My older brother was talking to my parents this morning and said that we should buy a few washing machines and open a laundromat. This isn't the first time we've received this suggestion. I think it's a great idea.... there are few things we have to figure out before we could do this.
Location
We don't exactly have a lot of space here and I don't exactly want to bust open my living room to put in the necessary plumbing.
Water
Water is rationed here. 6 out of 7 days the water will be turned off mid-afternoon and turned back on in the morning (between 5 & 6). We have a large bucket in the shower that we fill up every morning for use when the water is off.... but for a laundromat we would need a REALLY BIG bucket. It would also be nice to have a filtering system so that we could use the water multiple times, but I highly doubt that that could be found here.
Hot water
Do we even make this available?
Dryers
Do we even make these available?
Items per load
Washing machines are not exactly a popular item here. Laundry is done by hand, either by yourself, or you pay someone to do it. So I don't think how much you put in a washing machine is common knowledge. So it would probably have to be a give-us-your-dirty-laundry-and-we'll-give-you-the-clean-stuff kind of a service.
This probably won't happen.... at least not this first time down here.... but it is a good idea and we'll keep it around for a later date.
10 comments:
Question 1: How much rain do you get there? and during different seasons is it more, like is their a rainy season. Does it rain enough to develop a rain retention area or the like?
Question 2: What about electricity. Water is turned off on a regular basis. Are their any regulations around electricity.
Question 3: What is the name of the town you are in. I can't remember and have forgotten to ask mum and Dad.
Question 4: Would you be opposed to taking out a microloan? This could give you the funding necessary to do another addition or space.
Question 5: How safe is the drinking water there? and how available is it?
Dryers: I would charge extra for using dryers. You even mentioned how much you miss that nice feeling of dryer dried clothing. but this would also go back to the electricity question.
Hot Water: If you did the "give me your dirty, I provide clean" way, would this still be a question? and what are some of the concerns behind the hotwater thing. Just curious.
I think another big problem would be the over-priced-ness of things there. I could be wrong but I think you did mention that something was really really expensive and I am assuming that washers and dryers would be too. I also imagine that shipping things to Honduras would be really expensive as well.
I am going to look into a few of these thing and see if I can come up with any answers..
Chad left this comment
Question 1: How much rain do you get there? and during different seasons is it more, like is their a rainy season. Does it rain enough to develop a rain retention area or the like?
There is a rainy season….I’m not exactly sure when it is, but I believe Laura said that it was from June to December….. but we haven’t had THAT much rain here yet. If this really is the rainy season, I definitely would NOT count on it for providing any sustainable water.
Water is rationed here, every day it is turned off mid-afternoon, and turned on the following morning (usually). This is apparently unusual for this time of year, but it is also supposedly a little worse than this during the summers.
Question 2: What about electricity. Water is turned off on a regular basis. Are their any regulations around electricity.
Yes. Since I’ve been here the electricity has gone off 4 times. Twice were short periods (between 15 & 30 minutes) the other two times were both a few hours. Marco’s mom mentioned that they were talking about rationing electricity. I’m not sure if anything has come of that.
Question 3: What is the name of the town you are in. I can't remember and have forgotten to ask mum and Dad.
We are in Lepaera, Lempira Hondruas. A small town near Santa Rosa de Copan.
Question 4: Would you be opposed to taking out a microloan? This could give you the funding necessary to do another addition or space.
No, I’m not opposed to a microloan, but I would have to figure out expenses….
There is a piece of property right next door that we hear is for sale, not sure how much for…. We’re thinking around $10,000 (L.189,900). Right now part of it is used as booths when the market is open (Thursdays & Sundays). Marco would like to divide it into 3 parts. A garage for us, for if we ever get a car down here….. a Laundromat, and a mechanic’s garage. And put apartments above. There is a lot more land than just that…. I believe it goes down the hill to the road below (a couple of acres)
Question 5: How safe is the drinking water there? and how available is it?
We get our drinking water in the 5 gallon blue plastic jugs. It’s just a short walk up the hill to get a new one. We pay L.17 for each new one. We’re currently thinking about getting 10 containers for ourselves. The containers cost L.100 with water refills costing L.13. The tap water comes from natural springs up in the mountains. I don’t know any more about it than that, but I would like to find out more… is there a reservoir, is there a filtration system, is it drinkable…. Etc.
Dryers: I would charge extra for using dryers. You even mentioned how much you miss that nice feeling of dryer dried clothing. but this would also go back to the electricity question.
I think I would charge extra for drying also…. The lady that we pay to wash by hand charges L.15 for 12 items. An item being an adult piece of clothing. Children’s clothing is 3 for 1. So if 12 items is about a washing machine load then she would be charging 75 cents to wash, and then the clothes are air dryed. I do miss the feeling of dryer dried clothes… I also miss the way it “shapes” your clothes. Line dryed clothes don’t go back to the “new” shape that they were when you first wore them.
Hot Water: If you did the "give me your dirty, I provide clean" way, would this still be a question? and what are some of the concerns behind the hotwater thing. Just curious.
Hot water would be a cost thing. First there would be the piping in the building. Most buildings are just piped for cold water. Then there would be the hot water heater, whether this was insta-hot or conventional. And then the gas or electricity to keep it going. Gas is cheaper, but if we were able to get solar panels that might be better in the long run.
I think another big problem would be the over-priced-ness of things there. I could be wrong but I think you did mention that something was really really expensive and I am assuming that washers and dryers would be too. I also imagine that shipping things to Honduras would be really expensive as well.
There was an ad in the paper that Marco’s mom gets and we took it. It is about appliances on sale this Christmas. There were 3 washers between L. 7,000 & L. 8,000. The exchange rate is L.18.87 to $1.00. $371 to $424 for the washers… there were no dryers.
I don’t know what Laundromat prices are like now, but when I was in college it was either 75 cents or $1 to wash and about the same to dry. If those are still the same prices…. I think that we could do that here. It might cost more to wash in the machines, than it would to by hand…. Which I’m still debating if that is a good thing or not. I don’t want to put all the ladies that wash clothes by hand out of business, but if I were to do this then I would want the business too…..
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