Journey to Samal » Electricity

I Have Square Feet

Randy C — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:16:47 +0000

SpongeBob may have square pants, but I’ve got square feet. No, not the kind you walk with, but the kind you measure with.

There are a lot of adjustments to make when moving to and living in the Philippines. I’ve touched on the differences in electricity, language, currency, cultural and more. Another that can be a bit challenging for some, myself included, is the unit of measure used there (and the rest of the world except of course the United States, Liberia and Myanmar).

Thankfully there has been some introduction to the metric system for those of us that are still in the dark ages. It is prevalent in many parts of life, just not our standard. I can remember a time while I was still in school when we were told that we would be converting to the Metric System. That never took off, much as many things political here tend not to. One administration decides one thing, a following one decides another. One step forward, one step back. But I digress…

The U.S. Metric Study recommended that the United States implement a carefully planned transition to the principal use of the metric system over a decade. Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 “to coordinate and plan the increasing use of the metric system in the United States”. The Act did not stipulate the conversion happen over a decade. Voluntary conversion was initiated, and the U.S. Metric Board (USMB) was established for planning, coordination, and public education. The public education component led to public awareness of the metric system, but the public response included resistance, apathy, and sometimes ridicule.[6] In 1981, the USMB reported to Congress that it lacked the clear Congressional mandate necessary to bring about national conversion. Because of this ineffectiveness and an effort of the Reagan administration to reduce federal spending, the USMB was disbanded in autumn of 1982.

I have trouble converting distance, or area, into metric when I have a need to do so quickly. If someone says a place is so many kilometers away, I have to ask “how long to get there?”. When looking at land, or a house, I need to do the calculation back to square feet for it to register.

I imagine this will come over time, with the benefit of living there and experiencing it on a daily bass. It will become visual as well. I believe this process is very similar to the peso issue, where those that move to the Philippines just start thinking in peso at some point, instead of converting everything in their head. It probably happens unbeknownst to the individual, just a natural progression.

In the meantime I’ll just have to deal with my square feet. SpongeBob would be proud.

Samal Households Receive Solar Power

Randy C — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:30:23 +0000

Some of you long time readers may remember some of my early articles referencing my desire to use solar power when I got a house built on Samal. I still have a lot of interest in solar power in the Philippines, but have done next to nothing in regards to doing anything about it. Partially because it will be so far off, but also because I was not having much luck with finding solutions that would work there.

The DOE (Department of Energy) didn’t wait for me to get my act together, they have already implemented solar power for some homes on Samal Island.

As part of a Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP) funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank, households that were previously without electricity (off-grid) now enjoy solar power via a system that is composed of a solar panel, a storage battery and three lamps. Total cost is P28,800 of which is picked up by the DOE. The households are also given training as to the use and maintenance of the system. There is no on-going energy bill for these homes.

“Solar energy emitted by the panel and stored in the battery is enough to light up the household for the entire night,” said Rosalie Joan Sotelo, senior science research specialist of DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Division.

The article does not say how many homes in the Samal area are covered, but a total of 233 households are furnished within 4 areas in the Visayas and Mindanao – Samal Island, Davao; Pandan, Antique; Makato, Aklan; and Manalo, Palawan.

So, I guess this makes my plan clear. I just need to build in an area that is off grid, and I’ll get my solar, and not only that, but have it paid for by the DOE. Joke only!

Ref: DOE powers four off-grid areas through solar technology – PIA NEWS

Recycle Philippines Style

Randy C — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:57:42 +0000

It’s probably a matter of economics versus any environmental concerns, but I’m really impressed with the amount of recycling done in the Philippines. No, I’m not referring to trash, though I understand that may have recently become more prominent, also.

The recycling I’m referring to has to do with items that in my lifetime have become increasingly disposable here in the United States.

I know it wasn’t this way when I was a kid, at least I don’t remember it that way, but sometime in my lifetime almost all things electronic have become disposable. If they break down, you don’t get it fixed, you throw it out and buy a new one.

The cause of that is undoubtably the high cost of labor and parts, in conjunction with the low cost of mass produced items. It just doesn’t make sense to pay $50 or so per hour of labor, plus the cost for some difficult to get part, when the item, or similar, can be had for less new.

But it’s much different in the Philippines. Labor is inexpensive, and ingenuity is quite high there. I’ve been been surprised with what can be repaired, and at what cost.

