Casa de
Luz
Utilities
Water:
Casa de Luz has a 75-foot deep water well that provides water
for irrigation and drinking water, with city water as
back-up. We have the water quality tested periodically,
and so far the results have always been well within safety
limits (better than city water which is also safe).
Nevertheless, we recommend to use bottled water for drinking for
cooking, but we always use tapwater for tooth-brushing and
hygiene purposes.
The well water is pumped into the 1000-liter (280 gal) cold
water tank located above the upper bathroom. This process
is fully automatic. In rare circumstances it is
conceivable that something breaks down in the water
system. Such a situation is first noticed when the cold
tap water runs dry, or when no water comes out of the faucets
outside in the perimeter wall. You will then still have a
substantial amount of of hot water (perhaps 150 gal) to get by
with for a while, but alarming the Manager as soon as reasonable
would be advised. As an immediate remedy, the Manager will
come and switch the system over to regular city water supply,
while the well problem is being tended to.
Electricity:
Electric power supply is at 220V, 50
Hz. If you have a high-wattage gadget that is made for
110V, it will burn out the moment you connect it to an outlet
in the house, even though the plug might fit perfectly into
the outlet. BE AWARE!!!
Your U.S. American hair dryer, curling iron, or similar item
will be rubbish the moment you plug it in --
except if it has one of those electronic power adapters that
automatically switch to whatever voltage they see. To
ascertain this, simply look at the fine print on the
device. If it says something like "100 - 240V; 50/60 Hz,"
you are OK to plug it in, else keep it in your suitcase.
We do have a couple of 220V --> 110 V stepdown transformers,
but they are only good for up to 300 Watts, which is likely less
than the wattage required by your hair dryer or curling iron,
and if you plug it in, you will then blow the fuse of the
transformer ... :).
The stability of the electricity network in Abadiania leaves
much to be desired. In order to protect sensitive
electronic equipment from power surges, we installed a battery
back-up device that produces stable 110V to a power strip
located on a small bench in the dining area. The Internet
modem, router, and telephone are plugged into that power
strip. It is OK to also plug your laptop or iPhone charger
into that outlet strip, but do not use it for any 110V
devices that use more power, such as a hair dryer or curling
iron.
Electric power outages do occasionally occur in Abadiania, but
they are usually of short duration, mostly just a few minutes.
Gas:
We have only one use for propane, the kitchen range.*
Garbage:
Take you garbage in plastic bags to the green dumpster located
about 100m (300 ft) up the road, opposite to the Pousada
Amor e Luz. There is no good reason to attempt to
recycle. This is spposedly done at the garbage transfer
station of Abadiania.
Sewer:
Like most private homes in the area, Casa de Luz has its own
septic system. It functions exceedingly well and free of
maintenance, but it requires -- as is customary in essentially
all of South America -- that no paper products or other
manufactured products are flushed down the toilet. We ask
our guests to please cooperate.
TV:
We have no TV and no TV subscription at Casa de Luz. You
may wish to use your laptop for streaming. Our free Internet use
is unlimited.
Internet:
Our internet is free and limitless, and it is reasonably good
(nominally 10 Mbps down and 3Mbps up) but may slow down to less
than what is desirable for seamless streaming during peak
hours.
__________________
* The gas range is powered by
bottled gas. One bottle may last as long as a year
or more under average use conditions. We do supply
those bottles, but should it run empty during your stay,
we would need to be notified. Someone will then
come and install a new bottle on short notice.