Electricity bills and meters in Cyprus

Long ago, towards the end of last century when we first moved to Cyprus, we were told that electricity was 'very expensive'.  The people Richard worked with used gas for all their cooking, and various forms of heating in the winter that didn't include electric heaters. None of them had air conditioning. 

And, indeed, Cyprus was one of the most expensive countries in Europe for electricity, so we, too, were as careful as we could be. We turned off lights when we weren't in rooms, and when we did, eventually, instal one air conditioner in our living/dining room, so that we could use computers without destroying them, we calculated carefully what the cost of running it might be, and didn't use it more than was absolutely necessary.

But costs are lower now, and appliances are more efficient. I like having an electric oven, and various other kitchen gadgets. Lightbulbs now are so long-lasting that we think nothing of leaving them on when we're out, or when we forget to turn them off. We knew, of course, that it would be pricey using our electric water heater in the winter, and the air conditioners in the summer. And, indeed, our bills for those seasons were sometimes double those in the spring and autumn months. 

However we didn't look too closely into the amounts, as they were never unreasonable; certainly not the huge amounts we heard about from some other folk here and elsewhere. 

Towards the end of July 2019, we had to replace the air conditioner in our bedroom. It was quieter than the old one, and considerably more efficient. We started wondering how long it would take to pay for itself, so to speak. And then we wondered whether, if we replaced the elderly and very inefficient air conditioner in our living room, and ran the new one more often, would it in fact cost less than turning it on only when in the room?  

Since the ambient temperature was only about 32 at the time, I wondered if running even the old unit more often at 30 degrees, rather than our usual 28, would make the whole house more comfortable. In particular it would remove the humidity which is often the worst part of the heat. 

So I started monitoring our electricity usage. The meter is outside, in a little box so it's easy enough to read. 

And since I was checking it anyway, I thought I would also keep a note of our guest flat electricity usage. 

After a few days, I realised that although the electricity usage of the main part of the house was quite reasonable, we seemed to be using an inordinate amount in our guest flat, which was empty at the time. We knew it would use perhaps one or two units each day, as all our water pumps and one or two other things are connected to the guest flat electricity.  But not ten or more, which is what we were seeing. 

We went through the entire flat, checking. The fridge and freezer were off. We turned off the wall switches for anything that had an LED light. We made sure the TV wasn't on standby.  We couldn't work out what it could possibly be. Were the pumps using a ridiculous amount of electricity? Was someone tapping into our electricity?  Or was it possible that we had a faulty meter....? 

So Richard found a different kind of meter, one he had used years ago in his office. He said he could check the daily usage of electricity from our guest flat, as well as a couple of appliances. So we plugged it into our freezer - wondering if that was using too much electricity - and our fridge-freezer, which was about fourteen years old, and the guest flat. 

I know. It's pink. I don't much like pink. But it's a useful gadget... and over the course of the next week or so, we learned two things.

1.  Our guest flat, according to this meter, was only using one or two units per day, as we expected. 

2.  Our freezer used less than one unit per day, but the older, less efficient fridge-freezer used between three and four units per day. 

The first of those was of more immediate concern. Richard went to the electricity board, and after being sent to various different departments, finally managed to explain the problem. The person he spoke to said that the electricity board could come and instal a new meter for us, and take the old one away for checking. 

If it turned out that the old one was, indeed, faulty, then this would cost nothing, and we would be refunded a percentage of the past year's bills. BUT.. if it turned out that we were wrong, and that the meter was not faulty, then we would be charged 70 euros. Not unreasonable, in the circumstances, and we were pretty sure that it WAS faulty. However we didn't know how accurate their tests would be...

The new meter was installed the following week, and started giving figures that matched with the amounts on our pink meter:

And to our great relief, we received a letter from the electricity board, informing us that our old meter was faulty, and we would receive a refund on our next bills. Which, indeed, we did.

So we were very pleased that I 'just happened' to start checking the guest flat electricity usage when I did.  

Fast forward to the middle of May this year. When we realised we would not be visiting the UK during the summer, as I wrote in another post, we replaced three air conditioning units - the very old one in our living room, and the two which are the most used, in our studies.  We also replaced our fifteen-year-old fridge freezer, deciding that if we were going to do it, then the best time was right before the heat of summer. 

And I started checking our electricity usage each day. It was quite enlightening. We realised that leaving ceiling fans running all day, as we have done some years, isn't very efficient. Unless we're actually in the rooms, there's little point as they don't change the temperature. They only use about 100 watts but that means one unit is used every ten hours.. which doesn't sound like much, but for three or four ceiling fans, it can quickly mount up. 

However, we did use our air conditioners extensively, including running the living room one almost all day on the hottest, most humid days. It was a very hot summer, with several records broken.  

Our electricity bills are two-monthly, and it happened that our meter had been read within a few days of our having bought the new fridge freezer and air conditioning units. Between the middle of March and the middle of May, usually our lowest usage, we had clocked up 785 units. That was with no air conditioning usage, and very little water heating, as the solar heating works effectively from about March through to November.  

