Category Archives: Utilities

Another Challenge in Rural Mallorca

Posted
Filed under Utilities
Some challenges are more challenging than others. And no, this isn’t The Boss. I took this photo at the weekend while walking between Betlem and Es Caló.

Last time I wrote, I hinted at an even messier clean-up than that which would follow Storm Celia’s generous Saharan dust deliveries. We were facing another challenge in Mallorca. The Boss had discovered a Big Problem in our dependencia – the outbuilding housing our solar batteries, inverter, and diesel generator.

The once-white wall behind the generator was now black. The exhaust pipe had become detached from something (the manifold, I believe). Instead of the noxious fumes being expelled through the exit pipe in the wall, they were staying inside and blackening the wall.

The company that services our generator and solar-electricity system sent their technician Alfonso to deal with the problem. And, wouldn’t you know it? He found another: an oil leak. He fixed the exhaust problem and said he’d return in a few days with the spare part needed to deal with the leak. Little did he realise he’d be back the next day.

And then there was no light

When we awoke the next morning we had no electricity – yet another challenge in Mallorca. The Boss and I did some head scratching (our own, not each other’s), after checking the fusebox in the house. Then, inverter manual in hand, we went to see what was amiss in the ‘workings’. After unsuccessfully trying the suggested troubleshooting methods, we gave up and phoned our service company. This involved driving almost to Manacor to get a decent mobile phone signal, as our home phone doesn’t work without electricity.

Alfonso (with the spare part we’d needed for the generator) and a colleague arrived about an hour later. They soon established that the problem was not the inverter but, ominously, ‘somewhere in the house’. Would we have to dig into the walls to source some random rogue wiring? Thankfully not. The answer would be found in the fuse board.

After a series of domestic equipment tests – one of which involved removing our oven completely from its housing so he could check the wiring behind it – Alfonso identified a problem with our water pump. Long story (and morning) short, Alfonso and his colleague replaced the broken part on the water pump, fixed the leaky generator, then left with a generous tip from The Boss.

We’ve yet to attack the blackened wall with cleaning products and a fresh coat of white paint, but that can wait. More pressing jobs, in the garden, are calling.

Dare I say that normal service has been resumed at our finca in rural Mallorca? Yes … I think so. (I touched my wooden desk as I wrote that, even though I’m not superstitious).

© Jan Edwards 2022

Hot Water System is Restored

Posted
Filed under Utilities

At last, we have hot water again in our kitchen and guest suite. For almost two months, we’ve been boiling water in the kettle to do the washing-up (the pots and pans that don’t fit in our counter-top dishwasher). But now the hot tap delivers as it should.

It works!

Different Types of Water Heater

Our new butane-powered water-heater is a calentador atmosférico. Our previous Saunier Duval heater was an acumulador. The latter heated and stored water to the set temperature, ready to supply hot water to the house within seconds. The new model heats water only at the turn of a hot tap. It takes a minute or two to get from ambient-temperature water (pretty cold in February) to hot.

The new Cronos Atmosférico Calentador a Gas (manufactured by Centro Confort) is smaller, neater, and easier to operate than our former water-heater. Maversa*, the Repsol agent we used in Manacor, chose it based on their representative’s visit to us and a discussion of our requirements.

No Go, No Flow

The técnicos did a neat job of the installation but, when it came to the crunch moment, they couldn’t make the thing work. Much head-scratching and instruction booklet-perusing ensued. We were on the cusp of having our problem solved … but not that day.

The two men were apologetic and suspected a manufacturing fault. They’d contact the company and let us know when there was a solution. As we watched them drive off, we wondered how long that would take.

So we were surprised to receive an early phone call the next morning. The técnicos were returning – somehow having solved the problem.

We’d have preferred an acumulador, but the price of a new one shocked us. Besides, when the warmer weather comes we won’t wait so long for hot water to flow from the taps. There comes a time each year – usually when I need to wash salad vegetables on a daily basis – when it’s impossible to get anything but hot water. Even from the cold taps.

Bodily Needs

Our two técnicos were very pleasant and, unlike any other workers who’ve come to our house in the past, they accepted my mid-morning offer of a coffee. One of them later asked if he could use the bathroom, because he needed hacer pis. He was, of course, welcome to use the loo … although I didn’t need to know why!

* Maversa‘s shop is on the Passeig Ferrocarril, in the vicinity of the Auditorium in Manacor (look for the Repsol name and branding). We found them helpful and tidy installers.