A good example from my last visit was a friend’s CD player/stereo that was no longer working. There was a discussion going on about getting it repaired, and the first thing I said was, “buy a new one”. This was just a “no name”, inexpensive unit, and it certainly couldn’t be worth the time and trouble to have it repaired. Boy, was I wrong (again). They got it fixed within a couple of hours for a cost of less than P300 (around $7 USD). You’d be waiting a week or two here, and it would cost you as much in gas to get it to the repair shop and back (exaggerating only slightly).

I’m also very interested in getting some of my appliances and/or tools rewound to work with the 220v wiring there. I can, and will, use step up/step down transformers in some instances, at least initially, but for the longterm I’d like to get everything 220v. One of the big hangups for me in that regard is my Vitamix. I’ve researched, and frankly there isn’t anything available there that compares. So I’ll bring that, and try it on a transformer for awhile, but I’d like to see if I eventually can get that rewound. I understand the cost to do so can be quite reasonable, say well under P1000. If I can get that done, it would be well worth it to me for such an expensive and useful product.

I appreciate the repairing and reuse of still valid products that is part of the norm there. Again, the reason behind it may be of necessity, but it certainly has it’s benefits regardless. It always bothers me to throw out old electronic items, so I end up storing them or giving them to Goodwill. Neither of which really accomplishes anything, but to appease my conscious for a period. No, what they do in the Philppines is much better for all, including the landfills.

There are many things that will be difficult to adapt to, but this recycling of electronics is one that I’m all for and happy to participate in.

Dirty Kitchen

Randy C — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:10:51 +0000

The first time I heard this term was in the inlaws’ balay. I couldn’t understand why there was so much pride in the statement, “we have a dirty kitchen.” I looked around at the the kitchen, and while it was a little messy, I couldn’t use the term “dirty’ to describe it and said as much. That got quite a few laughs. Another misinterpretation by the silly kano.

The dirty kitchen of the Philippines can best be described as an outdoor kitchen, or similar to a built in barbecue. It dates way back (Spanish influence?), and in the provinces it may be the only kitchen they have. At least it is more likely to have the outdoor “dirty kitchen” then the indoor kitchen, if there is just one.

It is difficult to give a specific description of the dirty kitchen, as they come in all shapes, sizes and configurations. Most of the them are wood or coal heated, but that is not true for all. Higher end, more expensive ones, can rival anything you may see in the house. Traditional dirty kitchens were constructed of soil and/or wood. Concrete is common now on the basics ones. Tile is also used, in conjunction with other materials.

Unless you do not have the room, or the funds, I can not see why I wouldn’t want to have a dirty kitchen at my future residence in the Philippines. There are a number of reasons to posess one, but these are my main reasons:

Extra space

The addition of the outside dirty kitchen not only provides additional cooking space, it opens up more room within the house. The additional cooking area is especially useful for large get togethers, and parties. We all know that there will be many relatives and many occasions to celebrate, so this extra space allows for more to get done concurrently, and at the same provides another social area.

Keeping the heat out

It gets hot in the Philippines Okay, you were aware of that. So obviously the less heat that you are adding to the interior of the house, the less you need to try to remove. Most cooked items can be done with the dirty kitchen, alleviating the need to fire up the stove in the house. As electricity is very expensive, this can really help with those bills. Of course you will have to buy the fuel for the dirty kitchen (probably wood for me), but that is an easy trade off in my opinion.

Keep the stink out

There are a lot of strong smelling odors emitted from the various traditional pilipino meals. Fish in particular, the dried variety especially, can be somewhat overwhelming. Given that many of the homes are quite small, and the aircon is often only run in bedrooms, you might be living with those odors for awhile. Being that I don’t eat meat, I’d prefer not to smell that all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I can and will live with it, but if there is an alternative, why not use it?

If I end up having a home built, it will certainly contain plans for a dirty kitchen. If I end up in previously constructed home, I’ll be making plans to add one, if for some reason there isn’t one already. The cost to do so can be as little or as much as you wish to make it.

Photo credit: philippinesorbust.com

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Internot Philippines

Randy C — Sun, 08 May 2011 16:54:41 +0000

While the rest of the world has this thing called the internet, the Philippines has their very own version, which I have dubbed the Internot. Not cheap, not fast, and not at all reliable. Even when it is working it’s not robust enough to handle much of what the internet is being used for and where the net is going.

I had high hopes, and still do I suppose, that things would improve with regards to the internet in the Philippines by the time I were to retire there. Well, things have improved, at least in theory, since I’ve first started visiting there, but in many ways they really haven’t.

