Well, anybody who has spent any time in the Philippines would know that brownouts, or as we would call them, Blackouts, can be a big problem in many parts of the Philippines. Living without electricity is not very fun though.
How do you deal with it?
Well, today I got a question from Tommy, who has plans to move to General Santos City, and brownouts are on his mind. Tommy does his work on the Internet, so it is important for him to have electricity so that he can be online and earn his money. Since I earn money the same way that Tommy does, I feel that I have some good tips that might be helpful to Tommy, and I share them in today’s podcast.
So, tune in to The Expat Answer Man, Episode 0004 today on LiP!
So, give the Podcast a listen and see what you think. I hope you enjoy the show, and will listen in each and every week.
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Thanks again for listening, everybody!
Hi Tommy, your brownout question is answered, today on LiP! Hope you are doing well.
Hi Bob – I would hate to be the first to comment when my comment is not even related to the topic of your podcast. You did, however, answer a question that is foremost in my mind, and that is the distance from GenSan to Davao by bus or car. You said it’s 3 hours. Not bad. As you may know, my wife and I will be visiting Mindanao this December and we will be staying at Sarangani Highlands for a week as part of our 3-week vacation in the Philippines. I thought it would be worthwhile to take a trip to Davao from GenSan for a day or two to see with my own eyes what the city is like.
Just the same, it’s good to learn from your podcast the various options available for dealing with brownouts especially for folks who make their living in the internet. Thanks, Bob.
Hi John – Your comment is still on topic, given that I did mention the length of travel from GenSan to Davao! 🙂
I did kind of just mention that in an off the cuff way, and wasn’t that specific. I have driven the route between GenSan and Davao in as little as 2 hours, at a time when traffic was nearly non-existent. That is the shortest amount of time I think the trip can be done in, as I was driving at a pretty fast rate of speed. 😉 On the other extreme, if you take a bus that makes many stops along the way, it can be a 4+ hour trip. But, if you take the nicer bus that does not make any stops along the way, it is about 3 hours or so. My normal driving time for this journey is 2 1/2 hours.
Sarangani Highlands is a beautiful place, and I am sure you will enjoy it. I have been there many times, both to eat in their gardens and also to stay overnight. It is absolutely stunning. I have done some work for them over the past 5 years or so – I designed their website and maintain it for them. I also know the owner, she is a Doctor in General Santos, very nice lady. I am sure you will enjoy your stay.
Bob;
A generator on wheels? That’s living on the edge.
Generator on WHEELS? LOL! Called being prepared never know when you’ll have to hitch it to the back of your car and move it to HIGHER Grounds, lol!
As the boy scouts say, Heinz – Be Prepared!
Come on now, Paul! Think about it. If your generator was on wheels, they could have towed it behind the tricycle instead of cramming it onto the seat! Now, that is the professional way to do it! 🙂
Or roll it out of my yard instead of unbolting it from it’s platform. You guys can keep the wheels, I’ll keep my generator.
Ha ha… I hear you, Paul! You gotta do what works best for you! 🙂
If ” Chromebook ” is available there it might be useful for some people during brownouts. It’s not quite a full laptop but you can get nearly 8 hours use from it on a full battery charge. I recently bought a so called ” refurbished ” Samsumg Chromebook from a popular online company for $179 USD. Brand new ones of the model I have are gong for $249.95 USD. I didn’t want to spend the full amount for brand new because I just wanted to see what Chromebook was all about. It is 100% solid state. No hard drive ( uses a solid state drive ) No fans etc. to consume battery life. It is WiFi Only but you can buy an adapter to use it on an ethernet connection. You can research this further. The main point I wanted to bring out here is that I have been using mine on battery only at least one night per week to cycle the battery ( discharge / recharge ) . The Wifi range on it is much better than on my Lenovo note pad. I have been using this at my workplace during idle time as there is wifi service there ( don’t tell my employer please LOL ! ) and once I put it on, I leave it on til end of my shift. Remember, this is not a full feature laptop but you can websurf, e mail etc. with it. Powers up in just seconds and is considered to be virtually virus free. You can not download programs that have ” .exe ” on them. The last few comments I have made here on ” LIP ” on other posts have been made with the Chromebook.
Somethng like this may be just the thing for some people that experience frequent and / or long time brownouts.
Hi Bob – I have been looking at the Chromebook myself, but decided against it, as I have a few needs for things that it can’t do.
I didn’t realize that it has no fan. The battery life is impressive, but I would worry that the intense heat here, especially during brownouts, having no fan might be a problem.
