Electricity pricing – Electricity Supply – Energy saving bulbs
Winter is the time when one realises that electricity consumption goes up. Here in rural Galicia power is invoiced monthly and every two or three month they come round to read the meter.
So often the first invoice in January or so comes as a little surprise, even more so this year as the increase in pricing last year, just before deregulation, shows its ugly face.
Yes, the electricity market in Spain is deregulated although one is hard pressed to notice this here.
You can freely switch your provider, but all of them fall back on the government set maximum price.
Click this for more information on electricity pricing.
The high humidity in winter requires the dryer to run frequently, the central heating and pump is running and yes one uses a bit more light.
The supply grid is not as bad as seen on the right, but also not far off. Frequent fluctuations, brown out and actual cut offs are common.
Over the last two nights its become so bad here that my wife took candles to bed to read, as the flickering induced headaches.
If this doesn’t improve I maybe forced to install a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to smooth this out as it is not health for the electric appliances like fridges, freezers etc.
On the issue of light bulbs and energy saving. Well even here the tidal wave of CFL’s (compact fluorescent light bulb) is in full swing.
Like these they tend to look the same but far from it. It is worth trialing some to see which ones are for you. Some are immediately on and “warm up” after a while, others you wait forever to see the step you know is there.
If you are interested here is a comparison of American CFL’s
The important two information’s are the actual light output in either Lux or Lumen again to confuse as there is no direct conversion between these two. Lumen is “candle power or light” that is produced, whereas Lux is the light received on a surface of 1 m2.
You find more about this here at wikipedia
Now the other important factor is the “color” of light or more precisely the temperature of light which is measured in Kelvin as well as the spectrum or more precise the CRI (color rendering index). 
(more on wiki here)
You may have noticed a difference in “warm white” label and the actual result. No wonder as warm white is subjective even at the manufacturer. On the latest CFL you should find the actual color temperature given in K e.g. 2500 for warm white. CFL’s also do not have a CRI of 100 which would be the old fashioned filament bulb but the closer they get the better. 85 – 89 is now achievable. In future we should see a 3 digit code. 1.st is the CRI so a CRI of 89 would be 9 and the next two are the temperature e.g. 2700K = 27.
927 would be CRI 85 – 94 and 2700 K.
CFL’s as standard are not dimmable due to their electronic ballast, but there are now dimmable ones available as well, just on low settings they tend to be a bit bluer than the good old bulb.
2 – 100% dimmable are achievable but not yet common, check the %. 20-60% means at 60% it turns on full and below 20% off.
Closing comments:
Energy saving = Yes Cost saving=No Full dimmable full spectrum 11W (equiv 60W) = 14£
8000h life span = 35 Kw/h saving = 4.09£ at current energy price including IVA.
Mercury – Just watch this CFL The Truth
So long and happy hunting for the ideal CFL
Expat
Here in Mer this fog stays for maybe one or two hours, than the sun breaks through.
With spring looming around the corner and the typical requirement of fixing things that have or have not survived the winter, I found this great chart which I adjusted a bit to Galicia.
Normally Castro Caldelas lies peacefully on a hill guarding the Ribeira Sacra. If you follow the long winding road, always uphill, you finally arrive in Castro. When you parked your car, its just a very short walk to explore the well restored old town, its castle and believe me the view from graveyard is second to none.
When we arrived it was just getting dark. A huge pyre was erected in front of the church and the local band started to play entertaining the growing crowd.
Following an irresistible smell we found, to the left of the church, a huge stand where council workers where busy preparing grilled chorizos.
Off we went following into the narrow and dark confines of the old town. It is an experience like no other. Cheering people, torch light, biting smoke and one is torn between looking ahead, close the eyes as the smoke stings, whilst gasping for breath and trying desperately not to stumble. At the same time everyone looks out for everyone else, as burning bits of straw float through the air. The straw torches are waved frantically to keep them burning or light them again and everything fades to vague shadows pierced by the yellow smoking light of straw. Unbelievable if you haven’t been in the middle of it all, unforgettable if you have.
The worm and the crowd, including us, spilled out of the old town – fresh air never tasted so sweet – and what was left of the straw worm was used to light the bonfire and all the torches, or their remainder where thrown onto it.
Then, warmed or should I say roasted by the fire came the great crush towards the chorizos. If you want to get close to people – that’s it. Although totally unorganised, it is a friendly crush of people, laughing, joking and wriggling towards the concello workers that hand out a chorizo in a bun at an incredible speed.
Once the sustenance was obtained, a leisurely walk to yet another stall, where a good slug of local red wine was given out – All Free! – and what better way than being fed on a “national” dish whilst standing in groups, greeting people one happen to know and chat with friends whilst watching the fire burn.