Between mid-May and mid-July, with our newer, more efficient appliances - and a lot of air conditioning in late June and the first half of July - we used just 661 units. That compared to 1119 in the previous year during the same period.  With a temporary reduction in fuel costs in the equation, it was probably the lowest electricity bill we had ever paid. 

The second half of July was hotter still, as was August. And it remained hot in September, so we continued using air conditioning.  Inevitably our electricity usage was higher.  From mid-July to mid-September we used 1049 units; that compared to 1289 the previous year - and in 2019 we had two weeks in the UK at the start of August; I had another two-and-a-half weeks out of Cyprus.  Had I been here, as I was this year, it would have been a great deal higher.  The last time - three years ago - that we were in Cyprus all summer, we used over 1400 units.  

So we have probably already saved, in electricity bills, the cost of one of the new air conditioning units. I know we're fortunate to have been able to do this; the 'Sam Vimes Boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness' holds, as ever.  But as the sterling/euro exchange rate gradually gets worse, and may plummet still further, it's good to have lower bills.  And newer appliances are better for the environment, too. 

Half-way through Summer...?

July passed, a day at a time, rather more quickly than I had anticipated. It was apparently the hottest July in Cyprus for nearly four decades. I was very thankful for our new, more efficient air conditioning units. We also bought a new fridge-freezer towards the end of May.  These were justified to some degree by our recent electricity bill. Despite using more air conditioning than we did last year, we used just over half the number of units. 

As I said in my last post, we should have flown to Scotland towards the end of the first week of July.  We were planning to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary with our sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren at an AirBnB in St Andrews, the town where my family went on holiday every year when I was growing up. I was then going to stay with various relatives and stay out of Cyprus as long as possible during the heat and humidity of Summer. 

But the pandemic crisis ensured that didn't happen. We determined to celebrate next year, if at all possible, but in the event we had a very pleasant day.  It started the day before with a lovely basket of flowers sent by my sister:

Then on the day itself, several people at church congratulated us. Then we were surprised and delighted with a special cake afterwards (albeit with a minor spelling error - not unusual in Cyprus!) to share in the courtyard after the service:

We went out for lunch to our old standby Alexander's, as we could park not too far away.  In the afternoon our closest friends in Cyprus were coming over anyway. So in addition to thawing some more apricots and making some more ice cream, I made some tiffin [chocolate biscuit cake], to my grandmother's recipe, since I'm avoiding using the oven during the summer. 

We were given two anniversary cards on the day itself, and two more arrived in the post a week later. 

 

For a non-celebration, it was very enjoyable. Forty years feels like both a long time, and almost no time at all. Will we still be around in another forty...?  It's not impossible. 

Other than that, life has continued in aestivation mode. I've been for a few very short local walks, not even reaching 5,000 steps most days. I've watered the plants and looked after the house, and made a lot of salads. It's been interesting experimenting with different ingredients and combinations for salads, and we haven't yet become bored with cold food. 

Not that it's been entirely cold food. We had been talking about buying an air fryer for some time, having read some enthusiastic reviews. These aren't just a healthy version of a deep fat fryer, but can roast or bake smallish quantities of food too. For just two of us, it sounded ideal. 

We hadn't actually decided on anything, though I was looking at one from Lakeland in the UK.  Then we were in SuperHome Centre looking for something else, and saw that they were selling air fryers. I wanted to know what they looked like out of the box, and a very helpful assistant (masked, of course) showed us in some detail. 

The price was good. And it was ready to take home. And it was a reputable brand, with a two-year warranty - much easier to take back, if necessary, than one ordered from the UK. 

So this was our anniversary present to each other: 

I was a little anxious about using it at first, but tried it for re-frying potatoes in slices, and it was excellent.  I've made sweet potato fries in it, and baked potatoes. It's excellent for cooking frozen oven chips.  I've roasted a chicken breast to slice in a curried chicken, mango and cucumber salad, and yesterday cooked a small salmon fillet to flake for a lentil, pepper and salmon salad.  I've roasted peppers and even onions in the air fryer.  It doesn't heat up the kitchen like the oven does, and it's a great deal more efficient to use for just one or two items for two people. 

As for the salads... I've had to cook some ingredients over the hob, but again that's not really a problem. I've made - for instance - tomato/peach/fake feta salad, broccoli/leek/egg salad and avocado/mango/cashew salad.  We bought 500g farfalle pasta, something I wouldn't normally do as we eat very little pasta. A 500g pack of spaghetti usually lasts us around five months. But it's excellent in different salads to provide some carbs; 100g farfalle (cooked) gives us enough for two days' worth of salads. I made one with mushrooms, one with pesto and cherry tomatoes, and another which I've already forgotten.  Most days I make one new salad, and team it with at least one from the previous day, plus perhaps some extra lettuce or coleslaw or chopped cucumber. 

That's it for July, really.  

At least, it was until almost the end of the month, when the Cyprus numbers for Covid-19 positive tests suddenly went up from 0-3 per day to 10, then 13, then 25... big numbers, percentage-wise, for a small island.  

