Eskom???

[ians]

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.

Power factor correction...Dont even go down that road, unless you have had a load study done by a "reputable company" (capacitor technologies, dudley stevens comes to mind) and you are aware of exactly how much money you are going to save, beware. This is a field that has also been invaded by people out to make a quick buc, like when load shedding came about, every man and his dog was selling and installing generators, by the container load. There are companies which offer to install the equipment free but take a percentage of the savings, i am not gona say anymore, before i get sued.

[SilverNodashi]

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??

As matter of interest, how will a Jojo tank help with energy saving?

And, w.r.t LED lights, do you replace them with 220V ones, or 12V with a transformer ?

[wynn]

Jojo tanks save water costs as well as power saving which reduce your municipal account.
It is ESKOM now but safe fresh drinking water is going to be a problem in the future!!

Interesting that Grahamstown is experiencing polluted water, not just from the recent floods but for a while now, a Jojo would be a Godsend for them right now.

[SilverNodashi]

Jojo tanks save water costs as well as power saving which reduce your municipal account.
It is ESKOM now but safe fresh drinking water is going to be a problem in the future!!

Interesting that Grahamstown is experiencing polluted water, not just from the recent floods but for a while now, a Jojo would be a Godsend for them right now.

how does storing water in a tank reduce eskom costs?
Even if you use a borehole to pump water from the ground, you'll still use electricity to pump it into the tank.


Saving fresh water for a "rainy day" (no pun intended) is a different story but won't save on your electricity bill. And water can only be stored for a certain amount of time before it goes bad in any case

Or is there something else which I'm missing?

[ians]

The only way you save is if your tanks are higher than your property, as mentioned pumping the water is more expensive than the cost of municipal water. The only way you will save is the sewage levy charged per litre of water you consume and if the water is gravity fed from the storage tanks.

LEd lamps are very expensive, yes they do tell you they will last xxx hours, maybe in another country, as soon as you try replace these lamps they tell you the power is too dirtyin this country and there must have been a surge in the power. Unless you have a fluke 435 setup and recording spikes on your electrical supply you got leg to stand on, just pay.

[Pap_sak]

I guess for lighting it might be best to go the 12V route then later on when finances are better, buy a panel and battery?

[tec0]

Solar panels are an option but it is an expensive option. I don't like them because there installation cost and running cost can become a massive loss in the long run and what you get is not worth your time and or money. Everyone screams Eskom sucks but the reality is if they go we go with them. Without power there is no country it is just a simple fact of life.

The reality is installing expensive stuff will make your neighbours green... Or if you have neighbours from hell then you gave them nice big things to damage while you are away. But it will not save you when the power goes out for more than 48 hours. It will charge your phone and perhaps keep your freezer working "if you are lucky" but more then that you will wonder if that R45k or R75k was worth it...

Even R10k becomes a lot of money to waste if you plan to get 100watts out of it "again if you are lucky". The reality is there is no alternative power system... That is the scary part. Nothing that you can buy "within reason" will solve your power problem.

[kahoel117]

Its a shame that renewable energy is so expensive. The upfront cost is very high. Though i would say for an small installation , running maybe just the lights (12vdc led + 5vdc for an usb socket for cell phones and laptops). Current B-grade solar panels is R11/watt . With the future rise in energy prices which is almost a certainty, i would rather make an small investment now and save on money in the future. Just an 10% increase per year for 5 years in energy costs makes it worthwhile. (Eskom might get their 16%, then its worse).

What is even more sickening is our dependence on electricity. I mean for everything. I know that i could'nt live without it. And i know most people feel the same.
And the powers that be knows this. We pay or we don't have electricity.

Interresting --> http://www.watersheds.org/education/gstudent.htm

[Dave A]

Reading that link nudged me to share...

My folks' home is in the bundu and off Eskom - always has been. And the first thing to go on solar power was the borehole pump about 20 years ago.
The fridges and freezers run on gas or paraffin - still do.
Lighting went solar about 10 years ago, and probably only because they decided to get a TV now that satellite was an option. Before that it was paraffin lamps with a battery powered radio as their ear to the world.
Hot water was made with a donkey boiler until very recently, when they finally put in a solar geyser. Needless to say, hot showers didn't happen every day.

When I compare my life here in the city to how my folks live, I'm just so aware that electricity and water conveniently "on tap" and at a reasonable price is a major life changer.

