But while we had two 80 watt solar panels for lighting and for running the water pump when the bus didn't have the water hose attached to the ajax valve, there wasn't enough power to do anything else. So while I had the blessed relief of no Coro St for nearly a month, it also meant that all clothes washing had to be done up at Mum's.
Initially, we decided we were going to be as much off the grid as possible, so we did look very closely at solar and turbine combinations, because we wanted to run a number of electrical appliances, including a freezer and the brand new washing machine. I also like to bake my own bread and because the oven was not for usual heavy use that my kitchen antics require owing to it having no temperature settings other than low medium and hot, I also needed power for the frypan and the trusty old Breville bench oven.
However, it was going to cost us around $15,000 for the privilege of having to turn every other electrical appliance off to run one. That wasn't going to work with the freezer needing to be on 24/7. The small gas run fridge freezer inside was fine for what it was - but we had run a generator almost 24/7 for the first month to cover Christmas and New Year and my birthday with the big electrical fridge freezer in one of the containers.
So as much as we didn't want to, it meant we needed to look at the option of electricity. And oh for the benefit of hindsight.
Initially I was told only Contact Energy was able to install a major electrical connection to the property. I wish I could remember who it was exactly who adamantly told me this, because boy, were they wrong. I rang CE in Hastings, who told me it was out of their area. But, they said, Horizon Energy was the one to contact. Were they the only ones? Yes, I was assured. And, like the Waikato-based and Rotorua based quarry contractors who adamantly told me I could not get Ryalite locally, (I assume because it meant I would not be using their services because other contractors had the mortgage on locally sourced Ryalite) I was bullshitted into the bargain.
I contacted Horizon Energy and sure, they could give me a quote! Almost 10k to string the power across (but under) the road and about 55 metres or so up the driveway and behind the containers. The power box would have at least one attachment for the housebus use, but there needed to be other outlets for the container where the freezer would go and where Ken's tools needed power that out trusty 2800 watt generator couldn't provide.
So, 10 days after the 30 day quote (which included Christmas and New Year) ran out, we accepted the quote. Only to be told that it was going to go up by $250 because of "increased contractor costs". Not that we were ever told what they were. I was gobsmacked. Ken has been in business for many years and upping a quote after such a short time had never happened. It wasn't good business practice. But, still believing they had the monopoly, we very grudgingly accepted the change provided any additional costs were signed for via a variation order before being done. Great! we were told. We'll start work week after next.
To cut a long story short, almost two weeks after the promised start date, the crew finally arrived, dug up a channel all the way from the road to the beginning of the pad. And then work stopped. Because, it appeared, the person who organised the job hadn't listened to my explicit instructions and instead of 'getting the local to inspect the site" (at first) and then inspecting the site himself (second), it turned out that all he had done was used Google Maps and put our driveway which didn't exist at the time of the mapping into entirely the wrong place. When the network then decided we had to take out power from the transformer at the top of the road and NOT cross the road because, they said, of a spiking issue from the lesser wiring found there. Hmmm. Which the crew then discovered was not going to work because of the wrong placement of the driveway. Back to the drawing board (and Whakatane) they went, but not before they filled in the channel.
Granted we did get a profuse apology from the person responsible for the cock-up. Several times. Because it was almost another week before they were back. And up the driveway on the other side they came. What were they up to this time??
The line, they said, had to come from the boundary and so it was best that it came up the boundary side. Oh and because it was going to cost the network much more money to go from the transformer on the main road to where our driveway really was, they had miraculously discovered the spiking 'problem' wasn't an issue after all and it would, in fact, go under the road as originally agreed and attached to the existing power pole. Plus it also meant they did not have to cross under the council's area of the driveway and, as it turned out, they would not have to diagonally cut across the parking area. And it was hugely interesting that it took soooo many to do the job!! You can only see half of the nine vehicles it took to do this!
Ken was by this time getting irate, but could see the point, so ahead they went. BUT...
When the contracting electrician turned up with the power box, there was one lonely caravan connection inside it. Just one. Nothing to go the containers, nothing to plug in a commercial lead if necessary... nothing. At that, Ken blew his stack. The upshot of this was that we called in our own electrician, who told us that the original info was wrong anyway - that we had not had to use Horizon Energy and that the cost would have been considerably less if we hadn't. Too late now, however, although ken has spent considerable time remonstrating with my lack of research into this one thing. Never to mind... for his time is coming. In the meantime, if you are ever in the process of looking to put power on where there was none before in a rural setting, believe me, it pays to do your homework. There is no such thing as a monopoly.
But at least my new washing machine finally got to wash our clothes!
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