©Jan Edwards 2021

Feeling Drained in Mallorca

Posted
Filed under Maintenance, Utilities, Writing
Early one morning …

When you live off-grid in Mallorca, as we do, there are some necessary periodic tasks that have to be done to keep everything working as it should. One of these is to empty the septic tank. Eugh! I hear you say. Fortunately, this isn’t a job we have to do personally. We’d have run from the hills long ago if that were the case.

Once a year, we arrange for a specialist company to come and do the deed for us. A tanker arrives, complete with a huge reel of tubing. The tanker driver attends to the controls from within the vehicle; the other man (I don’t envy him), feeds the tubes in and out of the mouth of the septic tank, which is buried underground and accessed by a hatch door.

Remarkably, this unpleasant but necessary off-grid task doesn’t involve smells, spillages, or sounds that are likely to put us off our breakfast. Yes, these people have a habit of arriving at seven-thirty in the morning. This September they arrived a week earlier than expected. Keen, eh?

The job was all done within a quarter of an hour and the men and their tanker were soon on their way – one hundred euros and a ten-euro tip better off. Worth every céntimo, I must say. That’s one job out of the way until September 2022.

Another Task Completed … Almost

If you’re a regular reader of Living in Rural Mallorca, you may recall that I’ve been writing a novel. For quite a long time. Well, finally, it’s published and is now available on your local Amazon store. Daughter of Deià features radio, cats, and Mallorca – three areas in which I have quite a bit of experience.

My debut novel was published last Thursday, 2nd, but the hard work is by no means over and, like our septic tank, I am feeling drained.

Now I have to do the book’s marketing – something of which I have little experience. Please wish me luck.

I am grateful to everyone who takes a chance on me as a novelist and buys the book. So if you fancy a bit of armchair travel – or share my interest in radio, cats, and Mallorca – check it out on Amazon here. Thank you.

Copyright Jan Edwards 2021

Storm Strikes Again at our Finca

Posted
Filed under Utilities

Autumn arrived with a bang this year. Quite a few bangs, actually. Although this time of the year is when we expect thunderstorms, there seem to have been more than usual recently. Why should I expect something ‘normal’ in a year like 2020?

August 29th was the first big storm that sticks in our mind; this is probably because we’ve only just received and paid the eye-popping bill for the repair of the lightning-damaged inverter that keeps our solar-power electricity system going.

The latest storm a couple of nights ago appears to have affected our generator. It simply won’t start. This hulking (and noisy) beast usually kicks in automatically when the solar batteries are a little low in power – which happens when the sun hasn’t been on duty for a while or we use certain power-guzzling appliances.

Our recent top-up delivery of diesel for the generator.

Today we have sunshine, which means the solar panels are maxing out on sunbathing and our system can happily run without the generator – assuming modest use of power. But using the washing machine or the iron, for example, kicks off the generator however much sun is available.

Rugs at the Ready

Until the generator can be fixed, doing the laundry at home is off limits. Oh, and so are the air-conditioning units that do heating duty in the evenings at this time of year – when it’s not quite cold enough for a log fire (The Boss would disagree with that) but a little warmth is appreciated. It’s a cosy rug over the legs on the sofa for us for the foreseeable.

The big positive about all the rain we’ve had is that rural Mallorca has lost the veil of dust it’s been wearing over the dry months. Everything looks sparkling clean . . . except the contents of the laundry basket.

The stream at the bottom of our valley should be full of water by now, but I won’t have to resort to kneeling on its muddy banks to do the laundry. Thank heavens for gas-powered water heaters and a good-sized kitchen sink. Now, pass the Marigolds . . .

Jan Edwards Copyright 2020

Lockdown Log in Mallorca – Day 45

Posted
Filed under Covid-19, Utilities

No people are walking the lanes during lockdown

It’s hard to believe that we have lived here in rural Mallorca for 16 years. This milestone was clocked up on Sunday, April 26th. Sixteen years during which a lot has happened; although not so much in the last 45 days, whilst we’ve been on lockdown in Spain.

When we first moved here, one solar panel mounted on the roof provided us with electricity. This wasn’t enough to power sockets but, assuming the sun had shone during the day, gave us approximately two hours’ lighting (from dim 12-volt bulbs) in the evening.

We had no TV, radio, or Internet. My computer remained packed away until such time as there was something to power it. We had no house telephone – only our (non-smart) mobiles. But, frustratingly, there’s barely any mobile coverage in our valley. If, however, we stood in precisely the right spot on one of our walls outside, it was sometimes possible to rustle up a signal. That’s if we’d remembered to charge the battery on our phones (by plugging into the cigarette lighter in the car during trips out).

