Five tips to beat load shedding
With no end in sight to load shedding disruptions, homeowners and businesses need to do what they can to get through the outages as best they can.
Craig Lewis of SunLogic offers 5 tips to manage load shedding:
- Ensure important devices – laptop, cellphone etc – are charged before load shedding is scheduled to start. Invest in a portable phone charger that you top up with solar power if necessary.
- Unplug cables to avoid power surges when the power does come on. This spike in power supply could damage appliances, so rather keep them unplugged during load shedding. If you have a UPS system (uninterrupted power supply), this will kick in with additional power when the electricity switches off.
- To prevent food and perishables from going off during load shedding, fill bottles with water and freeze them. When the power goes off, place these in your fridge to keep food cool.
- Make small changes throughout your home to reduce your energy consumption. Switch to LED lights and insulate your geyser. Only switch on your geyser when you need warm water. By insulating your geyser, you will use up to 20% less power to heat it up when it is switched on again.
- Invest in an alternative power supply. Consider a PV solar system that will provide solar power. You can opt for a grid-tied solution that will supplement your energy requirement when the sun is available or an off-grid system that can store excess solar power produced during the day for use when needed. Contact SunLogic should this be an option for you to consider.
An off-grid system is pricier than a grid-tied system as it requires more batteries and hardware. “But you don’t need to go completely off-grid to benefit from a solar system,” says Lewis. “You can start small with a backup generator or batteries, and add to your system as needed.” Both are really great solutions, but with the recent increase in fuel prices, maybe a consideration for a greener solution is the way to go! There are also various finance options available for solar installations. The cost can be included in your monthly bond repayments, or you could opt for a rent-to-own approach.
“With no sign of load shedding easing any time soon, homeowners and businesses need to take their energy needs into their own hands by switching to alternative energy sources,” concludes Lewis.
Contact us at www.sunlogic.co.za for more cost saving tips.