As I say “theoretically” the speeds have gotten faster. That may be true to some degree, you can get a faster plan now, but not only are these speeds MUCH lower than here in the US (and from what I can tell much of the rest of the world), they are very hit and miss. There still seems to be a major bottleneck with the Philippines pipeline, so you are going to be limited regardless. Just try doing something like video chat with Skype, or streaming video. Sure it works (sort of) sometimes, but most of the time you are going to get disconnects, poor video/sound quality or very slow downloading.

I also see what I would term “net congestion”, when at times the speeds just drop to almost unusable levels because there are too many people sharing the connection. Possibly this is only a problem with DSL, I am not sure. The weather seems to play a factor here, too. Sometimes the torrential rains will cause very poor connections. Again, I am not sure why that would be, excepting that poor wiring must have something to do with that.

The most obvious and consistent problem is just a plain brownout. For those of you not from the Philippines, that is what we call a blackout, and depending upon where you live in the Philippines they can be infrequent to a daily occurrence. Regardless of where you live there, they happen much more often than they should. It is just a part of life there, and it is taken for granted that they will occur. Of course, it can be really difficult to access the internet if your connection is dependent upon electricity.

While the local providers continue to offer new and better plans, it is going to take a commitment by the government to improve the backbone before any real progress is made. At least that is the conclusion that I’ve come to. Maybe there will be other ways to accomplish this that I don’t really understand. As wireless technology advances, maybe the need for wired will no longer be needed. I do not see that being the case so far, as even the people I know using wireless conncetions are having similar issues with the signal.

I know that the Philippines is very concerned about tourism and becoming a retirement destination. It is with issues like this that I am not sure that they fully understand the statement that is made to those contemplating visiting or retiring there. When people have choices, something as significant as this can help sway their opinion in another direction.

I hope to see a plan proposed to bring the internet in the Philippines up to world standards. Better yet, I hope to see it actually happen.

It IS Cheaper to Live in the Philippines

Randy C — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:28:53 +0000

I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. I could be referring to the economy, politics, life in general, any number of things (that clip from Network is as relevant today as when the movie came out), but in this instance I’m referring to
what seems to be the nonsense that I keep reading over and over again on posts/articles, mainly from expats living in the Philippines. For some reason many seem to enjoy spreading the word that things are not cheaper in the Philippines. I don’t live there, yet, but let me tell you this, in case you are confused – IT IS CHEAPER TO LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

I will give them this, there are some things that can cost more there, but even then, what is their reference? As an example, lots of things in Seattle cost me more than in Spokane, and vice versa for that matter. Overall, Seattle is more expensive to live in than Spokane though, and that is one of the reasons I moved here 20 years. Not the only one, though.

Anyway, back to the Philippines…the idea that I can not seem to get my head around is that if you want to move to the Philippines and live a foreign lifetstyle, you could easily spend as much or more in the Philippines. This includes, I suppose, buying many imported goods and foods, eating out often, probably nicer foreign foods, and generally living beyond your means. Why would anyone move to the Philippines if they want to maintain the exact lifestyle they are currently living? I’m under the impression that you would move there, or anywhere for that matter, because there is something about the place that appeals to you and you want to embrace.

I hear the term, “Live Like a King”, and honestly, I don’t know what that means. That is often the idea that is debunked in these articles. You will not live like a king, and you are not moving to paradise. I feel that is probably good warning for anyone without any prior knowledge of the area, and probably true for any place. If you are planning to move to the Philippines, and never been there, then you are undoubtably in for rude awakening as to what you will encounter. I’m just assuming most people are smart enough to have visited, and at the very least done some research on a place the are expecting to live.

The major expenses, at least for me, are housing, food and possibly healthcare in the future. If you can not find housing, food and healthcare cheaper in the Philippines, you are not trying. If you are living on a fixed income, and can not make it go further in the Philippines, you are not trying. Given most of us will spend what we have, but that can and will go further there, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to have it do so. I’m sure there are those that can not figure it out, but for most sensible people, it is not difficult at all.

It is possible to live VERY cheaply in the Philippines, if one wants or needs to. Granted most foreigners would have a difficult time living that basic of a lifestyle, but it is possible, whereas here you would be on the street at that level of income. There is plenty of good, cheap food available everywhere, as well as living quarters.

I’ve learned a lot from all the different writers I’ve read. I realize that I have a lot more to learn about living in the Philippines, too. I’ll keep visiting and reading until I can gain the real life experience, and I’m sure that will be much different than I actually imagined, but I DO know that I WILL live cheaper in the Philippines.

