Restricting neighbours electricity usage

[Ianbellows]

Hi,
you'll have to excuse me because i'm a complete idiot when it comes to electrics. I'm a Brit living in a small village in Indonesia. Since we moved to our new home we have been providing the elderly widow next door with electricity for lighting. She lives in a bamboo house and can't afford to pay to be hooked up to the local electricity board. It's not been any problem for us but last year one of her daughters moved home with her family and they built another bamboo house which they promptly hooked up to our electricity. Now, the other daughter has moved home and her family are building a third home on the land which no doubt they will hook up also.
We receive 1300Volts and want to restrict their property to a total of 440Volts Electricity here is 220V so we want to limit them to 2Amps (2x220). We have looked for a device which can limit the amount of electricity they receive ( I forget the name) but the smallest available is 4Amps. How can we limit their electricity so that we have sufficient electricity for ourselves?
Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[IanDB]

i'm a complete idiot when it comes to electrics

I hate to say this but it shows in your next quote:

We receive 1300Volts and want to restrict their property to a total of 440Volts Electricity here is 220V so we want to limit them to 2Amps (2x220).

If your electricity supply is 220 volts, you want to limit the current they draw to 2 amps (this equates to power of 440 watts (2Ax220V=440w)).

If what you are saying is that you can draw 1300 watts power from your source then your current capacity is 1300/220 = 5.9 Amps.

If my interpretation of what you're saying is correct then unfortunately there's not a lot you can do about it. You can buy circuit breakers that will automatically trip out at specific currents but I doubt that there are any that will operate at 2 amps - it's too low. You can buy them but they are specialised items. If you can get a 4 amp breaker then that's probably the best you can do without having a confrontation!

Sounds as though you're not using it for much else other than lighting - would that be right?

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo ianbellows and welcome

good samaritin act gone off the rails

is she aware you are unhappy with the situation[allowing for missunderstanding in translation] considering your limmited electrical knowlage [like mine ] is the setup safe

could you not put an amp flow meter in the extension circut and trip or switch off the supply if it goes above 2 amps
as 2 amps is only 6 or so light bulbs worth it will soon exceed that value if your suspicions are correct you can also satisfy your self they are not overloading your extension and reasure or horrify yourself at the amount they are consuming

perhaps if it "tripps" enough times they will cut consumption or get there own supply between them

and if it goes on long enough with continuous "tripping" you can always claim they have burnt out the link and you need an electrician out to check your your system
now i am no electrician and my ideas may not be practical if you like any of my ideas just run them past someone clever to see if they will work

but what ever you do dont disconect any plug when its drawing any load[more than a light bulb or two]

 

[plugwash]

does your property have an electricity meter or is the setup too primitive for that?

and do you have any idea what happens if you go over your limit.

if you have a friend who can send you stuff from the uk then you could use a fused connection unit fitted with a 2A fuse.

fused connection unit
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MKK1040.html

backbox for fused connection unit
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MKK2140.html

2 amp fuse
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLF2.html

any diy shed in the uk should stock the first two items the 2A fuses are a little trickier to get though.

 

[pipme]

Hi,
......... i'm a complete idiot ...... I'm a Brit

 

[Paul_C]

There are actually devices marketed for applications such as this, aimed at developing countries where a utility company wants to provide flat-rate, unmetered supplies with a power restriction.

Have a look at the "Power Provider". Available in versions from 0.5 amp upward:

http://www.scs-www.com/powerProvider.html

 

[IanDB]

This forum never ceases to amaze me! Looks reasonably expensive though.

 

[bonebill]

Sounds like you have an interpersonal problem rather than an electrical problem.

How is it they can afford to build two houses, but can't afford to be able to get electricity put in?

Perhaps you should talk to them to say that whilst, as a humanitarian act, you allow the old lady to have some electricity, you aren't a bottomless pit, you are an individual person, you can only stretch so far, and you don't feel it's appropriate that you function as a "free electricity ticket" for her daughters.

The daughters have their own families; surely they then have partners and their own (financial) resources. If they want electricity they should be putting their hands in their own pockets and getting it from the electricity company.

If there is a problem getting them to listen to you, I suggest cutting off the electricity to them. They will soon be very interested in talking.

 

[plugwash]

we don't know the construction of theese bamboo houses

they may be little more than what we brits would call a shed made out of materials harvested for free from the local area.

what i am saying is that while building theese houses may have cost a lot of time the financial cost of building them may have been zero or very close to it.

 

[big-all]

i agree entirely with plugwashes veiws on the situation

and as ian bellows is a man possibly on his own in a foreign land i think he must tread very carefull not to upset the local people who i am shure are the freindliest people in the world
he seam to be going about it in right way slowly diplomaticly and without upseting any one
but i would say that wouldnt i