Eskom???

[wynn]

There must be a tipping point somewhere with the cost of electricity.

what would be the cost if I converted to a diesel generator to run say 4 hours a day, to have solar hot water and 12v reticulation from batteries???

assume a 250 sq meter house, 4 bedrooms, 2 lounges, 2 geysers, 2 granny flats, double garage

What would be the cost to:-

convert to LED lighting? with 12v reticulation for TV and Computer with rechargeable deep cell batteries

2x 150L solar geysers @ R15000.00 ea

convert cooking to gas? (maybe fridge freezer too)

diesel generator to charge batteries, cook and freeze and what have you, to run for 4 hours a day? (2x2hrs 1x4hrs?? or as needed) and extra when needed (like if you are using power tools)

running cost of generator?

If I took a second bond to install all of this would the installments be cheaper than buying electricity at the new expected rates???

[ians]

I had my power and water switched off for 8 months to experiment.

I have solar lighting in my house, a 7 am/hr battery which is charged from a solar panel(still to this day). The lights last for around 8 hours on the 7 amp/hr battery, and would have installed an additional system for the rest of the house if i had carried on with my experiment for a longer period of time.

I have a cheap R350 gas stove, with a 9 kg bottle, which last one month if i use it for hot water and cooking, 3 months just for cooking.

The maid did the washing in a tub

The 300 litres per day is fine so long as you dont have parties with everyone flushing toilets.

Generator gets expensive to run and noisey and maintence costs.

Batteries 105 amp/hr are exensive to buy and one battery only last around 4 hours with an invertor to watch TV, and takes 8 -10 hours to charge with a good 10 amp charger.

I have laptops and a netbook (which lasts 6 hours on the battery) in my office. I took them to site to charge and used 3 G for internet access, instead of my telkom adsl.

The majority of my tools are battery operated (all lithium), charged on site with 20 minute chargers.

I encountered 2 problems, one the deep freeze was used as the fridge because the fridge couldnt run long enough, also not a huge issue because you can purchase frozen or cold stuff on a daily basis

The other issue a hot water shower, i just couldnt justify the R15000 for a solar geyser, didnt get around to installing a gas geyser, i did miss my hot shower in the morning especially during winter months, showing out of a bucket just isnt that much fun. I suppose if i was smart i would have joind the gym and gone for a workout every morning asnd had a hot shower for free.

I would install additional jojo tanks, as the tanks where not adaquate for requirements, a good cheap idea is to install a plastic pool, they are about 4000 litres, you just throw in a month mate goodie and the little pump which comes with it, uses min power. You get to swim in it during summer months.

The veggie garden has been a huge success and has produced well, we are busy making some improvements to our veggie garden, eating our first ripe bannas. The strawbeeries were the biggest success, took off like weeds. My daughter lived off veggies from the garden instead of purity for the first couple of year sof her life.

So the answer to your question, yes it is possible, but takes some real adjustments, if you are married, you would need to have a very understanding wife and trust me from my experiences with installing geyser timers to save electricity, within a couple of month they are normally bypassed at the wifes request.

Is it cheaper, not yet, until the goverment regulates the price of energy efficient products and equipment, there is no way you will save by using alternate power. Someone is making some good money out of all this energy saving stuff and it is sure as hell not the consumer. They want us to save electricity and water, but at what cost.

R15000 for a sloar geyser which will only work on sunny days
R12000 heat pump which cannot produce more than hot water on luke warm
led lamps, which cost between R50 and R100 per lamp, which are improving in luminare.
energy saving lamps which cost from about R20 + which need to be disposed of somehow and cause all sorts of power factor and harmonic issues when installed in large numbers.
100 amp/hr + batteries cost R1400 + which would also need to be disposed of due to all the kak in them.
thousands spent on geyser blankets, yet all geysers come with a thermal shield between the tank and outer casing, if anything the pipes should be lagged with thermal insulations, that where the heat occurs.
shower heads which save water, eeeehhh hello maybe just spend a little less time under the shower, and try brushing your teeth and shaving in the shower, use the cold water while waiting for the hot water to brush your teeth and then when while your skin is warm, try shaving, not only will you save water but lots of money for razor blades.

At the end of the day, if you want to save electricity and water, change your lifestyle and use less.

Advice i always give people when they ask about fitness devices. Get up in the morning and walk for 30 minutes a day, after one month if you are still walking go buy the equipment, if not dont waste your money, it will just become another thing to add to gumtree or the dump, same thing goes for saving energy and water, you have to change your lifestyle to save, buying something to save is the easy way out, chances are it wont last.

We as consumers are so gullible.

[tec0]

Nope.... no... Work out how much money all of this will cost you and what you get for your money and what the maintenance will be if something goes wrong like a lighting strike for example.

All I can say is this. Identify what you need. You will find that you can get away with 94watts per hour if you work carefully. “I do and have a device to proof it” When you know you are going to use a power hungry device turn everything else off in your home. That way you still use less than what you normally would.

By doing the above myself and using power saving appliances such as the sunbeam convection cooker, I manage to cut my power use in half.

[ians]

I was looking for enegy savings with my geyser, put a timer and smaller element, because that what everyone was saying, didnt save much, so i went looking, found 2 issues, one, the maid using the washing machine doing small loads and lots of them, then spending half the day ironing, the second, boiling rice for half the day on the stove to add to the dog food. Washing is only done twice a week and the dogs no longer get rice mixed in with thier food. electricity bill has reduced by a huge amount.