Electric Home Shower

Randy C — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 02:01:22 +0000

One of the many things I have not yet adapted to in regards to my potential retirement in the Philippines is the lack of hot water in many places. For sure it isn’t nearly as necessary there as it is here. It is really more of a comfort level that I probably need to get over. The main area that the lack of hot water seems to affect me is in the shower.

Since I’ve stayed at numerous different cities, and all sorts of different kinds of accommodations, I’ve encountered both instances of hot showers and cold only showers. I still MUCH prefer the hot shower, even in the hot humid climate of the Philippines. It may be something I could probably adapt to after a period of adjustment, but during my short visits there I find myself seeking out a hot shower if I had stayed too long at a lodging that didn’t have one.

I’m thinking that even if I do eventually learn to like cold showers (or at least tolerate them), that I am going to want the option to take a warm/hot shower on occasion when I have my own residence. It would also be nice for any guests that might be visiting from out of the country that, like me, can not adapt so quickly.

On my last trip through I was lucky enough to have available to me a hot shower everywhere I stayed. I took note of the hot shower arrangement, because it appeared to be similar in all instances, and was something that I felt was very practical. They were all using some variation of an electric point of use hot water heater. I believe we typically call them tankless water heaters here, and they are often larger and designed to replace the standard water heater that we all know and love.

I had actually looked into a whole house tankless water heater when I had my last one installed, but the installer talked me out of it. He didn’t have very much good to say about them, and convinced me not to take the chance. That was quite awhile ago, so maybe things have changed.

Anyway, the one that I saw and interests me for my home, the the smaller one that is located right in the shower. They have a fairly simple design, and frankly just seem to make a lot of sense. Particularly in a climate where there need is not extreme.

I’m sure there are many manufacturers and many different models. The Panasonic DH-3DL2P Electric Home Shower was the model that one caught my eye. Maybe because the unit was new, but it functioned well and seemed very straight forward. I did a little research at it looks like they retail for about 6000 Php. Not sure about the cost to install if I weren’t to do it myself, but it doesn’t seem an unreasonable cost for what it does. How long it lasts is another question.

I may need to do some more research in regards to the best value for these, but I can’t see why I wouldn’t go something like this. It seems to be a very efficient solution to a possibly not very urgent problem.

Head Shaving Clippers | Oster Classic 76

Randy C — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:19:49 +0000

When I was younger, and it became apparent that I was balding in some manner, I always felt that I would shave my head when it got to the point of no return. My older brother has a similar hair loss pattern, and we both agreed that the best way to handle it was to shave it. Mind you this was probably the late seventies when having these discussions. A shaved head was not the common thing that you see now a days.

Well my brother followed through with that. He’s been shaved for quite a long time now. I can’t even remember when. I on the other hand was never able to pull the trigger. Oh, I had my hair cut short, very short on occasion, but never really all the way. The reasons for that are various, but the two most prominent are that I didn’t feel it was quite acceptable for work, and more importantly, I didn’t want to spend the time to keep it up. There can be a bit of time involved depending on how clean you want to keep it.

Things have changed, and the shaved head look is quite popular now. Not that I care so much about the popularity, but within the working environment it is not considered extreme anymore. That’s been true for some time, but I still had the issue of the time it would take to care for it.

My solution has been to purchase some professional head shaving clippers, the Oster Classic 76. These clippers aren’t strictly for shaving your head, as you will see them used in barbershops all over.

The Oster Classic 76 has detachable metal blades that come in sizes from 00000 (1/125″ or 0.2mm) up to 3.75 ( 1/2″ or 13mm). You can also get a Oster Universal Comb Set, that while not as nice as the blades, will allow for greater variances in lengths.

My clippers came with a 000 blade (1/50″ or 0.5mm). That leaves just a bit of stubble and it’s not too bad. I wanted it shorter though, so I ended up ordering the 00000, after deliberating on that or the 0000. I’m glad I went with the 00000, as it still leaves just a hint of hair. I wouldn’t mind it being even shorter, but I’m going for the convenience factor here and this works well for me, so far.

As these clippers are 120v, I’m not sure they are a great option for me in the Philippines. Then again with the cost of haircuts there, I’m not sure I’d want to cut my own hair anyway. I enjoy the experience of going to the barber, if I’m not in a hurry.

The only problem I see is the additional skin exposure to the sun. I was already exposing a lot, but head shaving obviously increases that. I’ll have to look into expanding my hat collection, as the pork pie hat is going to get quite a workout.

