NORTH COAST discussion and questions... page 4 - Dominican Republic forum

NORTH COAST discussion and questions...

6POSTS

11 years ago

FYI the bridge just outside Rio San Juan also flooded when the water level went down one side of the road was gone so if your headed to Caberete or Sousua you will need to slow down as you pass

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#122

Sure on the well driller!
That would be Scotty, his phone is 809-223-1178
He is in Cabrera.

1 member reacted to this post

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#123

I would recommend Scotty as well!

visunfun New member

6POSTS

11 years ago

#124

Thanks for this I will give him c call

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#125

A very sad day here in Sosua.

Yesterday there was a huge independence day parade through town and along the road to Charamicos. There were thousands of school kids marching with color guards, drummers, cheerleaders.聽 A beautiful parade and the kids were amazing.聽 HOWEVER near the end of the parade a wall collapsed and fell on a number of the kids.聽 As of this morning two kids have died and 6 or so others are injured some seriously.聽 So sad.聽

Bob K

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#126

Really sad news Bob.
No reason why that should have happened.

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#127

Another sad incident in Cabrera happened in Cabrera early this morning.
Police shot a man around Central Park just after midnight.
Celebrations with too much alcohol is my assumed reason.
The wounded victim as at large.
This is a very rare occurrence here.

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#128

Shoddy construction was most likely the cause of the collapse of the wall in sosua.聽 Seems no rebar was used.

Bob K

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#129

Alcohol and guns......NEVER a good mix.

Bob K

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#130

That, my friend, is the one thing in this beautiful country
that bothers me.

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#131

I am glad that it is only one thing for you.聽 But this is true anywhere in the world.聽 Here there seems however to be almost a total disregard for life.

Bob K

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#132

Like you said Bob, guns & alcohol do not mix well.
Also, really, that is about the only thing I
can't handle here. I am from northern
Ontario, where guns & alcohol are regularly mixed.
Problems are rare there, but once in a while of course.

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#133

Sh*t can happen anywhere but it is nice to minimize the chances.聽

Besides the gun problem my other thing the gets my goat is the electricity.聽 No I don't mind that we lose it on a regular basis.聽 That I can deal with easily.聽 What gets me is that ed Norte will turn the power on and off every few minutes.聽 This can happen up to 10 times in a 15 min period and sometimes these episodes occur 3-4 times in an hour.聽 My thought just turn it off until you figure it out then turn it back on.聽 It is hell on electronics for sure.

Speaking of which if you don't have one get a delayed plug for your frig (sell it in all the hardware stores here). This keep your refrig from coming on for 3 minutes after a power failure (you can set for up to 5 minutes on some), so your compressor is not coming on and off (great way to ruin a very expensive compressor).聽 We have one on our frig and freezer as well.

Bob K

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#134

Oh聽 Bob such sad news about those kids!!!!!聽聽 Whoever聽 built that wall should be arrested along with "inspectors" etc who allow it.聽

Guns and alcohol do not mixxxxxx.....

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#135

Inspectors???????????????????????????????

I know you are kidding right????????????????????聽

But yes poor construction once again rears its ugly head

Bob K

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#136

Well, somebody has to hire the inspectors before they can fire them!
Sad for sure, on all problems.
Hey Bob, we don't have your "on & off" problems here in Cabrera.
We seem to have hydro 60 percent of the time.
Never been out more than 10 hours here.
So our 8 batteries are sufficient.

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#137

It is not the problem of being with no electric.聽 We have a back up generator that kicks in in about 5 seconds. It is the constant on/off cycles that kill our stuff

BObK

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#138

I understand the on/off problem.
Why does Cabrera not have this problem.
It is EdeNorte here as well as Sousa.

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#139

Don't know but maybe an idiot is charge of our area???

Bob K

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#140

Come on now Bob!
Is that even possible with EdeNorte?
jajajajaja

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#141

Hahahaha聽聽good one...........

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#142

Sorry me bad.聽 I know they are highly skilled professionals

Bob K

acadien175 Active member

98POSTS

11 years ago

#143

In looking at North Coast real estate listings on line it appears that some houses use solar as a solution, e.g. : "16 solar electricity panels, 16 batteries (480Kw per month), high quality LED light."聽 It is a lot more costs effective today as I have seen solar panels priced at 25% of what they used to cost...