The only openings on it are two very small openings for the speakers. If they are being marketed there in PH I would guess they would probably work in the heat with the exception maybe of constant use in direct sunlight. There are many forums etc. dedicated to the Chromebook. They are being made in various sizes by several manufacturers. I think the built in memory is 16 gig. So far, for what I use it for I kind of like it. It has one each, USB 2 and USB 3 connections. Not sure if it will work with my Globe Tattoo so on my next visit I will bring what I have used before, my little Lenovo note pad which is using Windows XP. For me, a full size full feature laptop is not worth the cost.
I do not believe that the Chromebook is available in the Philippines. The people here that I know who have one have purchased it in the States and either brought it home with them or had it shipped here.
Happy 4th of July Independence day to those of us stateside, and for that matter, expats too.
Thank you, Bob, and the same to you! I was going to mention 4th of July on the podcast, but I decided not to for a couple of reasons:
1. Not all listeners are Americans.
2. Main reason – people could be listening to the episode at any time in the future, so it is kind of “date independent” and mentioning the holiday may seem strange if they are listening, for example, in February.
Bob, Here’s how I handle brownouts It may be helpful for your audience.
…
I bought a 1000 watt (small) generator. Rather than hardwiring it into the house’s breaker box, I put a power point on the exterior wall and another on the interior wall. These power points are only connected to each other and are independent of the house wiring. The sole reason for this is to to allow the power from the generator to get inside the house without running an extension cord through a window or door. (Helpful when the typhoons come and you need power, but want to keep the house “water-tight”.) Then when the brown outs occur, I start the generator plug it into the exterior power point and plug an extension cord into the interior power point.
The 1000 watts is sufficient to run my computer, OR, my refrigerator, OR my tv & dvd, OR a fan..(I don’t try to run ALL of them at the same time…pick and choose what you want to run…)
The small size of the generator means that it is relatively quiet and also relatively cheap to run. (Never had to run it more than 4 hours, but didn’t even come close to running out of gas.).
Hope this will prove helpful.
Eric
Thanks for sharing your solution, Eric, it gives another option for those who have a need.
One thing to consider about gas generators. Dont just put gas in it or leave it in a 5 gallon container for months on end. Most gas here as ethanol, and ethanol wont hold up over time. Put fuel stabilizer in it or better yet, every month, pour it into your car’s tank and get fresh gas. Otherwise, the gas will go bad when you most need it.
That is good info, Don. I was unaware of that, and it’s good to know. Of course, being in GenSan, you would probably never make it a month without using up your fuel in the generator! 🙂
Shell, Caltex and Petron (except Blaze 100) all have 10% ethanol. Not sure why but its mostly imported as only Shell has a refinery in the Philippines, at least in Luzon.
That is good to know, Don.
Bob;
Normally a gas generator will give 1000 watt per each horsepower it is, mine is 5 HP so 5000 watts and will run my house as if the power is still on Don stated that the gas will go bad over time and he is 100% correct, aside the danger of storing that much fuel. Using it in the car is a great idea and allows you to rotate it every month or two.
Mine is hardwired into the house from my Mancave in the back yard so noise is not a problem; also I have an alarm to inform me when city power has been restored. The longest brownout I’ve endured was 7 full days after a typhoon hit Manila and they diverted our power to the capital. But the average is 4 to 12 hours. I’ve learned to just deal with it and fire up the Honda when it happens.
Brownouts are part of the price we pay to live here, a price I’m very happy to pay. BTW my generator is back from the shop and the rebuild cost $200.00, the first repair money I’ve spent on it in 15 years.
Hi Paul – That is all great information, and thank you also for confirming Don’s earlier comment about the fuel going bad.
It sounds like you have a great system worked out to keep your power going, and I’m glad that it is all back and working now. Did you have any lengthy brownouts while your generator was out for service?
Bob;
Last Sunday (While the machine was gone) the power went off in the morning, we normally go to town for breakfast after church anyway, and by the afternoon when we got home it was on.
During a brownout there is one option that was omitted, one can sit in the dark and watch your ref’s and freezers defrost. Me? I’ll pay the cost of a generator.
Whatever we choose to get through brownouts is a good thing if it works. Having a plan is important.
Hey Bob! Everybody seems to be relying on gas. What about Solar? Is that not feasible in Phils?
My experience is, Tim, that there are a lot of people who are very enthusiastic about solar…. before they are living here. The people who are living here have come to realize, though, that at this time it is not feasible. Prices for solar (and other forms of green energy) are way too high at this point to make it justifiable. Some day it will be great, but not yet.
I have a good friend who used to be a strong advocate for doing solar in the Philippines. Before he moved here, he was constantly telling me of his elaborate plans to implement solar power here. He has been here a couple of years now, though, and we just talked the other day, and even he was telling me that it just is not feasible. 🙂
Generator is too much expensive.. Do you have any suggestion than generator?
A big part of it, Randy, would be depending on where you live. If you can, choose to live in a place where there are few brownouts. For example, here in Davao, we usually have maybe only 30 to 60 minutes of brownout in an entire year. This year has been different, but it seems back to normal now. In a case like this, you really don’t need a generator.
