Iberdrola our electrical supply company have started sending out letters telling you to fit a power limiter set to trip if you exceed the wattage shown on your supply contract.

This will effect people with lots of high current equipment that are run together.

I believe you can get Iberdrola to do it and pay rental as you do for the meter or you can get a authorised electrician to fit your own and then pay Iberdrola 9 euro to inspect and seal the equipment.

Looking at the Iberdrola web site, there appears to be a new law stating that this is a requirement now, so all of Spain may be forced to do this some time in the future. If you don't do it, there is a finacial penalty added to your bill.

Any one else come across this yet?

Hi Mr Kevin

Interesting, I never knew this the following I've pasted direct from Iberdrola's website. I will certainly be investigating.

Mains Isolator (MI) and Meter

Cheers

Dave

Maybe i'm being a bit thick here but when I overload the system (kettle + heaters) it switches itself off - which is a real pain!  Why would they want me to pay for something to do the same job??

Hi Claire T

If you are blowing your fuses this is due to you using too many amps than what the main fuses are rated for. Simply too up grade, do it all the time for properties we manage. PM me if you want the price we live in Villamartin.

These power limiters are different in the fact that they will limit the amount of power to your property according to the contract you have with them. Didn't think Iberdrola were bothering but I suppose in these tight times any revenue they can get they will grab with both hands.

Cheers

Dave

 We have a standard Iberdrola contract. However, we never blow the fuses. Someone in the past has upgraded the system. Will I have a problem if they come and look? We have owned the place for just about a year. Kevin

Hi Mr kevin,

We are with Endesa and last week we had to collect a registered letter from the post office from them.  The letter was regarding instalacion de elementos de control de potencia (ICP) and the law govening the very same as you mention.  The letter states the need to install an additional meter which you can buy outright or rent from them.  The letter further sates that if you do not comply and refuse to have the meter installed they will modify your billing and tarif, to the extent that even though our potencia is 4,6 kW they will assume 20kW and bill you accordingly!  Very worrying!

Is there a time limit this has to be done by?

Thanks, Poppyseed

Hi Poppyseed,

Well my letter was dated 13 November (!).  The letter does not state an actual time limit but says they recommend you have the installation as soon as possible.   I have read elsewhere that installation cost runs into the 100s€!  I am going to visit an Endesa office this week to see if I can get clarity on the situation.

We have not had a bill from Ibadrola for ages although we used to be able to access it on the net, but we can no longer do this.

Do you think letters will be sent out regarding this meter thing or what ??

Hi Karensun,

Certainly for Endesa, I have yet to find a neighbour who has also received this letter!  I have no idea behind their reasoning of who does or does not 'qualify' but this is something I hope to find out!   The odd thing is that our contracted potencia at 4,6 kW is very low!

I have just had a quick look round other forums but no one has mentioned this situation, which is peculiar !!

Hi All

Have a look at the following link and you will see what a Mains Isolater looks like and where it is situated in your fuse box. Its not complicated its a simple upgrade but probally most boxes will already have had it done. Please do not pay 100's euros for this to be done you will be ripped off. Can't vouch for Endesa but Iberdrola certainly have not threatened people by letter over this.

https://www.iberdrola.es/webibd/corporativa/iberdrola?IDPAG=ENWEBCLIHOGASEINFINT

If you still want advise or any further help or information please PM me and I will give you my telephone number.

Cheers

Dave

I take it the bit labelled ICP is the isolator? If so, don't most rcd dstribution boards have one already fitted? I know ours at home in the UK does.

Mark

Yes all boards in UK do but in Spain only on properties built within the last 5 years ( and even then some don't)  prior to that I think a lot of electricians made it up as they went along.

Baically in 2008 in Spain a Royal Decree was passed that said all households should try and conserve elecricity and that if you tried toi use more power than you were contracted for then the isolater would disconnect your supply. This was to force you to either conserve or pay more for what you demand. Has it worked? we are yet to see. I haven't heard of anyone that has had a problem becuse most households don't overuse their supply, its mainly people running businesses that use a lot of electricity and they will all have had their boards upgraded.

Round and round in circles springs to mind.