It means going off-grid and only using mains electricity when excess capacity needed.聽 Even Lennox now has solar powered a/c

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#144

Yes some have gone to solar either completely or partially. It is still expensive and when we figured the cost to go completely off grid it would take us 5 years to break even.聽 We do how ever have solar hot water and are probably going to go solar this year for our pool pumps.聽 These two (hot water and pool) are the biggest drain on electricity.

Bob K

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#145

Acadien solar is the way to go long term. Short term most cannot afford it.聽 Even at聽 25% savings once you pay import costs it is expensive.....

acadien175 Active member

98POSTS

11 years ago

#146

Solar panels have also become more efficient, there is increasingly more bang per $.聽 What was not cost effective ~5 years ago could be cost effective today e.g. Costco USA shows the following for US$3,900:聽

The Grape Solar 1250 Watt Grid-Tied PV Kit can generate between 75 kWh and 175 kWh of electricity per month. This amount of power is equivalent to the energy consumption of a standard refrigerator and about eight interior light bulbs. The kit consists of five 250 watt panels, Enphase micro inverters and a roof-top racking system for mounting the modules.聽聽

Tomas Cabrera Serial expat

606POSTS

11 years ago

#147

Don't forget the batteries!
Probably need 8-12

acadien175 Active member

98POSTS

11 years ago

#148

Thanks, it does need batteries, many homes already have them in existing inverter systems.聽聽 At home we also reduce our electrical load with energy efficient appliances, e.g. led聽 or c-fl bulbs.

We could also talk about passive solar cooling, etc, but it is likely a different topic.

- Ted

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#149

Yes just changing our light bulbs to low watt of LED has dropped our consumption by 100KW hours a month or more.

Bob K

visunfun New member

6POSTS

11 years ago

#150

I have solar and it reduced my electricity costs by 80%. Only use electricity for my pool pump. I am glad I spent the money as yes payback is going to be 5-7 year's but the substation here in Rio San Juan was flooded in the recent rain and now we are lucky if we get 110. Can't run my pool pump so a solar pump has now moved up on my to replace list then I will not need ede north for power. FYI I installed 12 300W panels with 16 batteries and it has not failed me yet.

PARADISECAT Serial expat

652POSTS

11 years ago

#151

Loving the solar power convo......How come the government has decided to go with coal plants as opposed to solar, hydroelectric, or more Eolic options??? As far as I know, the DR is not a big coal producer, would it make more sense to use more of their natural resources? Wind, Sun, and Water

聽 seem like logical choices to me. I also checked out the clay based FilterPure filters, what an amazing product and noble cause........seems to work amazingly well for a simply $50 Dollar Donation, what a great way to bring clean drinking water to many who have no choice, but to drink river water. I believe the inventor will be in Cab this Sat.....I will post more info as I receive it.

1 member reacted to this post

Bob K VIP Member

7675POSTS

11 years ago

#152

I have no idea why the step back to the dark ages on coal power.聽 Wind or sun would be the way to go as there is an abundance of both here. There are countries in Europe (like Portugal) where over 80% of their power comes from wind.聽 Talk about a renewable fuel source.

Bob K

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#153

Coal power =聽 kickbacks to someone or someones somewhere.聽 Simple really.

Solar - yes.聽 Issue is most have no money to invest up front in the technology.聽 It is a lot!

Water filters - you bet,聽 great idea.

PARADISECAT Serial expat

652POSTS

11 years ago

#154

I know just what you mean Bob.....l'm scratching my head on that one still, it is not like these sources are not already on the Island......there are two Eolic parks already and a small key in DR which is run almost completely on Solar power........Sooooo why go back to the Carbon polluting plant??? If any of my fellow bloggers wish to chime in and help my reasoning on this one please do because I'm going Bonkers over here!

聽 I have following the Quirino story still, and it looks like he is gearing up to start doing a few television interviews soon, there are videos on YouTube of a show called Hilando Fino with Salvador Holguin, and boyyyyy is he dropping bombs each day on that show, this thing is going to sink a whole lot of folks....l hope they like cold weather because the boys in Washington are really going to want to talk to a few of these Hombres

PARADISECAT Serial expat

652POSTS

11 years ago

#155

Thanks Planner.........I know the kickbacks are involved, but I was hoping that on this go around they would simply put greed aside for a minute and do what's right

planner Dominican Republic Expert

17773POSTS

11 years ago

#156

Read above honey - it is always about MONEY!!!!聽聽

Yes things are heating up here, this is going to be interesting to watch!!!!聽聽And of course remember this bozo has an agenda too.聽 Take it ALL with a giant dose of scepticism.