There is something like solar power, but that is more expensive than a generator.
Bob, thank you so much for that Podcast! Brother this was soo helpful! Now you have me thinking Davao for a move possibly. This was REALLY helpful. 3 hours or so away from Gensan might work for us. Jacky said to say hi to you and Feyma!
Oh I really enjoyed the podcast with you interviewing Feyma. That was very informative and funny (loved the back and forth with you too). You are a walking wikipedia for guys like me.
Ha Ha, thanks, Tommy Seilheimer. Sure would be great to have you in Davao.
Brown-outs do not bother me much anymore. Got batt. back-up for my computers and a 2000 watt inverter for my car batt. so just fire up the car and turn on the inverter. works like a charm.
Great to have a plan that works, Budrick Bias.
Bob,
Unlike you and some of the others who make their living on the Internet; my plan of action is to simply buy candles and wait it out. I’ll go for walks and take my flashlight with me that I used in corrections. I called it my ‘light stick’. Inside the joint it made for a nice club to protect myself. I’m sure I won’t have that problem there. haha
Again, our needs are different. I’m just going to enjoy a simple life in the Philippines, take in the culture, and enjoy brownouts, blackouts, T-Storms and whatever else comes with the territory. The information provided was helpful though. It’s always nice to have that back-up plan as you stated just incase the power of the simple life goes out. haha
I’ll throw a brown-out block party! 🙂
As always, thanks for the good info Bob!
Bill
Hi Bill – I wonder if you misunderstood me? My plan has always been to just tough it out during brownouts. I have been here for nearly 15 years now and I have never owned a generator. I talked about generators because that was the question that was asked by the person who phoned in. But, as I did say in the podcast, brownouts have traditionally been very short and very few here in Davao, and thus I have always felt that a generator was simply not necessary here. 🙂
No misunderstanding. haha I know you have mentioned you don’t do the generator thing before. I was merely bringing it up just as conversation about what my plans will be. 🙂
I’m much like you in that aspect. Just rollin’ with the flow……….
Hi Bill – sorry about that… when you started off your comment by saying “unlike you” I thought you meant that you thought I had a generator! 😉 No problem, I just misunderstood what you meant! 🙂
Ahhh….I reread that. Yup! I can certainly understand why you thought that Bob. haha I got the unlikes and likes mixed up! 🙂 Silly me!
I hope candles are cheap over there because I’m going to have a bunch of them for those brownout moments! 🙂
Not a problem, Bill. Candles are indeed very cheap. However, I know you will be living in Davao, and really here in Davao we generally get few brownouts and the ones that we get are very short. Yeah, we had a period this year where we had some significant brownouts, but that was out of the norm. I don’t think you will burn even a single candle in an entire year, unless we go through another situation like earlier this year!
Thank you Bob! Just think!! It won’t be long and I’ll be living in the Philippines! I do want to get me a fan that runs off the computer though.
Thanks for all your wonderful info! It’s been so helpful! 🙂
You are always welcome, Bill!
I was wondering why there is no mention of inverters that run off batteries? Here in the Dominican Republic, inverters are used in most houses instead of generators to get you thru the 6-7 hour brownouts. These usually run about $300-$500 depending on the output and run off 2-4 car batteries. They get charged when the power is restored.
Hi Ernesto – Thanks for your comment. I did not mention inverters, because I have never heard of such a device being used widely. I know of inverters being used for things like operating devices while in a car and such, but have not seen anything big enough to provide household type power. It is an interesting idea, and I too wonder why we don’t have such devices here.
Bob I liked that you mentioned you had considered going in with several others for an apartment and fly to Cebu if you had to do work. Though you haven’t had to do this. Good to know you have to do what you have to do for your business.
I plan to get a small apartment in Cebu City while myself and my wife build our house in the province to make sure we can continue our business online and make sure the internet, and utilities can be reliable. Our business would require us to have good internet telephone service like Skype.
And there is always the time when you like to go into town for the holiday, movies malls and such, but most think the extra apartment is a waste of money.
Hi James – Like you said.. you gotta do what you gotta do! 🙂
Hello Bob,
Are the blackouts in Gensan still very severe and do they effect most barranagys? My fiancé lives in Balite Lagao and it is very difficult to contact here via email or by cell. Is there a site which has current information regarding the blackouts? I have not been back for two years and I am planning a trip there. It would be nice to know the frequency as that will assist in me planning my stay. Thank you.
Scott…
Hi Scott – Right now, they are having few power problems in GenSan. However, they never have problems at this time of year, as rainfall is adequate to keep our island’s hydro power at full production. Usually, GenSan has huge power problems from around Jan/Feb through June or so. I can’t say if that will continue next year or not, we can only wait and see.