At the moment we are at the beginning of the wet season, and although the days are generally cooler they are also greyer, and there are more mosquitoes about.
The rainy season brings two main problems for me - Chiquitito is not able to have unlimited access to the garden (although we are looking forward to lots of puddle splashing in his wellington boots) and getting the washing dry can become difficult.
As the rainy season progresses the air seems to become damper and drying washing can be problematic - unless you get a good few hours of sun or you are lucky enough to have a tumble drier.
We brought a tumble drier a couple of years ago, but it rarely gets used, mainly because electricity here is very expensive.
In our last house our electric bill was $50-$60 per month. Here it was $120 when we moved in. We had our water pump fixed and the bill dropped to about $80 a month, then since Junior arrived it has been almost constantly $100.
So why is the bill so high?
We have two tv's, a laptop that is often in use and all the other usual appliances, like washing machine, tumble drier (seldom used), fridge freezer, microwave etc. We do not have air conditioning (happy memories of the days we did) but we do have a ceiling fan in the lounge and a couple of free standing bedroom fans.
Another problem is that our electric meter is apparently faulty. But despite our landlord calling in an electrician and submitting a request to the electric company - almost 2 months ago - we are still waiting for a replacement. That too will be another story to tell you!
I think the biggest sole consumer of our electricity is the electric water pump, also known as the bomba.
We are lucky that we have a water tank (cisterna) underneath our garage. I'm not talking about a small water tank.....but one that is large enough to hold enough water for a month's use. How do I know this - well, that's another story!! This tank is what gives us the luxury of running water if the mains water is not working. We are lucky, I know of people whose water supply is only connected for a couple of hours every other day. They have to fill all available containers and the large sink (pilla) in the utility room to survive.
The mains water supply fills our tank and then the bomba pumps the water from the tank to the house. Not constantly - the tank has a header tank and a pressure gauge that is set to 40 psi, and once the pressure drops to 20 psi the pump kicks in to refill the header tank.
When we are showering, using the washing machine or watering the garden the pump uses a lot of electricity. Our monthly water bill is usually around the $3 mark (plus we spend around $7 per week on bottled drinking water), so it is the cost of the electric that makes using the water expensive.
A chance conversation with a friend this week led me to an amazing discovery that no-one has ever told me before.
She told me that her pump had broken and she was unwilling to spend the money that it would cost for a replacement.
However, she assured me that the water pressure was perfectly acceptable in the morning (when you most need showers and clothes washing) and was adequate in the afternoon.
So, today I unplugged my bomba and decided to see if this is really true.
Will the water still flow?
Nervously I started the washing machine and stood guard in case of a water shortage.
The pressure on the tank dropped slightly, but much slower than when the pump is plugged in.
At around 32psi, when the washer was almost full, I decided I did not need to keep watch.
On returning a while later I was surprised to see that the psi had risen to 36 psi and everything seemed to be working fine.
My first non-pumped washing cycle is almost complete and I am now keen to continue this experiment to see if I can make a saving on my electric bill.
Come back next month to see if this has made a difference, and if so - how big a difference!
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