FA+
Shop
Electric system failure
7 years ago
General
[ General information ] ♞ [ Commission info ] ♞ [ Open slots and commission status ] ♞ [ About me ] Yesterday the electricity in our house failed. Turned out it's the incoming cable to the meter that is faulty - BUT, due to regulations having changed since that meter was installed, it cannot be reinstated there.
The whole incoming part, cable from the pole, meter housing, meter installment, from the meter to the house circuit has to be redone. We are looking towards a $6-800 cost minimum, and have little to nothing to spare.
A neighbor's electric technician friend agreed to do a friend's deal for us, so we paid him $200 (about all we could spare) for materials, and we will have to pay him the rest over 2 months or so. A gentleman's agreement, thanks to the neighbor vouching for me. I would have had no chance to pay this money otherwise, and even this way, this will be very hard.
If all goes well we will have power back before next Monday, but there is also a fair chance that the new system's fault breaker will not turn on, meaning the house's internal cabling so too old and unsafe, having to be replaced, meaning we will be looking towards an additional $600-1000 cost which we won't be able to do in any reasonable time.
For now we have limited power courtesy of another neighbor via extension cord, supplying only the PCs, desk lamps and the fridge - no lighting or hot water.
I'll report how things go but we will be forced to take on several new commissions just to cover the costs since we had no any savings. :(
The whole incoming part, cable from the pole, meter housing, meter installment, from the meter to the house circuit has to be redone. We are looking towards a $6-800 cost minimum, and have little to nothing to spare.
A neighbor's electric technician friend agreed to do a friend's deal for us, so we paid him $200 (about all we could spare) for materials, and we will have to pay him the rest over 2 months or so. A gentleman's agreement, thanks to the neighbor vouching for me. I would have had no chance to pay this money otherwise, and even this way, this will be very hard.
If all goes well we will have power back before next Monday, but there is also a fair chance that the new system's fault breaker will not turn on, meaning the house's internal cabling so too old and unsafe, having to be replaced, meaning we will be looking towards an additional $600-1000 cost which we won't be able to do in any reasonable time.
For now we have limited power courtesy of another neighbor via extension cord, supplying only the PCs, desk lamps and the fridge - no lighting or hot water.
I'll report how things go but we will be forced to take on several new commissions just to cover the costs since we had no any savings. :(
Wooden houses are extremely rare here. I have never seen a single one in my life. We generally use bricks - and for older houses in the countryside, adobe. My house consists of a 70-80 (or more) years old adobe brick half and a later added fired brick half. Adobe is amazing insulator, it's warm in the winter and cold in the summer. It doesn't like water, tho.
This is the good thing about living in Central Europe tho: No earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes, no tsunamis or volcanoes, no things that eat you (eg alligators), no scorpions and no very poisonous snakes or spiders (There are a few mildly poisonous but they are extremely rare and avoid humans.).
I would love to visit sometimes in the future, tho.