We breathed a sigh of relief when the numbers dropped to 5 over the weekend, but yesterday was another higher number.  Today they have just reported 15 cases.  Here's how the graph looks on the Worldometer site: 

It resembles what some countries are calling a second wave, although most of the cases are in Limassol and are being tracked with all contacts traced and tested.  Some are from airport tests of repatriations, too, not all of whom are self-isolating even when they come from 'high risk' countries.  But a few are appearing 'in the wild', which suggests that Cyprus hasn't eliminated the virus at all.

So as of last weekend, we must wear masks in all public indoor crowded spaces. They have spelled out what that means; the ones relevant to us are shops, banks, and churches. It refers to children over the age of six as well as adults. Limassol has had some extra restrictions and closures. 

I find masks unpleasant to wear, particularly in the heat and humidity. For ten minutes or so in a shop it's not a problem. For an hour in a church service last week, I found it increasingly difficult to breathe in properly and began to feel faint with the heat of my breath inside the mask. I will try sitting outside in the courtyard this coming Sunday, so long as we don't have another heatwave. And, of course, the church service will only happen if we're not back in lockdown mode.... 

Every time we see our friends, now, we wonder if it will be the last time for a while. The government had said there would be another lockdown if the cases rise too much. So far the experts seem to think it's under control, and that if everyone wears masks in public indoor spaces, it should gradually ease off again. But we're not taking that for granted.

We also know how well off we are in this country. It might be hot and humid but we have inexpensive and efficient air conditioning, with electricity that works all the time (barring very occasional power cuts).  There's plenty of food in the shops, it's safe to go out and about, albeit with masks on, and we have reliable, fast Internet. Cases of Covid-19 are rising, but they're mostly affecting younger people now so many are asymptomatic. Only four people are in hospital with it, none of them in Intensive Care. 

We have friends in Lebanon where there seems to be crisis after crisis. They aren't doing too well with Covid-19 either, and the whole country has been in financial chaos for weeks, getting increasingly worse.  Their electricity is off more than it's on.  Yesterday we heard - and felt - a loud bang which we quickly learned was from a huge explosion in Beirut, leaving devastation, serious injuries and over 100 people killed. 

Installing air conditioning in Cyprus

Two months ago, I wrote a post about having our air conditioners cleaned. I mentioned that the one in the guest flat front bedroom no longer worked, so we had to have it replaced.  This wasn't difficult; after a little online research, we went to our favourite white goods shop George Theodorou.

We bought the least expensive one whose brand we recognised, and which was recommended by the shop owner. A few days later it arrived and was installed, with minimal difficulty.  It's on the ground floor, and there was already a hole in the wall, wiring in place, and a suitable place for the outside part. Since the old one was at least fifteen years old, the new one should be far more efficient, and also quieter.

About a month later, I was sitting outside in our side garden after walking with my friend Sheila. We had guests in the flat, and they were using the air conditioning.  There was just a gentle purr, rather than the rather obvious noise that the older one had used. I commented that it would have been nice to have a new, quiet and more efficient one in our bedroom.  But we certainly didn't want to have to pay two installation fees, to have a new one upstairs, and then to relocate our current one in the guest flat.

Besides, we didn't know how long our upstairs one would last. It was also at least fifteen years old, probably more. But it was working fine...

.. or so we thought.  Until one morning when I woke up and it was on, although I was certain I had set it to go off after an hour. The following night, I was awake when it went off... and then it came on again.  And refused to take any notice of the remote control. And it seemed to be getting colder... so eventually we turned it off at the wall.  

We changed the batteries in the remote; when that didn't help, we tried using a different remote (as there were three other identical air conditioners in the house).  The same pattern repeated. And unless we switched it off at the wall, it would turn itself on at random times.  

Evidently we needed a new one - and it wasn't a difficult decision to return to George Theodorou, where the same product we had bought in May was ten euros cheaper.  

Unfortunately, there was no way to get the external unit out of the window and secured into the brackets - or, indeed, to remove the old one.  So the installers had to rent a fork-lift truck for an hour, which cost us an extra forty euros. But there was no alternative:  

Sheila took this photo; if she hadn't, we would have no record. I was trying to look after our nervous cat Lady Jane who dislikes workmen of any kind.

Eventually it was installed.  It's smaller than the older unit, so at some point we'll have to touch up the paintwork on the surrounding wall.  But that can wait until the Autumn. 

The remote control has many more options than the old one.  The temperature setting is obvious. We use it at 28 or 29 degrees Celcius, to remove the humidity and cool slightly; too much cooling isn't healthy and can also be very expensive.  When coming into the room from 30 degrees and humidity in the bathroom, 29 degrees and dryer feels wonderful, particularly when the ceiling fan is circulating the air too. 

We knew about 'swing' too.  That moves the air more effectively than having it just pointing in one direction.  And we were relieved to see a 'lamp' option which allowed us to turn off the large LED light at the front of the air conditioner, when it's on. 

But the other controls were a little confusing.  