[Nickolai Naydenov]

The point is that in the space of 7 years electricity increased/increasing to 300% which is unheard of. They said the money will be used to build powerstations and etc but 5 years later they haven't started anything, electricity price increases and nothing has been built, I wonder where all those money disappeared?

[Pap_sak]

The point is that in the space of 7 years electricity increased/increasing to 300% which is unheard of. They said the money will be used to build powerstations and etc but 5 years later they haven't started anything, electricity price increases and nothing has been built, I wonder where all those money disappeared?

Have you not heard of Medupi and Kusile power stations? They will start coming online sometime in 2013 (I think). SA has for many years under charged for electricity, and compounded with poor planning, we find ourselves in the situation we are now in - but ja, they are doing something about it.

When my geyser does go, I will replace with a solar geyser. And like the idea of slowly changing lighting to LED. But will do it over time (as in years) as doing it in one hit is just way to expensive.

[ians]

There was a program running,where you could take in your old lamps and exchange them for energy saving lamps.The problem is where are you going to dispose of these energy saving lamps, throw them in the rubbish bin? The program has been put on hold apparently because people got smart and went to the china malls and purchased incandest lamps cheap and traded them for energy saving lamps, then sold the energy saving lamps, clever boy.

[kahoel117]

Energy increase of 16% per year for 5 years ( IOL Article )

I hope it does not get approved by Nersa.

I guess the best place to save on electricity costs is with the geyser, lighting, cooking and ghost energy eaters (tv's on standby , cellphone chargers and so on).

i have found a a way to save electricity by bypassing the geyser. Though this is nothing new and its being done in most provinces.
I'm talking about bypassing the prepaid electricity meter. Just for the geyser. Nothing else. Do it safely with protection switch gear.
Geyser timers also work great. If you know what times you will need hot water and you stick to that time schedule , it will save you +/- 30% on your energy bill.

Gas for cooking is also great as a previous user said. Currently using an alva 2 plate gas stove with 9kg cylinder. for the past 6 months spend less than R400.
So if used correctly , you can save abit.

The cfl's is already a saving in itself. And i guess replacing them with led lamps would save some more of your precious Rands.
If you have some money , you can do the solar panel thing and run additional led laps (12vdc) to each room.No worries about blackouts or loadshedding. Currently experimenting with this and it does work.
Though Led lamps is not as bright as cfl's, and its still a bit expensive for led lamps.

Ghost power can also be managed, Use timers on your cell phone chargers. and switch of tv's , hifi's and microwaves(digital kind) at the wall socket.
Saving is small , but if calculated per year you can see the saving you can get.

[Dave A]

i have found a a way to save electricity by bypassing the geyser. Though this is nothing new and its being done in most provinces.
I'm talking about bypassing the prepaid electricity meter. Just for the geyser. Nothing else. Do it safely with protection switch gear.

Of course this doesn't actually save electricity, it's just taking it without paying (also known as stealing electricity).

Not a solution to be commended, frankly

[ians]

I think the TEE piece in the supply cable sounds like an even better idea, rerouted to you kitchen, for all the kitchen appliances sounds like a far better idea. It simple you dont pay your electricity account for 2 month, dont let them onto your property, make them switch off at the pole or CDU, cut the cable while the power is off make the joint, then pay your account and have it switched back on, nobody will know the wiser...hopefully you dont have a tar driveway, they might see you made some changes.

By the way dont let your electricity account drop suddenly otherwise they will pick it up on the system and do an investigation.

[kahoel117]

With the price of electricity rising again and probably for the next 5 years, its hard to swallow.

If you're paying R1000 for electricity today, you can be sure that in 5 years you'll be paying double for the same amount of electricity.

"Stealing electricity" is also a grey area. Since it depends on who steals the electricity. In Cape Town the price of electricity is high. You can pay R1.10 / KWH in one area and then R1.40 / KWH in another. Also if you get you're electricity from Eskom directly you pay cheaper then if you buying it through the the Municipality.

Add to that , the price of renewable energy sources is high aswell. Be it solar panels, solar water heating and the like. But i guess worth it in the long run and the rebate you get from buying it.

[ians]

Just remember, there is electrical test equipment which can trace cables routes without digging up the cable. You are more likely to get caught by someone pimping on you than the municipality catching you out. Unfortunatley i could never do it, being an electrician.

[wynn]

So far the consensus is:-
It is still not feasable to do the whole nine yards yet!! the tipping point is sometime in the future??

but!!

1 change to gas for cooking (two plate gas cooker with 9kg cylinder, not necessarily oven)
2 change to led when a light fitting needs replacing.
3 change to solar when a geyser packs up.
4 insulate what you can when you can, lagg pipes, insulate ceilings? (geyser blanket not necessary on newish geyser)
5 switch off 'Zombie Appliance Standby'.
6 install Jojo tanks when you can afford them.

Have I missed a few??

[kahoel117]

Just a matter of time before the LED lamps gets cheaper. Still expensive for higher wattage ones.

Braai more. You're outdoors and save electricity. I heard about the "power factor correction unit" that you install in your DB . though not sure if it makes a big difference.
All i know about it , is it brings your power factor closer to 1 and you only pay for the actual power you use. mostly applicable to appliances that has motors i think. interresting.

[ians]

At R40 for a bag of charcol, i will stick with my gas thanks, instant, no waiting period, smoke, and when you done, just switch off. People say the braai taste better, cob works for me and only uses 3 pieces of charcol to cook a lamb roast, best i have tasted and juicy.