Category: House

You probably don’t need to do anything with the pool.

Chemicals: It should be good enough to add some multi action chlorine tabs in swimming chlorine dispenser. They are next to the trap to go to the pool pump.

Cleaning: There is a leaf skimmer if you would like to remove some leaves from the surface. The skimmer filter might need cleaning from time to time. There are also two pool robotic cleaners. Normally the Zodiac MX9 is the pool cleaner we use. It needs to be connected to the skimmer with the tube fully filled by water (this is done by pushing the tube under water starting from the pool robot. There is also a Dolphin electrical pool cleaner (the tissue filter is in the wooden chest next to the bar). You need to leave the robot in the pool for at least 15 minutes after it finished to allow the motor to cool down.

Backwashing the filter is also something which you should only do if you feel very confident. You might even empty the water in the pool if you are not returning everything in the working position.

There are two main switch boards in the house – one in the garage and another one below in the technical room (the key is in the entry).

There are a lot of kitchen and table ware in the house – largely enough to live, cook, and entertain. Of course you can simply order food or go out to a restaurant which offers great value for money.

The gate can be operated from a RF remote control, a button inside the house or from the phone.

If you have been given access you can use Bellaterra Opener to open the gate.

You might have guessed that we like colored lights. There are colored lights at the bar, the grill area , the hot tub, the front terrace, the living room and the office.

The lights in the kitchen and dining rooms can be dimmed and the light changed from white to warm either with the light switch or a remote. The round light switches can be pressed multiple time in series to change the light ambience.

The light in the front is normally switched on when you arrive automatically.

There is a Microsoft XBox below the TV in the living room. There are a large number of board games in the kitchen counter you might enjoy.

There are three TV sets with Alexa fire devices connected to the internet. There is no satellite nor antenna in the house. The Alexa remote is programmed to switch on the corresponding TV and should be the only remote you need. There is a blue tooth keyboard with a pad to move the mouse and enter text connected to the living room TV.

You can watch Amazon Prime, Netflix, or Emby from my server and more on each Alexa FireTV device. You normally need to connect your own Netflix subscription but Prime TV should be accessible from our subscription.

There are a number of Alexa assistance devices throughout the house. Two Echo Show devices (one in the kitchen and the other one in the J Bedroom), 4 Echo Dots (one in the D and T Bedrooms, one in the lower floor apartment and one in the bar. The devices are programmed to understand French and English and can be used as a convenient way to play music, make announcements (“Alexa, announce dinner is ready”), and be used as an alarm clock or a kitchen timer. More in Amazon Alexa,

There are two washing machines and a dryer in the house with a large capacity. There are also two drying racks and a tiny travel iron in the garage.

Manuals are linked here: Miele Home Care XL Dryer T-8801 and Washing Machine W-5800 and downstairs a LG Washing Machine.

If you use the dryer you need to clean the filter as seen below to have maximum efficiency.

The house is currently heated centrally with a gas heater and radiators in the rooms with individual thermostats. The air conditioning units can be set individually to heating in the bedrooms.

The reaction time to heat the whole house from scratch is one or two days.

The heating system will be supported with a heat pump and solar energy but the full setup is not yet done. Heating of the house can cost 100€ in gas per day so it might be useful to consider a jumper and set the thermostat (Honeywell in close to the internal garage door) to 19 degrees.

Cooling is currently done via three split air conditioning units which can also be used for heating when needed. There is an ongoing project to install additional air conditioning units in the apartment, the kitchen, and the AC bedroom from a central 18 kW heat pump both for heating and cooling.

There are some manuals for the system: Gas heater, Mitsubishi Air conditioning unit in J and D bedrooms, Argo Air conditioning unit T bedroom.

The basement apartment has a table which can be transformed in a pool table. There are balls to play pool or another set to play snooker in the wooden wardrobe (difficult to open sometimes).

Please use the grey clay to not leave markers on the table and be careful not to rip the cloth. Thank you.