The instructions were only in Greek, and we could not find this particular brand online in any other language. We haven't yet used Air Flow, Turbo, Short Cut, Clean, or Follow Me.  We decided to use the ioniser, which apparently should help to clean the air and reduce the dust, though we haven't noticed any particular effect.  We tried 'Sleep', one night, assuming it would turn itself off. It didn't. It seemed to get warmer - not turning itself off when it reached the set temperature, but (apparently) blowing warm air out. We definitely didn't want that!

On our older air conditioner, there was a 'timer' button which let us tell it what time we wanted it to turn off (or on, although we never used that option).  We assumed this one would be similar.  It is... but rather more complicated. And with an odd quirk that if I set it to go off (for instance) at 11.45 pm tonight, then tomorrow I will have to adjust it by at least one minute, making it turn off at 11.44 (or 11.46).  If I try to keep it at the same time, it refuses to take it.  

I don't know if our electricity bill will be a lot lower due to this more efficient air conditioner; but it should be considerably better for the environment.  We're wondering, now, about replacing some of the other older ones before next summer, and possibly using them more often than we do to keep the house less humid during the worst of the Cyprus summer. 

Empty shops in Cyprus

I'm no economist, but it's pretty clear that small businesses in Cyprus are suffering.  For the past year or so, we've seen empty shops along some of the main streets, where there used to be thriving businesses. It's not unusual for shops to change hands, but in the fifteen years since we came here, this is the first time we've seen increasing numbers of former shops just standing empty.

More recently this has started happening locally, to small shops which used to serve the neighbouring houses.  On my return from a recent early morning walk I decided to photograph some of them. I saw this one:

And this one:

As I approached our favourite Achna froutaria (which is still thriving, thankfully) I also remembered this one, a former take-away food place, which has been empty for some months now:

Next door stood this: a mini-market which changed hands perhaps nine months ago, but has evidently been in its last throes for a while now, selling off random products at very cheap prices.  It's now closed down entirely:

What actually first triggered my surprise about the number of empty shops locally was seeing that the small froutaria, just a couple of streets away from us, had closed a couple of weeks ago. That was quite a shock, as it always seemed to get a fair bit of custom; I didn't use it myself, most of the time, as I like Achna so much better - but just occasionally I would pop there for something quick.

However, by the time I got around to taking a photo, someone else had taken over the building. It looks like another mini-market, although it's hard to tell:

Reports in the Cyprus Mail suggest that more and more families are now struggling to survive in Cyprus,  Some are going without electricity for weeks at a time, and relying on charitable organisations for clothing and food. Benefits/welfare are not easy to get here, and the system was undoubtedly flawed, but recent reforms have made it even more difficult for those struggling the most.  Another report stated that, as in the rest of Europe, around 16% of the population are living below the official poverty line, which is a little over €10,000 per year.  

Cyprus used to be an inexpensive, friendly place to live. Electronic and other luxury goods were expensive compared to the UK or the US, but the basic cost of living was low, and it was entirely possible to live economically on around that level, particularly for those (the majority of Cypriots) who own their own home, and are thus not paying any rent.

But electricity and other utility costs have skyrocketed, and while fruit and vegetables are still good value in season, other food and grocery items have become far more expensive, to the extent that when we visit the UK we're now surprised at how cheap everything looks - rather the reverse of the situation ten years ago.  Even petrol costs have risen, so that from being one of the cheapest in Europe, Cyprus petrol is now almost as expensive as the highly-taxed fuel in the UK. 

We hear of ex-pats, often retirees, being forced to return to their own countries as it's too expensive to live here now.  There are still wealthy tourists from Eastern Europe, and some from the UK and other Western European countries who can afford to pay the extra for guaranteed sunshine and relative safety. But it's no longer a good value holiday place, and unless something changes, it's going to spiral downhill faster and faster.

Thus ends the nearest to a political post that I'm ever likely to write... 

Where has August gone?

Three weeks of August have raced by. I'm in my summer routine - get up early, do whatever chores, cooking or shopping need to be done, have breakfast, take a shower, then switch the air conditioning on in my study and turn on the computer for a few hours.

Um. Except that, today, I switched the computer on before doing any chores. As I have done a few times recently. So I'm sitting here with my study door open and the ceiling fan on only. We're trying to use the a/c significantly less this year in a bid to save electricity. We're running the air conditioners at 29C rather than 28, and mostly relying on a fan at night. But, alas, the bills are as high as ever. If not more so. And I simply can't deal with unrelenting heat. Yesterday it was a little cooler.. 'only' about 33C at most, and the humidity was lower than it has been. But still too hot to have a computer on without cooling, most of the day, and too hot for me to do anything other than potter gently.

If anyone read my post about the end of July, they might have wondered how successful the jigsaw roll was. I'm happy to report that it worked extremely well. The following Sunday I unrolled it:

And even completed it. Then I rolled it up again, unwilling to take it apart again at once, and it's sitting in a cupboard. We no longer have a huge table that can take several completed puzzles over the summer, but it was nice to do one again, for the first time in many years. 

