Power capacity

To add to what Pete's said, with a 5.75 Kw supply, I'd expect there to be a sealed 25 amp ICP (interruptor control potencia) in or by the distribution box, fitted by the supplier to cut off power if you exceed the rating. OK, you can reset it if it trips, but it's not worth the inconvenience of having to keep doing so.

It all depends on the ratings of your appliances, but a kettle will draw about 8 amps, so will each ring on a hob, I'd expect an oven to be more, a washer on its heat cycle will again be about 8 amps, and aircon will be 2 or 3 amps.

If you change to a lower rated supply, the ICP will be changed accordingly, and I'm sure you'd be having to frequently turn something off so you could reset it after keeps tripping.

Thanks Pete

Iberdrola have a calculator on their website so will use that but sounds like it could be more trouble than its worth just to save a few Euros per year

Kevin

Thanks for the advice Jim

They have recently fitted new smart meters in Torre. We had a much higher rated breaker in the fuse box than the contract we were on (4.4KW). No problems till this year. 

The meter cuts the power if you go above the Polenta and it's much more sensitive. We've had to have a lot of rewiring so that we could get a certificate to allow us to increase to 9.2kW

We have an instantaneous electric shower in the Uk rated at 12KW ! 

Hi there. My wife and I have caravan end and rented houses in torre for a number of years.

Okay, so here we go.

Iberdrola tend to fit three types of fuse, 3amp, 5 amp and 9 amp.

The main thing to consider is the standing charge, most holiday homes have the 3amp most residents use the 5amp, like the one you have had fitted. The 9amp is like our system in the uk. However with that fuse the standing charge is horrendous. For residential use the 3amp can be a bit trying, but you can buy, say an 800 watt kettle, also are you split gas and electric.

Electricity is not cheap anywhere, I would not go above the fuse you have had fitted, unless money is no object, most Spaniards use the 3amp, except the rich of course.

Ibadrolla will advise you although you may need a bit of Spanish.

We have had houses with all three and I would not rent one with a 9 amp fuse, hope this has been useful. Regards Mike.

Not quite right - you're confusing amps and kilowatts/hour and fuses with circuit breakers, but I understand what you're saying.

Iberdrola list 15 different power capacities, ranging from 0.345 Kw to 14.49 Kw.

Rather than calculate yourself what you need, you can use Iberdrola's calculator, where you enter the size of the property and the main electrical items you have:

https://www.iberdrola.es/hogar/eficiencia/ahorro/calcular-potencia

Yes sorry Jim. Put it down to old age, fortunately you got the jist of it, the higher the potencia, the higher the standing charge.

I certainly agree with that, and Iberdrola seem to go out of their way on their website to hide what those charges are. I gave up after a few minutes searching.

As an aside, it's such a pity that when we're in a position to retire and start enjoying life, then bits of us start failing, and I'm as prone to that as anyone.