Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

It seems that the new government are as intent as the old one to cause problems for private customers of Kib Tek. The PM has stated that charges must rise because Kib Tek will close down as a business otherwise.

Most people I talk to, TC and foreigners say the same thing - get in all the bad debts first and then see if charges NEED to rise.

As foreigners it is almost impossible to approach higher authorities for information, in EU and USA for example there is a freedom of information act where by if I asked my MP for the debt figures of a nationalised company they would have to supply them.

Is it possible for a citizen here to obtain how much and who has bad debts with Kib Tek?

I would imagine that northern cyprus is one of the most expensive places in the entire world for the supply of electricity and then to hike it up by a massive 20% is almost criminal and all because of bad debts, mosty owed by the government offices.
I really feel for people that are still on builders electric it must be a massive bill each month and of course many businesses that must reflect the hike by rising the price of goods etc.

Builders electric for nearly eight years. Dreading the 20% increase!! Barstewards!!!!!

Will certainly mean less cash to spend in local shops.

I am thinking of getting a gas water heater then no expensive element to run.

We did last year and it was the best investment, apart from the expense for electricity, when you have a power cut, you still have lovely hot showers in the winter

A local firm are offering one at 380tl plus fitting is that a good deal?

If it's a small cancellation the greedy bartenders in the UK hiked 10 to 12% this last month .
They don't have debts but simply pay 2 million in fat cat big bonuses ....same greedy bartenders world wide when it come to profit making off a source we need .

Chins up ,at least you have sun shine

dippersgirl wrote:We did last year and it was the best investment, apart from the expense for electricity, when you have a power cut, you still have lovely hot showers in the winter

That is assuming that you are not on a pumped system of course. We are and guessing most are. We cannot shower when in a power cut. There was someone who did have a clever solution though, he had a valve connection from the mains water he could switch on and then switch off the connection to the pump so he still had pressure. Assuming that the water was not cut off of course.

I would be surprised if there was much in it cost wise, in the uk it would be about 40% cheaper to use mains gas over electric. Although electric might be a little more expensive (a lot more if on builders) so will the cylinder gas be.

Anyone got the prices of the gas per kwh?

We got a gas boiler fitted two months ago; cost: 400TL for boiler, 150 TL for cabinet to house it in, and fitting came to just over 450TL. It's great to have hot water on demand without having to worry about huge bills.

Both my showers will work without a pump not quite as good but still ok.

Use gas heater for hot water for showers and kitchen/bathroom sinks but not for dishwasher/washing machines. Bring it into use around the middle of October every year and back on solar around end of March - always have hot water.

Use a single small (10Kg) to start with as water still hot from solar panels, as year goes on and around middle of November I will have finished the 10Kg bottle and then switch onto the big 45Kg bottle, that normally lasts me till I switch back to just solar again. Always have gas left in the big bottle but get the last dregs out of it by attaching it to the gas cooker - enough pressure to run the cooker till it is empty.

Gas costs from October through to April - 10Kg = 40TL + 45Kg = 170TL gives a total of 210TL for six months hot water.

Cheaper than electric? Don't know but it sure is hot and it never runs out just because you have used up your tank full and have to wait for it to heat again.

So for 35TL a month - for us, its well worth it.

We have known these rises have been coming for ages. We can moan, but to no effect. Whether in NC or UK we are just pawns in their game. Prices will only go one way!

Solar investment is obviously becoming more attractive as a long term option, but doesn't suit all with limitations of space or finances available. Gas is obviously an option, but again requires an investment in equipment/bottles/tanks, with no security of forward prices, probably as 'Up' as electricity.

One other option, if you have traditional roof water tank and panels, is to replace a 1Ton(?) tank with a 2 Ton tank and maybe extra panels.
If you have a pool, £2.5-£3k will give you a reduction of possibly 20-30% in electricity bills. At least Sunshine is basically free!

Obviously the other benefit is to make sure you have low energy lighting, switch off any 'standby' kit and insulate/draught strip everywhere you can.

The days of cheap power have gone forever.

Fatouche - can you give me details of the firm supplying/fitting your boiler. Also how does this work as we use 2 bathrooms plus kitchen hot water, so does this mean a separate boiler for each area?

Why use a boiler in a country where there is almost 365 days of SUN. Just install more efficient solar water heating systems such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1y7Vp23h0
We stock these.

Also, since electric prices have gone up, why dont you use solar electric. Its illegal right now to connect to the grid also pretty much useless as u dont get paid for generating electric and battery backup off grid systems are expensive. So we have a hybrid solution. With current electric prices you will pay back your solar system in 6-7 years (probably less since prices are going to get higher). Solar panels have a lifetime of upto 30 years or more.

You can PM for more info on our solar water heaters and Hybrid solar electric systems, or just a friendly chat.

Our 2000sqm warehouse facility runs completely off of solar electric. You are welcome to come see it in action.

We also have LED lighting solutions.

For example a 9W bulb which replaces a 60 W lamp cost only 55TL and replaces your existing bulb as it fits right in the same socket. Now you might be thinking that a 60TL investment is alot. If you do the math, you will find that you are actually saving in the long run.

So a standard 60W lamp on for 5 hours a day would consume (60Wx5hrs)x365days=109500W/hrs per year. So thats 109.5 units per year.
Price per unit is around 0.6 TL (roughly) so, 0.6x109.5 units= 65 TL a year only on 1 light bulb.

Now lets do the same for a 9W LED

(9Wx5hrs)x365days=16425W/hrs per year so thats 16.4 units per year. 0.6x16.4 units= 9.8TL per year for 1 light bulb

You pay 55TL for the LED bulb and less than 10 TL for the electric it uses in a year. So you can see the LED pays for itself in a year.

Now considering the fact that our LED's come with a LIFETIME WARRANTY and that you have to throw out and change a normal light bulb every 4 months or less, which one would you choose?

Had a set (15 tube) of the new improved solar water heating systems installed in the house we moved into - thought it was the answer to life and everything - wrong. Lasted 8 years before the tubes started to fail and at £120.00 per tube it was cheaper to replace the whole thing with the old system and a hot water boiler.

But times change and new technology improves all the time so they may be worth it now - provided they have been made for this climate and tested in this climate and more importantly - installed correctley by qualified installation people, it may be worth it in the long run.

Green is expensive to start but pays for itself in the end - you just have to be able to live long enough to see the end - lol.

I find it incredible in a place that has 320 (allegedly)days of sunshine a year that the government doesn't get their thinking straight and put a feed in tariff in place and knock the tax off solar panels.

If they paid you as a feed in,say, 50%, of the price they charge for a unit of electric generated by a wheezy oil fired power station, the forthcoming issue of replacing the power station would be solved overnight,because the population would have an incentive to fit solar and therefore save the Gov a huge infrastructure cost;they would also be getting 1/2 price electric courtesy of the population,and given that they claim it costs more to produce than they charge-I would say that is a good deal from a maths point of view.

Further more, scrapping the tax on the purchase of the panels wouldn't cost them much as I suspect that no-one buys them 'tax paid' here,and slip them over illegally from the south.

I personally think that solar is the way forward here-the only thing that holds me back is the poor night time battery performance and lack of feed in tariffs.

Fossil fuels are just going the get more and more expensive,they are a finite resource after all-the sun is going to last for a few billion years-it's a no brainer!