At the start of July, we said we'd aim to go to the beach for an hour each evening, around 5.00pm, and swim. Just to get some fresh air and exercise, and because it seems silly to live a mile from the beach and not take more advantage of it.

How many times did we do this?  Perhaps four or five times in all.  Some days Richard was busy with other things, some days it was still too hot for me, some days we just forgot. 

We did have a very enjoyable beach barbecue with our friends nearly two weeks ago, on Pervolia Beach where cooking is still allowed: 

At the weekend after that, Richard and a couple of friends took the boat for an overnight trip to Cape Greko, which they very much enjoyed. 

And then, suddenly, it was last Friday. The small cell group we belong to has been meeting at a local beach during July and August, to hang out and relax. We take our own picnics and usually stay until after it's dark (which was after 8.00 at the start of July, but nearer 7.30 now). I keep forgetting to take photos, but I did take this one of Katie, putting a lot of time and effort into creating a 'cake' for Richard (whose birthday is in a couple of months), covering it with vast amounts of fudge sauce, well disguised as sandy gloop. 

It occurred to me that it's probably the last time we'll visit the beach this summer. Possibly the last time this year.

If asked what I've done in the past couple of months, it would be hard to say. Mainly writing, reading, and browsing online.  Some website updates, some email, some reviewing, and some online Scrabble with friends. But I don't really see how that's taken up all my time. I don't ever plan to do much during the hottest months; low-key aestivating is all I can manage, but there seems to be very little to show for it this year.

On Monday I defrosted our large upright freezer, delighted to find that I had run down our supplies sufficiently that everything fitted (albeit rather tightly) into the top part of our fridge-freezer. I did throw out a couple of mysterious and un-labelled bags, which I suspect may have been leftover stuffing from Christmas. And a couple of small tubs of leftover pasta which I had evidently frozen a LONG time ago as they were iced up and smelled of freezer... we eat pasta so rarely that I'm not sure what I planned to do with frozen leftovers.

Keeping the large freezer off for the next few weeks should at least reduce our electricity costs slightly. I wasn't sure that everything would fit until the last moment - I have several tubs of frozen chicken stock, awaiting soup-making season. I still have three litres of frozen lemon juice to make more lemonade with - left from the very inexpensive lemon-glut season. I still have three tubs of frozen tomatoes, too, which I use instead of buying canned ones.  They're much cheaper here, if I buy tomatoes on special offer in season, and more nutritious too. I also have at least a week's supply of frozen portions of meals from the crockpot, some frozen peas in the only brand we like that were on offer a couple of months ago.  And various other bits and pieces... but it all fit in the fridge-freezer, so I was pleased.

Becoming accustomed to Cyprus power cuts...

It's made a big difference knowing in advance when to expect power cuts, since the provisional schedule was published on Tuesday.

Even better was being able to sign up for mobile phone alerts. I appreciated the commenter who let me know how to do this, and signed up immediately. It wasn't all that helpful on Wednesday... the schedule had already informed me that our region's power cut would begin some time between 4.30 and 5.00. At 4.00pm a text message arrived, in Greek. I typed it quickly into Google Translate.. and it told me that disruption to our region would start some time between 4.30 and 5.00pm, and would last up to two and a half hours. Which is what I knew already. Still, it reminded me to turn the computer off around 4.25. I wasn't worried about the cut on Wednesday as we had been invited to the home of some friends.

On Thursday, however, I was very thankful for the phone alert. Assuming that between 4.30 and 5.00 was our regular scheduled time, I had not checked the Electricity Authority of Cyprus site. But around 3.00pm I had a text telling me that the cut would start some time between 3.30 and 4.00. We had been invited to the home of some other friends to eat, so again I wasn't worried from the cooking point of view - but it's much better to switch the computer off rather than have it suddenly go black due to a power cut.

On Friday, it was even earlier. And once again, my phone alert let me know that the cut might start at 2.30. So I was ready for it - and that's when it did start. It lasted for two and a half hours. I'd cooked a curry in the crockpot, starting it around 7.00am so I knew it would continue cooking gently during the power cut.

Friday evening, we had a second power cut. The site had said that it was possible, but this time the phone alert did not arrive until about five minutes after the blackout began at 8.40pm. Still, I had a feeling we might have a second cut and had been carrying an electric torch around with me. Tim lit some candles - it's pitch dark in Cyprus by that time - and tried to read his Kindle by candlelight:


But there wasn't enough light .And it was very humid, which felt worse without the ceiling fans running. So we went outside to sit on the front porch of our guest flat, almost as if we were Cypriots.

No cuts are scheduled for the weekend, and Monday's is supposed to start some time between 3.00 and 3.30pm, according to the EAC site. That means that we should have electricity back again some time between 5.30 and 6.00 so if I plan something in the slow cooker again, there will be plenty of time to use the oven for roast vegetables or similar after the power returns.

Confident that we would not have power cuts today - or, at least, that my phone would let me know if one became scheduled unexpectedly - I did the last work necessary to upgrade our family website, including concluding the notes for my rather rambling and detailed home education diary, ending in 2006 after Tim turned 18 and started on his degree course.