Just my opinion of course.

Cheers

Dave 

A month or so back we had to have our electrics totally replaced. We'd had a problem previously going the cheap route and using a (English) sparky, but this caused so many problems we decided to do it the official route (also I work autonomo, so can at least claim the VAT back now the bills are registered (after 3 years of trying!) in my name)).

So we got a registered Endesa installer in. He was fine, did the job nice n quickly, but said we needed Endesa to come round and instal this limiter in order to get a proper contract. Endesa came round and installed - at the time I asked the guy if there would be a problem with the amount of juice we use (apart from an emersion heater on the solar panel during winter it's not really any more than your average household). No problem I was told. Well, later that week we had a few lights on, the kettle and a hairdryer and pop! went the electrics. Several times.

So I went to Endesa (Coín) who said I'd been put on the lowest possible limit and that it was nowhere near enough for the list of electric items I mentioned. She put me on the middle limit, and charged €120 for the privilege! I speak fluent Spanish so tried arguing the toss with her, but you can image the response I got!

I heard from a neighbour later - whether he has his finger on the pulse of rustic life who knows - that he had friends where the same thing happened and it's basically just a racket by Endesa - they put you on the lowest limit knowing there's a good chance you come back for an upgrade. Given we'd been 3 years without problems prior, you'd think Endesa would've known which limit to give us. I smell a rat...

Not knowing anything about electrics, I guess we've paid the price. Still, our electrics have been fine since and all nice and safe wiring for when our first kiddie comes along in March!

But does anybody know if this means we'll be paying more for our electricity?

Iberdrola installed a 20 amp (cost approx 350 euros) in our property and now our bi monthly standard charge is 57 euros + the electricity and rental costs are also higher . Even so last winter we used more than we were "allotted" and the long list of extras incurred was unbelievable. 

I have just had it confirmed by residents our our owners forum (Al Andalus Resort) that the breaker boxes are installed with these . The picture of the one i've seen is a 25A ICP, probably standard fit on all the properties. Hopefully it means that all Key Mare properties in the area built recently are fitted with these. Not sure if they are sealed though?

Mark

Hi All...

Im an electrician in uk..I also have a holiday home in Rojales..

The so called power limiter is a simple MCB (miniture circuit breaker)  costs about £12  from B&Q etc...

Its connected before the General switch (RCD) in spain for those who have  up to date fuse boxes.,  usually takes 20mins to install..assuming your fuse box isnt hidden or hard to reach for service purposes....

My home in Spain is rated at 25A...thats 5.750kw....

If you use the calculation ....watts of appliance multiply by the house voltage of 230v ...gives you the current rating.

Its a good idea to work out what different household items consume..not only for bill purposes, but also for premature electricity cut off...

opps...

Ment to say.....

if you use the calculation ...      Watts of appliance  DIVIDED  by the house voltage of 230v....gives you the current rating....

Now it has become clearer what is required for this power limiter / circuit breaker. If you are a electrician but not certified for Spain, can you fit the limiter yourself or do you have to get a electrician certified in Spain to do it and give a bulletin.

I do know that Iberdrola have to come out and seal the device and charge about 9 euro.

 Does anyone know when this has to be done by? Anyone able to give me a quote to fit one in Playa Flemenca and tie up with iberdrola? Thanks Kevin

Our friends have a property that they had built in 1982 and have recently picked up recorded delivery letter from Endesa informing them of the need to have an ICP installed. We have a property nearby which was built in 2007. We have not received a letter and our contract is for 9.2 kw. Is it likely that our system complies so does not need any further protection? We are in England now until our next visit in late February so cannot inspect the consumer unit in ours until then. It does seem that the Electricity companies can do very well out of this Royal Decree!

This picture was taken by a resident on our urb and placed on our forum to put our minds at rest. If you have one of these in your breaker box, you should be okay.

Hi Routledge,  our property is 9 years old, as are some of our neighbours but as yet no one seems to have got one of these letters! (well, that I have found so far) plus our potencia is as low as 4,6kW.

I am going to an Endesa office Friday morning to see what light can be shed on the matter (sorry, pun not intended!)

