The 7 best ways to stop load shedding

[duncan drennan]

The resistance is not constant. The resistance is lower at lower temperatures, higher at higher temperatures. I've been messing around with some maths...

While the element is on the resistance will be just about constant, as it is significantly hotter (internally where the resistive part is) than the water. When it is off, the resistance should be quite a bit lower (resistance increase with temp).

I'm guessing that the kilowatt rating is rated when submersed in water, and the resistance will only change slightly with variations in water temperature.

e.g. with P = V^2/R, a 3kW element is about 17.6 ohms with V=230V. If that resistance were to change to 17ohms, the power rating would be 3.1kW. I reckon that in reality the resistance might only change by 0.1ohms depending on the water temperature.

[Dave A]

If I get a chance, I'm going to tong a geyser off a cold start to see how the current changes over time. About the easiest practical test.

[IanF]

So at work if just turn on the geyser for 1.5 hours in the morning there is enough hot water for the whole day, we just wash coffee cups etc., and this will help with load shedding and costs.

[murdock]

the geyser in my house takes 1hr 15 min to heat up... i shower every morning and evening.. my electricity account was R450 per month but since the increase will go up...i have installed lots of timers for customers and 90% of them are on override or i have disconnected and removed it...because of the Inconvenience they cause.

[murdock]

the other way of looking at this geyser is like someone mentioned the other day they turn down the thermostat to 50... but now they run 100 litres into the bath and dont add cold...think about it if it was 65-70 you would only take 60 litres from the geyser and add cold... instead of 100 litres meaning the geyser will heat up to temp quicker and switch off again using less elctricity...there are just too many variables...bottom line put in a solar panel and you will pay out your nose for it but in 50 years you will save money.

or you could do like the old quick shower way... water on... get wet... water off...soap...water on rinse water off...so if you really want to be conservative this way you save water and electricty...or better still get big drum mount it in your back yard put a fire under it and bingo you go hot water no electricity used...

and say this again all because some fools didnt do their job right we must now suffer...if the planning was done correctly 10 years ago we wouldnt be waiting 7 years to get the problems sorted out...and if you gona get all conservation sensitive on me...let talk about cellphones are we gona stop using them because they are harmful to your heath and polluting the enviroment all the batteries from them which are gona need to be disposed of etc etc...motor cars trucks etc etc are a far bigger problem and i dont see anyone driving 4 people to work in the morning or cycling to work...one man/woman one car/4x4...4x4 tyres noise pollution how many women do you see going to the malls...dropping kids off etc in big 4x4 when those tyres are worn where will they be dumped???? i could just go on and on so if you want save the enviriment look at everything we humans do every day to kill the enviroment...we chase the animals out of their enviroment then want to shoot the monkeys because they are pests and steal food out your kitchen... because you cut down the paw paw tree or mango tree and built a house where they got their food from....let me stop here.

[duncan drennan]

...and if you gona get all conservation sensitive on me...let talk about cellphones are we gona stop using them because they are harmful to your heath and polluting the enviroment all the batteries from them which are gona need to be disposed of etc etc...motor cars trucks etc etc are a far bigger problem and i dont see anyone driving 4 people to work in the morning or cycling to work...one man/woman one car/4x4...4x4 tyres noise pollution how many women do you see going to the malls...dropping kids off etc in big 4x4 when those tyres are worn where will they be dumped???? i could just go on and on so if you want save the enviriment look at everything we humans do every day to kill the enviroment...we chase the animals out of their enviroment then want to shoot the monkeys because they are pests and steal food out your kitchen... because you cut down the paw paw tree or mango tree and built a house where they got their food from....let me stop here.

Well, the reality is that all of these things need to be proactively addressed, else (like electricity) will turn into a crisis of sorts at some point in the future.

When enough batteries (of all sorts) are dumped and the water is polluted with heavy metals there will be a crisis. When there are too many cars on our roads there will be a crisis. When the municipal dumps start overflowing there will be a crisis (like in Italy). When there is not enough water to supply everyone with clean drinking water there will be a crisis (and the cracks are already starting to show).

The big question to me is why we allow these things to become crises? Many (all?) of these examples are things which the government can regulate, but cannot directly control. If the government brought in regulations about emissions for vehicles, people will complain. If they say you have to separate your garbage or be fined, people complain.