Cyprus power cuts - a provisional schedule is published

When I wrote my update on the Cyprus power cuts nearly a week ago, I said that it would have been nice to know when to expect the cuts. It's possible to work around them - switching off computers, for instance, ensuring we've used an electrical gadgets we need in the kitchen in advance - if they're on some kind of schedule.

I continued to make notes, wondering if a pattern would emerge. We had no cut last Wednesday. Thursday was the earliest and longest to date: 1.00pm to 3.35pm. Then a second one from 6.00pm - we don't know for how long as we went out to eat, treated by a friend staying in the guest flat. We could not go to our first choice - the local meze taverna - since they too were having a power cut. So we went back to Alexander's on the sea-front. Tourist areas seem to be immune from power outages.

On Friday and Saturday we then had no cuts at all. I think perhaps there was one Sunday morning when Tim and I were out at a church service and Richard was at the boat, since the air conditioning units showed flashing lights when we returned, and other people reported having had some cuts. But that didn't affect us at all.

Yesterday afternoon (Monday) the power went off at 4.30pm. I had a stifado in the slow cooker which had been gently simmering since shortly after 6.00am. I knew it would keep its heat well so didn't worry about that. However I had been planning to do some roasted sweet potatoes and other veggies in the oven, which take about 40 minutes. We hoped the power might come back again before two hours had passed, but it didn't. I didn't want to open the fridge during the cut, but reckoned that I could prepare the veg pretty quickly, with Tim's help, if the power came back at 6.30. It would mean we wouldn't get to eat until almost 7.15 but we thought we could just about deal with that.

The power didn't come on at 6.30.

At 6.35, Tim and I were watching the clock and starting to feel decidedly hungry. Neither of us is very good with disruption of plans, and I didn't really have a plan B. Cuts can last up to two and a half hours, and the thought of not even starting to prepare veggies until 7.00 just didn't bear thinking about.

Inspiration struck.

We had been talking about having Tim's favourite fast food 'Souvlaki Express' some evening while he's here. I realised that I could put the stifado in the fridge for eating the following day. I mentioned this idea to Tim, and he suggested waiting until 6.40.

So we did, and the power still didn't come on. So Tim used his mobile phone to call Richard and ask him to meet him at the Souvlaki Express shop, which is about five minutes' walk from our house.

At 6.45, the power came back on. But by then we'd arranged to buy souvlaki fast food, so I decanted the stifado, and laid the table... it was almost still 7.15 before we ate.

Today, the power went off at 4.30pm. I had NO idea what we would do if it didn't return until 7.00pm - perhaps reheat portions of stifado in a saucepan on the (gas) hob, and do some rice with it, and find other veg to do in a saucepan.

But thankfully, it came back at 5.45, which gave me plenty of time to use the oven as I had intended.

Then Richard told me that a friend had discovered that a schedule has been published. I hunted around on the Cyprus Electricity site, without much success, eventually finding the schedule in Greek only. Google translate came to my rescue again. Basically it says that each region will get one cut per day of up to two and a half hours, at the same time each day. There are links to each city, and as far as I can make out, we are region 20.

Which means that we are due to get a power cut EVERY week day, starting some time between 4.30 and 5.00, lasting up to 7.00 or even 7.30.

So cooking is going to be quite a challenge. If it were winter, we might consider cooking in the morning and eating our main meal at lunch-time, but I can't face that during summer. Not starting to cook until 7.00 simply isn't an option - I can't manage eating late. No doubt we will figure something out; today's cut wasn't too bad, and I can of course do most of my preparation in the morning. It IS useful to know when we're likely to lose power... but I had rather hoped that there would be a weekly schedule, with different times each day. Entertaining friends for an evening meal is going to be pretty much impossible.

Ah well.

This is Cyprus.

Update on Cyprus power cuts

According to the Cyprus Electricity Authority a week ago, we were due for rolling two-hour power cuts every couple of hours.

However when Richard mentioned it to our neighbour, he called a friend who works for the Electricity Board, and who assured him that our area would not be getting any cuts. No explanation as to why.

And, indeed, on Wednesday we had power all day long. Late afternoon I posted on Facebook, to Cyprus friends only, asking if anyone else had had any power cuts. Some had not experienced any; some had had just power cut for a couple of hours at different times, and one person reported a two-hours-on followed by two-hours-off cycle all day.

On Thursday, I had just started preparing food for some visitors coming to share our evening meal. And the power went off. It was 3.15pm. That meant I could not use the electric mixer, or the ice cream maker, or the oven, or the microwave.. and we didn't want to open the fridge or freezer. But our friends were expected at 6.30, and I started getting a little anxious... so around 4.30 I did quickly open the fridge and started cooking using our stove-top, which, thankfully, is gas. Of course I had to use a match to start it, but that wasn't a huge problem!

At 5.00pm the power came on again, so I turned on the oven at once, and although I then didn't sit down for the next hour and a half, everything was, eventually, ready.