Kinda curious how another technology will change their life over the next few years - they've just gone onto satelite for their telephone and internet and can now communicate at will with the rest of the world without making a long road trip first. The first consequence has already struck home - now that they've got a telephone service I can call them to say hello whenever I want to instead of waiting for their call.

[ians]

What concerns me is people make it look like you save huge amounts of money when you install solar geysers, heat pumps etc, maybe you should be looking at the tumble drier and washing machine running 4 hours a day, just to mention 2 appliances.

I will give you an example, my geyser is set to run for 3 hours a day, i have replaced the 2 element with a 1 kw element, which means i use 3 kw per day x 1.2 x 31 x 12 = around R1400 per year to run my geyser, a solar geyser is goan cost me around R12000 after my escom rebate, which means it will take me 8 years to to justify the purchase of the solar geyser. Not only that 2 days of kak weather, no more hot water which means i am back to using electricity. If the sloar unit wher emore reasonably priced like around R3-4000 it might make me consider it. Dont forget you still have to get someone to install the solar geyser on the roof, you now have extra weight on your roof trusses, the life span of the geyser, will insurance pay out if the roof colapses, etc, etc. You have to wait for the rebate to be paid out. These are just a few things i can think of off the top of my head.

[kahoel117]

@DaveA. nice to see technology doing its bit. Something small makes a difference, especially if you never had it in the 1st place. I think they still have what we don't ... independence.

@ians i think the people selling/installing the solar systems is using our energy crises thing to milk us out of some extra money. i mean a geyser is maybe R2500+ for a decent one. Add a geyser timer to that and you can save a bit of money per month. The solar geyser i can understand is a bit more expensive, but they overcharge you making alot of people not going for it knowing they can save money in the long run. (initial cost is high).

nice website to check out what other energy saving technologies is available and a basic cost. www.sustainable.co.za/

[ians]

If there was an energy crisis, goverments would be doing a lot more to make renewable energy options a lot more affordable.

[tec0]

I fear that you may well be missing a important point. The truth is our existing power plants is falling apart thanks to our mining industry that hits Eskom with massive penalties. Thus because of the industrial and mining sector our power-stations are taking a beating and may become un-repairable soon. Why this act is not deemed criminal is beyond me, the simple reason this country may well lose there sustainably.

If you honestly believe that a few sun panels will save you then who am i to argue with you. Fact is your home may still have power but your work may not and there in is the real problem. If you study the power demands of a simple office and a small factory or even a bank you will see that the demand will surpass the devices in question's ability.

Here in is a real serious problem. Perhaps it is time to rethink our standing on nuclear energy. It is much safer then it used to be and the technology is evolving everyday. Fact is it can generate more power than anything else. This will remain the truth regardless if you ignore this simple fact.

We need safe nuclear power and we need it now....

See there is more to this then just your personal household... Our ability to survive is now under serious fret.

I fear people are ignoring this fact for far to long now.

[Pap_sak]

What concerns me is people make it look like you save huge amounts of money when you install solar geysers, heat pumps etc, maybe you should be looking at the tumble drier and washing machine running 4 hours a day, just to mention 2 appliances.

I will give you an example, my geyser is set to run for 3 hours a day, i have replaced the 2 element with a 1 kw element, which means i use 3 kw per day x 1.2 x 31 x 12 = around R1400 per year to run my geyser, a solar geyser is goan cost me around R12000 after my escom rebate, which means it will take me 8 years to to justify the purchase of the solar geyser. Not only that 2 days of kak weather, no more hot water which means i am back to using electricity. If the sloar unit wher emore reasonably priced like around R3-4000 it might make me consider it. Dont forget you still have to get someone to install the solar geyser on the roof, you now have extra weight on your roof trusses, the life span of the geyser, will insurance pay out if the roof colapses, etc, etc. You have to wait for the rebate to be paid out. These are just a few things i can think of off the top of my head.

For me, I'll only replace my geyser once my old one "blows" - so another R5000 savings (geyser plus installation) AND not sure you've included the prices hikes which will be on going at around 12% per year from here on (thumb sucking increase though!).

As for solar panels in the house, I think done gradually with parts off ebay it wouldn't be too pricey esp with DIY solar panels/LEDs - but ja, treat as more of a paying hobby

Forgot to also add, it's also only worth it if you not planning to move for quite a while as getting it back on the sale of your house is highly unlikely.

[kahoel117]

What happened to that pebblebed nuclear plant they were experimenting with ? They can build another nuclear power plant next to koeberg and feed the national grid.
Would take the strain of the other power stations.