Power to These People

It would be eight months before we had ‘proper’ electricity (powered by 16 new solar panels in the field), and several months more before we had a house phone. Each development brought a wave of joy and appreciation for what we finally had.

Accessing the Internet from home took a lot longer. Several providers came out to our valley, looked around, shook their heads, shrugged their shoulders, and said ‘Nunca‘ (meaning ‘never’) or ‘Imposible‘ (no translation required). Our valley may be beautiful, but it had One Huge Disadvantage.

Pork Bellies Anyone?

I worked in BBC local radio before we moved here. The computer on my desk in the newsroom – or in the studio, when I was on air – gave me access to any information I could possibly need, in the course of my job as mid-morning-show presenter. At any time, for instance, I could have told you the current price of pork bellies. (Wouldn’t that have made for riveting radio?).

Living in rural Mallorca, the closest I got to pork bellies was on a walk past the pig farm further down the valley. To say I felt distanced from the world as I’d known it, would be an understatement.

A few years later (yes, it took quite some time), a small company called WiFi Balears (now renamed Fibwi) was able to connect us to the Internet – thus changing our lives.

Life’s Online….or Not

Since the lockdown began, the whole of Mallorca has been living online. Whether it’s socialising, learning, entertainment, exercising, shopping or whatever, it’s all being done through the Internet in this time of physical distancing. By everybody.

I had promised myself that, during this lockdown, I’d take advantage of the opportunities to visit museums and galleries around the world, watch West End musicals, learn new skills, attend concerts, and more – all from home and online. And I would if our wifi signal were up to it.

When yet another attempt to do something new and interesting online fails for want of a decent signal, I try to adopt an attitude of gratitude: we’re a lot less incommunicado than we were back in 2004.

Jan Edwards ©2020

 

Plumbing Problems Strike Again

Posted
Filed under Utilities

That’s not very pretty

Apart from Storm Gloria in January, this winter in Mallorca has probably been the mildest and sunniest since we moved here in 2004. Although we’ve had one or two air frosts, more than a few foggy mornings and, after dark, it’s often been quite chilly, most days have delivered blue skies, sunshine and warmth. Oh, we do love that warmth. Of course, it’s not normal for this time of year – and is probably the result of climate change – but I’m not hearing many complaints about this February’s weather in Mallorca.

All this spring-like weather has been making us think about the visitors we may have this year. Once we’ve sorted out the small matter of lack of a bath or shower in the bathroom of our main guest room.

Late last year, we noticed that one wall of our double-guest bathroom was showing signs of damp. Dampness is a common problem in Mallorcan properties, but this patch of damp wasn’t in one of the usual areas in our house affected during the winter months.

The Boss did his magic with a sponge and a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar, but a few days later the damp started showing through again. It was a mystery, until The Boss spotted the merest drizzle of water running down the tiles above the bath from the wall-mounted taps. In our experience, water is one of the most troublesome things in a Mallorcan property.

It was time for a(nother) visit from Sito, our friendly local plumber. One sledgehammer and a pile of broken wall tiles later, he discovered the source of the leak: a hairline crack in one of the pipes to the taps, buried into a rather thick wall. It appeared that water had been seeping into the walls for quite some time. Sito removed the tap-and-shower-head unit and did whatever plumbers do to fix this type of problem.

We had to leave the hole open to allow the sodden wall to dry out. Our dehumidifier (seriously, you need one of these if you live in Mallorca) has been working overtime and we’re now about ready to get our guest bathroom fully operational again.

All change

Because we’re unlikely to find wall tiles that match the existing old ones, we’re taking the opportunity to make some substantial changes to the bathroom. We’d often talked about removing the bathtub (never used as a bath, only as something to stand in when using the overhead shower). This is mainly because I worry that my dad – when he’s staying for his two holidays each year – may slip and injure himself getting in or out of the bath to take a shower. It was a project on the back burner that moved to the front one because of this leak.

We’ve always tried to use local tradesmen (like Sito) but, this time, local builders weren’t even interested in coming to look at the job and give us a quote. They’d rather be renovating whole houses or even building them, than tackling what, for them, is a relatively small job.