On Friday, I had been doing various things around the house in the morning, and sat down to read email and check Facebook after lunch, with the air conditioning on (at 28C, of course). At 2.30 the power went out. I decided to finish reading the Kindle book I was enjoying... only to have my Kindle run out of battery! And couldn't charge it without my computer on. At 4.20pm the power came on again, so I was able to cook for our evening meal without any problem.

On Saturday morning we woke up to find that the power had been off in the night, or perhaps early morning. It was then on all day, and we were just relaxing after eating when it went off at 8.00pm. And remained off for exactly two hours. Some of our neighbours sat outside and chatted... we found some torches and candles, and were pleased when it came on again, since it was quite a humid evening. It was interesting being able to look out from our balconies after dark and see that our little district was in darkness while other areas had light.

On Sunday, there were no cuts in our neighbourhood.

On Monday this week, we had just finished lunch and I was about to make our frappés when the power went out. So, I couldn't use the frappé machine. And while I could potentially have made them the old-fashioned way, shaking in a jar, I really didn't want to open the freezer while the power was off. That cut lasted exactly two hours too.

Yesterday, the power went out just before 4.00pm. We had some people coming over for coffee, but were able to offer them juice instead... and since I wasn't planning on cooking at the time, it wasn't a problem, other than being rather warm and sticky without even fans running. That cut lasted exactly two hours, again.

Today, Wednesday... we haven't yet had a cut. This worries me slightly. Tim is making us a chicken pie for tonight's meal, which should go in the oven about 6.00pm. What are the chances of a cut at that time....? We really don't want to have to wait until 8.30 to eat...

The problem with not knowing when the power is likely to go out is that it's difficult to organise the day. Since we haven't yet had any morning cuts, I've been able to make bread in the breadmaker and it's been fine. But I don't want to do our accounts since it could corrupt the database if the power went off before I had closed the (rather old) program down. I was hoping we might have had a cut about 2.00 today, which would have meant I was safe to get things done after 4.00.

Of course, power cuts are a minor inconvenience compared to the tragic loss of life caused by the explosion, and the horrendous destruction of the electricity plant. Other countries are supplying some large generators, and the Northern part of Cyprus is supplying some power, which should almost be sufficient. At least when the tourists have left and the temperatures have cooled somewhat. The Electricity Authority is asking people not to use air conditioners... but with computers it's vital that we do, otherwise they will overheat. Confusingly, they are also telling people not to run them at temperatures cooler than 25C. Something we would never do anyway, since 28 is quite sufficient to feel cooler than outside, and to reduce the awful humidity.

But it would be nice to know when we should expect to lose power!

Restrictions of Water and Electricity in Cyprus to start tomorrow, July 13th

So... after yesterday's tragedy, and loss of the main electricity power plant in Cyprus, we are, as rumoured, going to experience serious restrictions of electricity for some time to come.

There's an official press release about the planned restrictions on the Cyprus Electricity Board website. Since the announcement is in Greek only, I put the web page into Google Translate. In English, the news is:

The EAC inform customers that should be expected disruption of electricity daily from 08.00 to 20.00 approx. The interruption in electricity supply will be sequentially approximately every 2 hours for a duration of 2 hours that each establishment should expect to have electricity two hours every second. Clarified that during the evening hours (from 20:00 until about 8:00) will be attempting such a provision is made ​​consistently to all customers of EAC.

The exact time duration of the interruption and the areas to be cut off depending on electricity demand and available production.

To reduce the number of sites that will cut to a minimum, consumers are invited to make as much as possible energy savings.

They are also those who have electric generators to make maximum use in accordance with Directive of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA).

You should also note that the EAC will make every effort not to cut off such supply to critical services like hospitals, airports, ports, etc., as well as tourist and industrial areas.

So. It seems that we will have power every night from 8.00pm until 8.00am. Which is a relief since it would be difficult to do without lights (it gets dark by about 8.00pm even in the summer in Cyprus) and VERY uncomfortable to have to survive without any air conditioning overnight, when it is likely to be humid for the next couple of months.

However, it seems that we can expect electricity on for two hours at a time, then off for the next two hours for the other twelve hours during the day. We don't know whether we'll have it for the first couple of hours after 8.00am, or whether it will go off then and resume at 10.00am. And it's 'approximate', so it could be more, could be less. We might find, if people are extra-careful with their electricity usage, that we have more than two hours at a time and fewer cuts, but I'm assuming it will begin as described.

As for water - I can't find any official announcements at present, but we've heard that there is likely to be mains water on for about twelve hours in every 36. So, something like: one daytime, then 24 hours off, then one night-time.

How will it affect us personally?

With just three of us (while Tim is here) and reasonable-sized tanks, we're unlikely to run out of water so long as we're reasonably careful. We lived in Cyprus ten years ago when we had far more water restrictions; there was one period when we only had two 12-hour periods of water every week: one day, and one night. We learned to deal with it. I did all the laundry on the one day that it was on, and our tanks filled up with the one night. We only ran out a couple of times when we had visitors. We'll have to start storing more mains water, for drinking, but we did that for years so it shouldn't be too difficult.