Hi Marksfish, the picture was very helpful; we certainly have the box but not the 2 switches in it!

Is it the two black switches? Sorry if that is a really stupid question..........!

Thanks, Poppyseed

Yes, it is the two switches on the left of the picyure, although they work as one.

Mark

Regarding the previously posted picture of the consumer unit box. Mine is above and the following text relates to it - bit of a newby (1st post - cant you tell !)  so still trying get to grips with this posting lark.

Our consumer box was upgraded last week by a qualified electrician and we were pleased to see that the 'ICP' we had installed looked like the one in the previously posted picture.

I had prearranged for Iberdrola to come in and  'seal' the ICP after the upgrade. Iberdrola duly arrived (on time and yes on the correct day !), said our 'ICP' wasn't an ICP, took it out and put in their own unit that had ICP actually printed on it, sealed it and left ! We await their bill ! From the picture above you can see that the ICP they put in is half the size of our original (its the item far left) - there is a new blanking bit to cover the hole that was left.

Friends on mine who know a bit about electrics can't understand why they did what they did. They also did exactly the same to our neighbour.

On a related subject : Has anyone upgraded their power supply either from 2.2 or 3.3 to 5.75 Kw. Im trying to find out exactly what Iberdrola do, apart from charging you more for the power you use and a fair amount to do the increase ! 

Does anyone know what they physically upgrade / change. I have a 25A RCD and 25A ICP which allows for 5.75 (I'm currently only paying for 2.2Kw) but I'm at a loss to know what else they need to do.

Thanks, Chris

This message was last edited by chrisb1972 on 13/02/2010.

This message was last edited by chrisb1972 on 13/02/2010.

This message was last edited by chrisb1972 on 13/02/2010.

This message was last edited by chrisb1972 on 13/02/2010.

This message was last edited by chrisb1972 on 13/02/2010.

December 15th 2010

We live most of the year in our Benidorm park home within the grounds of a villa owned by Spanish friends,  our electricity being supplied from the villa.  In anticipation of possible power trip problems,  all our lighting is low energy,  we cook,  heat and wash by gas,  and up until the middle of October 2009 we had not experienced any problems even with our aircon on.  Then,  just as we were leaving to return to the UK for Christmas,  our friends were hurriedly getting into their car to buy just such a device for their electrician to insatall.  They said that every property in Benidorm had received a letter (mentioned by another member here) and that they would indeed be fined if the installation was not completed by a certain date!  (I think Iberdrola had just got round to enforcing the legislation!)

We left Spain not knowing whether we would have an electricity supply to come back to but also feeling for our friends who also did not know what would happen either!  They had been used to having anything from 1 to 4 aircons running at once (for cooling or heating in the winter) and anything else they wanted to use,  although washing was on a timer to be done at night for the cheaper rate.

Supposedly,  in the past,  the villa had a contracted rate of 8.5Kw,  5Kw in the daytime and 3.5Kw cheaper night time,  although our friends did say that they had received a somewhat confusing letter (during 2009) quoting a different 5Kw total contracted rate for their villa.  I think this may have been the letter giving them the option to change supplier under de-regulation and a time limit in which to respond,  which of course they didn't.

Anyway,  as we are returning to Spain at the end of this month (December),  I took the time to speak to our friends by telephone,  partly as a normal curtesy and partly to find out  what had transpired with the electricity.  They told me that  they had just that very day had the device connected and sealed and would see how it went.  With that, the phone went dead!  It didn't take much guessing to know what had happened.  After ringing them back and waiting for the panic to die  from their voices,  they said they only had on one heater and a few lights but then had the timerity to switch on another heater in the bathroom.  'CLICK'  everything went off ! We are now hoping that they can or have already sorted something out or we may have to rethink our accomodation!

I think it is possible to apply for a new contract at a higher rate with Iberdrola or indeed another suppler but think the cost of doing this may have detered our friends from doing so in case we did not want to contribute towards the cost.  We would of course do this anyway as it is in our interests to protect our future power supply as well as theirs even if it costs a bit extra.

Does anyone know whether a new contract can be arranged and if so what maximum potencia for the villa might be able to be supplied???