Finally, we had some success: a builder from the other end of Mallorca came up to see what needs to be done. Assuming he wasn’t put off by the distance he had to travel – or by getting lost on the way to our hideaway finca – we’ll soon have a functioning guest bathroom again. If not, there’s always the stream at the bottom of the valley – still full of water after Storm Gloria. Only joking…

Jan Edwards ©2020

Keeping dry in rural Mallorca

Posted
Filed under Countryside, Nature, Tools and machines, Utilities, Weather/Climate

Bathers in Med

Spotted at Cala Ratjada on November 15th 2015.

Mallorca is enjoying some exceptional autumn weather this year: daytime temperatures peaking in the low 20s; blue skies, and very warm sunshine. This is what the locals call the veranillo de San Martín or, as we’d call it, an Indian summer. It looks as though it’s set to continue for the rest of November at least, which means we may save some money on logs for the fire this year.

But despite the warmth and sunshine, we are still experiencing the early morning mists and fog that are typical at this time of year. Very often the sea mists are below our finca, moving through the valley and creating an ethereal beauty that begs to be captured on camera. Sometimes the mist moves around our house, the swirling droplets visible in the air and settling on the coats of the cats who have adopted the finca as their favourite restaurant and hotel.

Fighting the damp 

It all adds up to a damp environment, of course. In our first autumn here I had to throw away several pairs of shoes that had grown furry in the damp conditions. It really was uncomfortable before we had electricity – especially as the gas heaters we were using to warm the house were increasing the dampness in the atmosphere. Once we had an electricity supply, we purchased a portable dehumidifier – and still sing its praises every year throughout the ‘soggy season’.

Portable dehumidifier

Our essential finca friend.

The damp situation inside the house did improve dramatically once we’d had a new roof and a chunky layer of insulation added, but our living room still suffers until we start to have regular log fires. It gets no sunshine at this time of the year, and the north-facing wall at the end of the room is built from concrete blocks, rather than stone.

And recycle . . .

With ample sunshine recently we’ve been running the dehumidifier every morning for a couple of hours. It makes a real difference to the comfort level in the room. And because we have had very little rain for some time, the extracted water that accumulates in the dehumidifier’s tank is proving useful in the garden; we do love a bit of recycling . . .

 

Since I drafted this on Sunday (after enjoying a tapas lunch by the sea), the forecast is for the warm spell to end within a few days. This weekend, from Sunday, we shall see wind, rain, and daytime highs of around 13 degrees Celsius. It’ll be a shock to the system after such a warm and sunny two-thirds of the autumn . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mallorca Contribution to New ‘Kaleidoscope’ Anthology by Writers Abroad

Posted
Filed under Utilities, Writing

When we came to live on Mallorca I had grand plans to write a novel . . . after I’d written about the experience of moving to a rural finca on the island and all the challenges that it entailed. We had the first eight months without electricity, which meant I couldn’t plug in a computer. And anyone who has seen my handwriting will know that using paper and pen would not have been a workable option. Not if anyone (or even I) intended to read it later.

I soon discovered that better and more experienced writers had already written about moving to Mallorca and living in a finca. Perhaps the novel? I’ve probably written a quarter of it, but that was some time ago now; I do intend to get back to it soon. And, yes, it’s set on Mallorca.

Most of my writing work is factual, rather than fiction, but I have had short stories chosen for inclusion in three anthologies published by a group called Writers Abroad (of which, incidentally, I’m not a member).

A Hat Trick on the Story Front

The latest of these anthologies, entitled ‘Kaleidoscope’ is published today, October 12th. Even though I’ve probably had a few hundred articles published now, I’ve had little success with short stories – so I’m pretty excited to have had my third one published. Especially as I spent quite some time trying to find inspiration for the ‘light-themed’ story – and almost gave up the idea of submitting anything.

They do say that you should write about what you know and, thus, the seed of a story idea sprouted. ‘Seeing the light’ (published under the name of Janice Dunn) is a complete work of fiction – but prompted by the occasion when lightning knocked out the invertor of our solar-powered electricity system.

News Release From Writers Abroad‏

 
An Anthology of Stories and Poetry from Expat Writers Around the World

‘Kaleidoscope’ Available for Purchase

All proceeds from sales will be donated to the charity Room to Read.

Online, ex-pat writing community Writers Abroad are proud to announce the publication today Monday 12th October of their fifth anthology, Kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope is a dazzling collection of flash fiction, short stories and poetry, written by expats (or former expats) around the world on the theme of light, as 2015 is the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.

The stories and poems selected for Kaleidoscope evoke many varied interpretations of light: from a force that dispels evil or illuminates to one that can be destructive, from sunlight to firelight, or from the glow of an Arctic summer night to the brilliance of a Mediterranean afternoon.