Try Before You Own

Randy C — Sun, 30 May 2010 16:58:43 +0000

While I haven’t purchased a lot of electrical items in the Philippines, I have bought a few. I’ve also been with friends and relatives when they’ve had the opportunity to purchase some smaller appliances. It always amazes me the routine that is gone through before you leave the store with your item.

Here in the States I’ve grown accustomed to the Costco and Nordstrom style of customer service which includes virtually unlimited returns on items. In most cases you don’t even need a receipt. I believe that both Costco (especially on electronic items) and Nordstrom have tightened their policies recently due to abuse, but it is still very easy to return most things at either place. With that standard being set, a lot of other retailers have followed their lead and have favorable return policies.

This is a far cry from what I’ve experienced in the Philippines. It may vary from store to store, or region to region, but from what I understand, for the most part, that it is very difficult to return items there. What they do is have a sales clerk plug in the item, make sure it is good working order and send then you on your way hoping it doesn’t break down when you arrive home.

My first exposure to this routine was with my brother and sister-in-law at the department store in the little mall near their condo. They were looking for some item (I can’t remember what exactly) for their newly arrived son. The store only had a small selection of this item and they were intent on showing each one working. Some had batteries, some did not. They couldn’t find the correct batteries, as the item didn’t come with them. We ended up spending a whole lot of time just waiting for them to track things down and then show us the various working units. If memory serves me, we ended up grabbing one the working units, not because that was necessarily the one they wanted, but obviously it worked, and it wasn’t important enough to spend all day there trying to figure out why one of the more desirable ones didn’t.

I can see where this might save some hassle for the store down the road, especially if there is a no return policy. Maybe things have changed some what since my experiences there. It has been a couple of years since I’ve been there, and even longer since I bought anything of note there. If they haven’t, there is always the option of buying online. For many things, like computers, that may be a better option anyway due to the high cost of foreign made electronics in the Philippines.

Just one of the multitude of life style adjustments I will need to make.

photo credit: Charles Keng | www.charleskeng.com/images-sm/smasia3181u.jpg

Mixed Voltages – Watt to Do

Randy C — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:28:33 +0000

As most of you know, or will find out when you visit the first time, the electricity in the Philippines is 220v instead of the 120v that we are familiar with here in the States. What does that mean to you and me? Well maybe not much if we are just there on a visit, as many electronic things like my laptop and cell phone have adapters that are universal/variable as long as the plugs work. In the case of my laptop, I can get an adapter kit with six AC plugs that work in North America, UK, Continental Europe, Japan, Korea, China and Hong Kong, so even that isn’t an issue.

More common on regular household appliances in the US, both small and large, is a fixed voltage of 110-120v. Things like blenders, toasters, coffee machines, etc. are best left at home. It is advised just to buy a new one when you’ve decided to live or stay long term in the Philippines. At least that is the consensus of those that have experienced the fried appliance that was mistakenly plugged into the higher voltage outlet in the Philippines. I can state with some certainty that electric hair clippers will be useless within seconds – but I’m not saying how I might have come by that knowledge

So what do you do about those items that are simply not easily found or are no longer made? One of my prized possessions is a Fender Harvard amplifier that was made in 1958. It is not only a great sounding amp, it is considered highly collectable. Not many of them are still around, but they can be found if you know where to look and are willing to pay the price. If I decide to bring this with me to Samal Island, I will either need to use a step down transformer, or possibly not use the amp at all. Of course as many will attest to, things do get plugged in that never should, and the chance of ruining something like this is fairly high. Without going into the details, if this were fried it could be repaired but would never be the same.

Another option that I could consider would be to have our house wired with both 220v and 120v outlets. Since we plan to have our house built from scratch, that seems like a potential answer. I have heard of a few people doing this. I don’t know how well it has worked for them, nor do I know the cost involved but I would think it should be minimum. Would this be reasonable to do if I only have one or two items that require 120v? I don’t know but as I get closer to the day that we can retire there, I should have a better idea of my needs for 120v.

It could also be pretty expensive to replace my home theater system, if that is what we decide to do. So that might offset the extra expense to have the house wired dual. Then again there is cost to send that stuff over.

Maybe the simplest solution would be to get rid of it all my electronics and just start over. Get a newer home theater system with the latest advances or maybe none at all. Sell the amp to someone that would enjoy it as much I have.

After all in the end, we don’t really own anything, do we?

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