation so clearly to us and hope that we can have similar discussions on other topics that may cause concern to both the yard tenants or the management.
I recommend an Ikea Strandmolke to your friend, @canoeman - mine is keeping me toasty on the coldest nights.
I find an electric kettle more convenient and economical than gaz when I'm on shore power, but only use it for about 1 minute per hour, whereas an electric heater is a constant load.
I think Bruce will ultimately need to bite the bullet and have extra supply put in, but the impression I have of him is that he won't accept this right away. He must have a turnover in the region of €500,000 per year, so one might think the business could afford the expense.
Graham376
Well-known member
Bruce has said for several years that the electricity supplier won't give him what he needs which would account for low voltage in the past <190v quite often. We have never been restricted in use previously and there were on occasions quite a few more people living aboard, than at present. Maybe load is being limited to keep the voltage up? I think everyone in the yard hopes the problem can be solved and it won't stop me lifting out there next month.
To answer Nortada's question in #23, lets just say Bruce takes a dim view of any yard resident starting to do business in the yard, uninsured and without his permission. Even worse when people have been warned. Push him too far and he'll react but treat him fairly and we've never had a problem over 14 years.
Sandyman
Well-known member
Graham. Most of what has been posted in this thread is speculation or misinformed hogwash. If I find time tomorrow I will post the facts, hopefully in a non to technical form that everyone with an interest will understand. Sandy RN Rtd
nortada
Well-known member
Graham. Most of what has been posted in this thread is speculation or misinformed hogwash. If I find time tomorrow I will post the facts, hopefully in a non to technical form that everyone with an interest will understand. Sandy RN Rtd
As an idle bystander, hope you find time
Looking forward to this.? Chip RAF Retd?