This anthology is dedicated to two writers and members of Writers Abroad, Mary Davies and Jäny Graf, who both died in June 2015 during the planning of Kaleidoscope. Two pieces written by them are published in the anthology.

Author and former Writers Abroad member Chris Allen, who lives in Germany, has written the foreword. His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications. A finalist at Glimmer Train in 2011, Chris Allen has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize twice.

Kaleidoscope is available from Lulu and Amazon at a price of $8.50, £5.99 or €7.50.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2015

Solar panels get their summer spruce-up

Posted
Filed under Countryside, Maintenance, Utilities, Weather/Climate

We’re great fans of our solar-powered electricity system. We can run our air conditioning all day without worrying about the next GESA electricity bill – although, of course, such a system does require a fairly hefty investment up-front, so it’s not (as some people suggest) really free power.

During the summer the system trundles along without too much input from us – correction, The Boss. Sure, he still disappears down to the dependencia (the building where batteries, invertor, and back-up generator are stored) every Monday, just to make sure there are no red warning lights flashing anywhere.

Hose at the ready

But during a long hot, extremely dry, and dusty summer, the solar panels do appreciate a little bit of TLC. Which is where The Boss, a ladder, a mop and bucket, and a hose come into play. This morning – just after 7am – he was up a ladder cleaning several months’ of dust and dirt off the panels, first mopping them with soapy water, then hosing off the suds. They’re gleaming clean now and probably soaking up lots more rays as a result.

If anything’s going to bring on the long-overdue and much-needed rain, this morning’s clean-up  should do it. Umbrellas at the ready, Mallorca?

A summer wash for our solar panels. Note the presence of Pip - always ready to assist.

A summer wash for our solar panels. Note the presence of Pip – always ready to assist.


 

 

 

 

Another Job for our Mallorcan Plumber

Posted
Filed under Building works, DIY & Maintenance, Maintenance, Utilities, Weather/Climate

If you’re going to live on Mallorca, it pays to have a good relationship with a plumber. Over the years we have been here we have spent a lot of money at our local plumbers. During our early time here it seemed that almost every problem we had with the house was water-related.

Cito and his team have come to our rescue many times. He’s had a few good plumbers (and electricians – as his company Ca’n Pedro does both) working for him over that time: Miquel Angel – who once found The Boss prone on the dining room floor with blood pouring from his head after his accident with the low lintel over the front door; Pep – who accidentally put a pickaxe through the cold-water pipe while trying to locate a burst hot-water pipe under our tiled shower room floor, and Rubens (also an electrician), who rescued us when a burst of my KitchenAid blender (I was making soup at the time) caused the whole electricity system to go phut.

Cito seems to be winding down his business a bit – perhaps with an eye to his future retirement – and today it’s Cito himself who’s working at the house, aided by his son-in-law. Yes, another water-related problem at the finca!

Who Needs Hot Water?

Our house has two gas-powered acumuladores (water heater/storage units): one serving our shower room and annexe guest room; the other for the kitchen and our main guest bathroom. Naturally, the latter gets the most use; we had to replace it with a new one quite a few years ago.

The other one has quietly done its job over the years but, a week or two ago, after The Boss had attached a new gas bottle, the thing wouldn’t re-light. As it happens, the lack of hot water isn’t a problem at this time of year. Our water supply comes to the house from our water storage tank in overground pipes and the cold water has been arriving hot in our taps for several weeks, as a result of the summer heat. What should have been hot water in the heater unit was cold. Problem temporarily solved: we’d use the cold tap for hot water, and the hot, for cold!

Gas water heater and storage unit

Our acumulador had lost its looks as well as its functionality!

Cito to the Rescue

Cito came out to inspect the water heater, and removed a sorry-looking part. He came back to us later with the news that a replacement part would cost a couple of hundred euros. As that water heater is at least 13 years old – we’ve never replaced it since we bought the place in 2002 – it made more economic sense to buy a new water heater.

Today it’s been fitted in the small cubby hole housing the water unit.  There was a slightly worrying moment when Cito announced that the door wasn’t wide enough to remove the old unit (The Boss had modified the entrance to the room and hand-built a new wooden door and frame a while ago).  For a horrible few minutes we imagined having to undo The Boss’s painstaking work, but Cito somehow found a non-destructive solution, and the job has just been completed.

Now we have hot water from the hot taps again. And, while the summer continues, also from the cold taps.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2015