I have two microwave ovens at my home, a Kenmore (purchased 1992) and a Tappan oven (1994?); I have to adjust the clocks every day, since they "lose" more than 2 minutes a day. (I live in Caracas, Venezuela)

Why the 150 seconds per day ? (In reality it is 144 seconds) I think the number comes from:

60 sec/min * 60 min /hr* 24hr/dy = 86400 sec/day

86400-(86400*59.9/60) = 144 sec per day

I had one of these electric clocks with flaps (1970's). One of the advantages of this type of clock was that if you had a blackout, they would stop; then when the current came back, they would start again, and you would know how long the blackout lasted, you just had to see the difference between your wrist watch and the "electric" clock.

I would guess that all appliances that rely on a AC motor would also see a speed reduction due to the 59.9 Hz issue.

Another "trick" used by the local authorities is to lower the generated voltage a 5% (from 110 VAC to 104.5 VAC). This is supposed to lower the electricity consumption.

There is more info (in Spanish) here:

http://www.caveinel.org.ve/general.asp?titulo=Noticias&ID=132

Somebody in this forum said that non G-8 countries are "Jetsons/Flinstones" worlds, but I bet that if there is a drought in the country were you live, and you depend on hidroelectricity, I'm sure that you will see these types of measures taken . . .