Advice on Cave Life

Arntydi wrote:Thanks for telling me about your solar system. So it looks like mains electricity is the way to go, if possible.

That would depend on whether or not you want regular electricity bills. Depending on how you plan to use your power will depend on what you would need to buy, but I stand by my statement that you can get a system up and ready for around a grand, that's about the cost of ours. We have three laptops charging, four mobiles charging, ipod, torches and camera all comfortably charging throughout the day, then more than 3 hours of tv should we want it. I designed two different mountings for our three panels, one I can adjust for the seasons and one which is a fixed angle. I had them made at a local metalworks for no more than 40 Euros. We have 320W of panels a 600W inverter and 550Ah worth of batteries, by 13.00 we're throwing electricity away, so to speak.

The 12v panels currently being sold at Moreno's are made in Spain, NOT China and are extremely good value and very efficient. Granted though, not all panels are made equally, but our two 80W BP solar panels are almost identical in output to the one 160W Moreno panel and they were DOUBLE the price!!!

Here's that water product I mentioned earlier Peter.

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To me the safest way to deal with water is to do a laboratory test on the water and see if it meets the EU water directives, what is the good of trying to filter out what is not in there in the first place or adding what is required.

Below is a small part of the write up on the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] you sent me (Thank you very much).

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The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 require every State to perform source water assessments of all public drinking water sources and make the results public by 2003. Forests and grasslands serve as sources of many public drinking
water supplies, and managers of these lands are expected to participate in preparing assessments and to work with the public to assure safe drinking water. To help managers of forests and grasslands meet this requirement, this report reviews the current scientific literature about the potential of common land-use practices to introduce contaminants that pose risks to human health into public drinking water sources. Potential audiences for this report include managers of national forests and grasslands and managers of other public and private lands with similar uses.

Operators of public drinking water utilities and citizens’ groups concerned with drinking water may also find this report useful.
Safe drinking water is essential to protect public health. Modern drinking water treatment can reduce most contaminants in source water to acceptable levels before it is delivered to consumers, but costs increase significantly when more rigorous treatment is needed to cleanse contaminated source water. Managing land to prevent source water contamination may be more cost-effective and may better protect human health than treating water after it has been contaminated.

Water from forests and grasslands is usually cleaner than water from urban and agricultural areas. Nevertheless, many common practices on forests and grasslands can contaminate drinking water sources. Soil disturbing activities such as road construction and maintenance, forest harvesting, and intermixed urban and wildland uses can introduce sediment into drinking water sources.

Disease organisms may enter source waters from: (1) recreation and other human activities that lack developed sanitary facilities, (2) malfunctioning sewage disposal facilities, and (3) wild and domestic animals concentrated near source waters. Nutrients may enter source water from fertilizer and from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds. Toxic chemicals may reach source water from pest control; from extraction of minerals, oil, and gas; from accidental chemical spills along highways and utility corridors; and from leaking underground storage tanks.

"To me the safest way to deal with water is to do a laboratory test on the water"

Which is exactly what we did and then followed their recommendations on product and dosage.

Peter you seem to be whispering a lot lately?

Throat getting saw singing.

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Hey! Who are you calling sensible?

we just stayed in a friends villa in Malaga. it was horrid, hot sweaty noisy. why would you live in a villa or town house. thats why dogs barkin gets you rialed.
thats why a cave is for us. am i right??????????????????

invicta wrote:we just stayed in a friends villa in Malaga. it was horrid, hot sweaty noisy. why would you live in a villa or town house. thats why dogs barkin gets you rialed.
thats why a cave is for us. am i right??????????????????

Good point invicta we haven't had a guest yet that hasn't said it was the best nights sleep ever in our cave house , we on the other hand live in a farmhouse and get all the above. We would much prefer our bedroom to be in a cave but so would the tourists .

wot time do peeps wakey wakey in the cavey, me its latey

Youre not right fella!

I have the same experience, all my guests say it is the best sleep they have ever had. So many just don't want to get up. I am alway doing late breakfasts. I suppose it's just so dark and so quiet.

People have advised renting a cave before deciding to move here which is definitely a great idea, however if you can before hand, see what you will be renting otherwise it can really put you off a cave or the area you will be if its a mess. I rented a cave, paid what I think was very overpriced, all the while it was falling apart at the seams and the electric was a nightmare. Now, since Febuary I live in a cave that my Dad did up from scratch, and its so far, fantastic.
2 more things I would like to say, we too have 3 small dogs and since the beginning asked whether we could build a small wall at the end of the open courtyard. We were told Yes, that we could build a wall from the estate agents but the Council had a problem as it wasnt our land to do so with. Extremely dissapointed as Im sure you get why, 3 small dogs. We've almost over come that problem, as we can put a metal gate up to enclose the courtyard just not build a wall but really try and get the facts first. Secondly, a lot of people do categorize English builders as not being good at all, or 'diyer'. Im sure there are some that dont know a lot but please don't let that put you off in asking an English builder for advice or work to be done. My dad is a proffesional builder since he was older enough to pick up a hammer. Has built fantastic houses, walls of all shapes and sizes and from all different materials and has done a fantastic renovation of our cave. The best thing to do is to see previous work, or the builders own cave to see his capibility.

Some good advice there especially this

Yasxo wrote: The best thing to do is to see previous work, or the builders own cave to see his capibility.

Its been said so many times here, but people still get caught out.
As for the problem with the council / Ayuntamiento, its a problem in Orce too. They really dont seem to have a clue what they are doing. One day they say one thing, then later they change their mind or deny it. But thats one for another day. Ill tell more when my case is sorted