Yes, the government needs to be proactive and to address these issues with regulation and good governance (still to be demonstrated), but we also need to take responsibility for our actions.

When did we stop taking responsibility for the things we do and the consequences they have?

[murdock]

i agree we all need to be proactive...problem is like wearing a seat belt the majority of people would not wear a seat belt if there was not a big fine...yet everyday you drive on the roads you see people dont wear seat belt...they still take a chance...let the kid stand on the front seat etc..etc.

off the subject... i rev my staff everyday about letting the pipes and ladders hang off the back of the bakkie and today i was in a hurry and let a steel 20 mm pipe hang off the back 500 mm...and bang i walk into it cut my eye open doc said i will have a black eye tomorrow...says i was lucky the damage is minimal just needed a tetnis injection and a couple antibiotics... i sure my staff must be chuckling to each other...idiot he always makes a noise...puts the pipe on the bakkie and walks into it himself

[duncan drennan]

and bang i walk into it cut my eye open doc said i will have a black eye tomorrow...

Glad the damage wasn't too bad! Hope it heals up quickly.

i agree we all need to be proactive...problem is like wearing a seat belt the majority of people would not wear a seat belt if there was not a big fine...yet everyday you drive on the roads you see people dont wear seat belt...they still take a chance...let the kid stand on the front seat etc..etc.

This is an important issue, one that I continuously struggle with. I think I'm going to start a new thread...

[IanF]

Blog on Energy saving.

There are some good looking products here. Energy Efficiency we should look for some of these in SA. Switch off your computer and it switches off everything.

f you're at home, stop what you're doing and listen. You can probably hear a low hum. That's the sound of the average UK home wasting £37 a year on standby, causing unnecessary carbon emissions into the bargain. While we wait for standby to be phased out - a move backed by environmentalists and the Currys boss, John Clare - there are standby killers such as the Intellipanel, a glorified multi-plug. Just plug your desktop PC or Mac into the master socket and your monitor, speakers, printer, external hard drive and more into the remaining seven: every time you power off the desktop, everything else is switched off entirely. The Bye Bye Standby does a similar job for your entire home, but it requires your active involvement with a remote.
Cost: £30

[Chatmaster]

I like the Asus EcoBook. Apart from being greener it is different, I wonder if it will be more expensive?

[Butch Hannan]

Dave,

Why not go the whole hog and just use candles. Just for the record one of the units at Duhva Power Station has come off the rails and caused a lot of damage. Pieces flew off it and badly damaged some off the workshops. The press have been kept out of this???

[wynn]

I have a better Idea, stuff the contracts and switch off the aluminium smelters, they are using our electricity to smelt aluminium cheaply for other countries WTF?

[Bigeasy]

Once a geyser is hot, it takes very little electricity to keep it hot, the best way to save electricity (geyser) is to limit the amount of hot water leaving the geyser, do this by having a shower, and fit an energy efficient showerhead that is approved by Eskom. If you halve your shower water, you will halve the cost of heating your geyser compared to a high flow shower. You will effectively save 20% of you total electricity bill. go look at www.ecoshower.co.za these people seem to have the best product on the market.

[murdock]

being the energy efficent enviromentalist...i have to say...due to the heat i have had to reduce my time on my timer by a half an hour or more otherwise it is too hot when the water runs out at 7.30 pm...when i shower at 9 pm (gravity geyser...this was also a great idea not upgrading to a pressure geyser...the water is too hot...so the theory about using a geyser blanket pretty much is waste...unless you fit it in winter and remove it in summer...and not forgetting that a geyser comes with a blanket built in...if you dont believe me climb into your roof space next week when the temp reaches 30 again...i keep forgetting to measure the temp in the roof.

the way to save is cut back...period

tip use a solar panel to charge batteries for light during the day then light the house at night...it works.
the other thing that works is charing a 105 amp/hr battery during the day then switch to an invertor at night...it lasts around 4 hours...if you have a tv and dvd player connected.
been using gas for cooking...this was the best change...cooking is so much faster and cost a lot less....and i have a outside gas braai under the gazebo...in summer what a good excuse to get outside.

[Houses4Rent]

Maybe this is the answer...

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/30/tesla-powerwall-home-battery/?fb_action_ids=10155436390310214&fb_action_types=og.shares#.epz7yc:AOXG