As for electrical cuts, it could be worse. Fridges and freezers should be fine with just two hours off at a time, even in the summer; at least I hope so. Using my slow-cooker (crockpot) could be a problem since it's usually on for eight or more hours continually... and I shall have to be organised enough to make our morning coffee and squeeze fresh fruit juice before 8.00am each day. And since (if they do stick to the schedule roughly) our electricity should either be coming on or going off around 2.00pm, we'll just have to be a little flexible about when exactly to have our after-lunch frappés. The washing machine and dishwasher will simply stop working when power goes off, and start again when it resumes. I don't suppose that will matter (although I will try to run them early in the morning or, with the dishwasher, after 8.00pm where possible).

The biggest problem I can foresee, from a personal perspective, is that the bread-maker programme runs for nearly three hours. Perhaps I will just have to get up at 5.00 on the days when I want to make bread. Or use water rather than any kind of milk, and set it on the timer to start at 5.00. We don't use bread at breakfast, but eat it at lunch, so I usually start it around 9.00am. Having made our own bread for five and a half years now, I really don't want to have to go back to buying it again.

For the summer we will have to learn to cope without air conditioning for much of the day, and without being able to use the computer at home. I'm thankful for auto-saves in Blogger and Gmail, which mean that I won't lose too much if the electricity goes off suddenly.

Richard, meanwhile, is busy installing a new generator at his office. They have far too much going on, with important servers and other equipment running continually to be able to deal with two-hour power outages, so he had to buy a generator yesterday. Many businesses will be using generators where possible, just to keep going.

I know we Westerners are very spoilt compared to most of the world. I hope we can put up with a bit of discomfort and some careful planning to make the best use of what resources we have, and to appreciate how blessed we are. I hope, too, that tourism won't be too negatively affected, and that the island won't entirely grind to a halt.

Restoring the electricity plant is going to cost countless millions and may take eighteen months or more. What a tragedy that lives were lost and so much disruption is resulting, just because the government - or whoever was responsible - didn't feel that they had the time and resources to deal with the confiscated munitions.

Tragedy, inefficiency, and extensive disruption

Many people will be aware that, early this morning, there was a major explosion at the Zygi naval base in Cyprus. It's probably 40km from Larnaka, so we were unaware that it had happened until we turned on our computers and saw the news.

It's a tragic loss of life, and my heart goes out to the relatives. I hope and pray that those injured will recover, and that those made homeless will receive the help they need. It's a tragedy that should not have happened, according to the above reports, and many more pouring in from newspapers and news sites. Storing munitions in canisters in Cyprus summer temperatures was extremely unwise; apparently they survived last year, however, so perhaps the authorities assumed they would be fine this year, too. A brush fire is supposed to have been the trigger, with the explosion rocking the neighbourhood. Ministers have resigned over this issue, and no doubt recriminations will be thrown about widely, with nobody wanting to take full responsibility.

The pictures on the BBC site show utter devastation in the area, and other reports talk of debris for miles around. The nearby towns were seriously disrupted, and the Limassol Highway has been closed. Apparently there were some widespread power cuts this morning, since there was a nearby electricity plant, which has been knocked out. It is likely that it will have to be re-built from scratch... and this is the plant that provides half the island's power. It occurs to me that, while the loss of life is appalling, and heart-breaking to their loved ones, it is something of a miracle that there were not many hundreds more injuries and fatalities.

We understand that this disaster will lead to widespread disruption around Cyprus for the next six months, or perhaps more. Temperatures and humidity started to soar over the weekend, meaning that homes, shops, hotels and other buildings will be using air conditioning - and many people seem to run their thermostats at surprisingly low temperatures. The de-salination plants have apparently been turned off for now, so we're relying on water from the reservoirs once more. It was a fairly wet winter, so there's enough water for now... but Cyprus has been relying on de-salinated water for a while now, to supply the excess.

Rumour has it that there are likely to be disruptions of both electricity and water, in planned (but probably un-announced) waves across the island for the next few months. We are usually fairly careful about our water and electricity use, but not as much as we used to be when there were regular water restrictions. We run our air conditioners only in rooms we're using, and keep the thermostat at 28C; perhaps we should increase that to 29, which should still be all right for the computers, and would continue to remove humidity which is the worst part of the summer from our perspective.

Apparently we're asked to run washing machines and dishwashers as little as possible, and not during peak working hours. I don't run ours other than when they're full, but will try to remember to do them at night, or early in the morning. Tumble driers are not generally used in Cyprus, and I can't imagine anyone would use one in the summer; we don't have one. We're asked not to iron unecessarily. That one's easy enough, since I iron almost nothing anyway. No doubt we'll be told not to water our patios and streets - something else that I don't do.

If everyone pulls together and is sensible about water and electricity, we might find that life is not too disrupted; decreased bills might even make it more attractive to use power more efficiently. The alternative would seem to be widespread cuts, more people leaving Cyprus, fewer tourists, and the gradual descent into the lifestyle of a non-developed country.