Johannesburg - Power utility Eskom’s proposed tariff hikes, twinned with national load shedding woes, have undoubtedly placed a strain on South African wallets.
However, a few inexpensive gadgets could save households, even if a few rand are back in the pocket at a financially difficult time.
For many years, South Africans have implored innovative solutions to lessen financial burdens and save a bit more.
A simple example is how many consumers turn their geyser on and off to prevent it from consuming power all day.
This brings us to our first energy-saving solution – the HotSpot.
The HotSpot
Given that the geyser is one of the highest consumers of electricity in the home, it’s a no-brainer to start attempts to alleviate financial strain here.
Last week, IOL reported that Eastern Cape-born innovator Sandiswa Qayi recently expanded operations to scale production of a smart geyser sleeve that aims to save electricity.
The invention is simple and saves households up to 27% of their geyser power consumption.
The HotSpot is fitted to a geyser’s element to heat water within the tank. It can efficiently heat only the required amount of water a household needs.
The saving is significant and can especially assist households with larger families.
Having a HotSpot installed on a household geyser will save but has the potential to save even more when being turned on and off, but why not make this a little easier?
The geyser switch is the second energy-saving product on this list that can complement the HotSpot very well.
Geyser switch
The geyser switch is a simple and affordable unit that has to be installed by an electrician and connects between the geyser and main power switchboard without affecting the power supply in the rest of the home.
While the geyser switch is nothing new, with many consumers already making use of them in the home – coupling a geyser switch with the HotSpot will allow users to turn the geyser on and off without manually needing to do this, offering convenience while avoiding not having hot water, if a consumer forgets to turn the geyser back on.
Using the geyser switch in conjunction with the HotSpot should save upward of the 27% already offered by the sleeve.
Independently, the geyser switch has been reported to save by only supplying power to the geyser during specific times during the day.
However, automating the geyser switch to turn off and on at times it is needed will likely be the most efficient way to use each product together.
Instant Electric Water Heater
The last gadget on this list makes for an alternative to both the geyser switch and the sleeve.
Instant Electric Water Heaters are becoming more prevalent, with scores of brands and various suppliers offering consumers a variety to choose from.
While many are available online, instant hot water heaters have numerous applications within a household.
Some units promise 99.8% energy efficiency and save up to 50% on power consumption compared to using a geyser.
It is suggested to implore the services of a professional to have any of these units in the home, and shopping for the relevant device to accommodate household demands is significantly important.
IOL Tech