WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-02-05 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
[This is interesting. What are your views and experiences on this subject? Jan]
By Rivonia Naidu
Durban electricians and plumbers are at odds with Eskom and the eThekwini Municipality over whether switching off your geyser does in fact save electricity.
They believe that if you switch off your geyser, your electricity bill is likely to be higher.
Eskom and the eThekwini Electricity Department, who are currently pursuing new measures for the city to save electricity, disagree.
| A home with two people might benefit from switching off their geysers |
But electricians and plumbers are adamant and said in their “expert opinion”, when the temperature in a geyser drops and the water gets cold, a lot of power is needed to re-heat the water to the correct temperature again.
“And that means more electricity is used,” said Brian Bilton, technical advisor of the KwaZulu-Natal Electrical Contractors’ Association (South Africa).
He advised people not to switch off their geysers as switching off would only cause the thermostat a device in the geyser that controls the water temperature to work “overtime”, therefore using more power.
“In a large family, most of the hot water in the geyser will be used up in the morning. So, if that geyser is switched off before they all leave home, the thermostat cannot reheat the water to its correct temperature.
On their return home in the evening, they would switch the geyser back on, activating the thermostat, but because the geyser had been off the entire day, the thermostat would work twice as hard to reheat the water, using more electricity,” he said.
| ‘I don’t think the department should be allowed to control our geysers’ |
Jeffery Marimuthoo, of Stonebridge Electrical in Phoenix, said switching off the geyser would hit pockets hard because the thermostat draws more power after being switched off the entire day.
“The only time I would advise the public to switch of their geyser would be when they’re going on holiday, then only can you save electricity by switching off your geyser,” he said.
Kevin Wolf of Wolf Electricals in Jacobs agreed, but said a home with two people might benefit from switching off their geysers.
“This is because the demand for hot water at the end of the day is not as high and the thermostat, if switched off the whole day, won’t have to work overtime to regulate the temperature of the water,” he said.
On the issue of insulation blankets – a cover designed for geysers in order to conserve energy – Lesley Reddy of KZN Plumbing said covering a geyser with an insulation blanket would only help save power if the geyser was not continuously switched on and off.
He said insulation blankets could be installed by plumbers and would cost between R250 and R500, but one could also buy the covers at stores like Makro for R100 and install them oneself.
Eskom has publicly endorsed the switching on and off of geysers through media and advertising campaigns.
Head of eThekwini Electricity Department Siyabonga Maphumulo said switching geysers off and on would definitely save electricity.
He said the department was on the “brink of making a decision as to what system would enable the department to effectively control geysers being switched off an on”.
eThekwini municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe said if all went according to plan, electricity monitoring devices called “ripple controls” would be installed in homes across KZN within six months.
Ripple controls are units installed on electricity distribution boards of houses designed to enable municipalities to switch off geysers and other electrical appliances by remote control. By disabling these appliances, pressure will be alleviated on the national power grid.
This does not sit well with eThekwini residents, who believe their electricity bills are higher since they began switching their geysers off.
One resident said: “I switched the geyser off and on for a month and my electricity bill was R350. It’s usually much lower than that. I don’t think the department should be allowed to control our geysers.”
Another irate reader said: “My electricity bill has almost doubled since switching the geyser off.”