Electric bill

I think that without knowing what system you use for preparing hot water, the question 1) cannot be answered.

You can talk to your electricity provided regarding a higher capacity (if this is the problem), which will nrmally cost you a little bit more.

Hi, if its just hot water that you want can you not install a gas boiler & run it off either natural gas or gas bottles both easy to install, we have a gas boiler & run it off gas bottles never had a problem

Hi,
A couple of questions...

Do you pay the electricity bill directly to some company like EDP?  It should have a "power rating" on the bill something like ***kW.

When you have to "reset the electrical panel" do you know if this caused by using too much power or from an unsafe condition ?

Hi,

I will be paying the power company directly. I’m not there now.

The condo is relatively new, it is just too many things being used at the same time.

L

Ok,  Sounds like you just need to get your "power" rating changed by your electricity supplier. It'll cost more to have a higher power rating but should stop it tripping out. If newish then the wiring should all be capable of handling the power needed, an engineer visit should be all that is needed as this is a common procedure.    Maybe just take a printed bill to whatever local office of your electricity supplier (if you can find one) and explain the problem.   I've done similar as the microwave and fridge together tripped the power and I kept forgetting to unplug the fridge when I heated up my tea.

Hi LorieAnne,

If your electric panel is going down, it is because you are using a water heater/ thermoaccumulator and not a gas boiler. The power of your electric panel is not enough. Usually, 3.45 kVA is enough for one or two people.

If you have less than 3.45 kVA, you should increase it to 3.45 kVA.
If you already have 3.45 kVA you can increase it to eg. 6.9 kVA, but I find it weird because 3.45 kVA is more than enough for 2 persons.

If your condominium has natural gas installed, why not install a gas boiler instead?

If you have natural gas, gas boiler may be a better solution in terms of energy consumption, because natural gas is cheaper than electricity. Besides that, it works better in terms of water heating, frequently bathing, etc.

If you don't have natural gas, a water heater can be a good solution, but only for less than 2/3 people living at home.

https://www.edp.pt/particulares/content … uecer-agua


EDP has a "Funciona" service where you pay a monthly fee of around 10 euros. It requires a one-year contract and it is a problem to cancel it. I had it in the past and know what it's like, it didn't bring much added value for me.

https://www.edp.pt/particulares/servico … p/funcionahttps://www.edp.pt/particulares/apoio-c … -funciona/

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Electricity bill:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 33#5223880
(Post #12)

Excellent advice as always JohnnyPT ❤️

Hot water in-shower device.

When I lived in Brazil hot water tanks were rare.  Instead we used in-shower devices that heated the water.  Some are electric (nick named suicide showers) and some are connected to propane tanks.   In both cases they worked well. 

an example in amazon.com 110v - 220V

If you go this route, get someone to install it properly.

Our AirBnB apartment in Gaia had a small water tank that was insufficient for a "normal" hot shower.   Get wet, turn off the water, latter, turn it on and rinse.

JohnnyPT wrote:

If you already have 3.45 kVA you can increase it to eg. 6.9 kVA, but I find it weird because 3.45 kVA is more than enough for 2 persons.

As an engineer I would disagree. Whether you need 6.9 kVA or 3.45 kVA depends on whether you a using appliances simultaniously and especially when motors (washer, vaccum, ...) are involved. Despite having gas central heating and hot water plus a gas cooktop, we decided to have 6.9 kVA ... also because the price difference isn't huge (in our view).