You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Channel=News_Home&ArticleId=1518-2387-2525_2561564&IsColumnistStory=False
What me must remember is that although Jacob Maroga is now gone this in no way means we are out of the woods, we are still teetering on the edge of grid collapse with our minimal reserve margin!
All this whole Eskom debacle has done is shoved the new build program into the background, one of the projects is 17 months behind and it is estimated that we will not have enough power from 2011 to 2019 – Imagine the devastation caused if any sort of sustained, regular, rolling blackouts are too occur.
The key is too take steps now for a number of reasons
1) Cost – Changing to energy efficient products make much more financial sense than any other product.
2) You help reduce our stretched reservce margin. Imagine if 100,000 people would reduce their usage by R250 a month.
3) Environmentally. A family of 4 can reduce their water consumption by as much a 80,000 plus litres by doing nothing different!!!
How is this possible?
With an Energy Efficient Shower Head. It uses 9.5 litres per min, 48% less than average South African heads. So a 10 min shower will use less than 100 litres of water instead of the 150 plus litres currently. If you have 4 or more people using this shower it equates to a daily saving of 200 litres, weekly saving of 1400 litres, monthly of 7000 and a yearly saving of 84 000 litres.
If one calculates both the heating and water savings costs based on these figures it is easy to see how one can make a substantial impact in all areas : COST, ENERGY GRID, ENVIRONMENT.
These showers cost R195 each so your return on investment in around 45 days….
CLICK ON THE SHOWER PIC TO ORDER OR LEARN MORE
Have a Solar Day!
www.urban-solar.co.za
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_12664/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=kK1Enmd6
Great article on South Africa’s potential to pioneer a green industry on the African continent.
It is required as we are the only African country in the TOP 20 that emits 90% of the world’s greenhouse gases!!!
We are quite a long way away from massive industry but individual homes can make a start with Energy Efficient Products.
Solar Water Heating will save approximately 35% of your monthly electricity bill.
Energy Savings Shower Head save roughly 48% in water and heating costs compared with ordinary shower heads.
LED Lights use 90% less electricty and last over 50k hours meaning you will never have to replace them!
Have a Solar Day!
No sooner had I published my blog “The Off-Grid Goal” highlighting the knock-on effects of the proposed 3 x 45% Interest Rate increases than does FIN24 print an article bringing up the same effects….
Read Greta Steyn’s Article – The Power Hike Peril
The warnings are clear and timely – various parties have concluded that the impact on ordinary South Africans will be dramatic.
Affordable Energy Efficient Products will save you R’000s
Have a Solar Day!
In response to a question posed to me by Waine, it dawned on me that some people might not understand why energy efficiency anywhere and everywhere is critically important to those wishing to make a move in the future to an off-grid Electricity System i.e. a system where you produce most if not all of your own electricity using Eskom grid supply as a back-up.
Why is this a goal you might ask? Well, one only has to look at the recent happenings with Eskom – their lack of initiative, corruption, theft has left the South African consumer and businesses reeling from massive tariff hikes. And with the 3 x 45% hikes already tabled with NERSA the picture being painted is not getting any better.
Even if your household can afford these enlarged bills, I don’t think everyone is comprehending the entire picture. EVERYTHING will increase, CPI will shoot up, Interest Rates will adjust upwards to combat this – Your Bond, Your Car, Your Debt – All will increase as a result.
The food that you buy will increase because as we all well know the food industry needs no second invitation to increase their prices willy nilly.
Jobs will be lost, businesses will close down – if one takes into account all prior and future electricity increases by 2010 you will be paying 240% more than you were in 2008, and by 2012 500% will be the increase you will be subject too.
One has to start now, installing LED’s or Solar Water Heating or Energy Efficient Showerheads – will free up much needed cash flow come April 2010 when the 1st increase takes hold. If you were to wait your ability to afford anything else will be hampered by the expected increases in all costs.
The Off-Grid goal is my businesses aim – I would like to assist ALL South Africans to achieve this, but it is still Cost Prohibitive and very few people can afford it.
But other products are affordable and more than that they make MUCH more financial sense than your typical products. They save you money and pay for themselves in a given time frame.
They also set you up for the future if you have LED Lighting, Solar Water Heating, Efficient Water fittings, Gas Stoves/Fridges - what are you left with? A much reduced energy usage and therefore cost. In fact if you have ALL of the above installed one can easily expect a 50% – 80% reduced energy bill.
So therefore if one eventually does decide to go off-grid with Photovoltaics, Wind Power etc you now have a MUCH smaller system to install – your requirements and therefore system costs will be substantially reduced – you will never again care about what Eskom does!
Of course one has to take into account maintenance but based on the below facts it is substantially lower compared with en-ending monthly electricity bills…..
- Solar Water Heating: 5 Year Gaurantee, 15+ Year Life Span
- LED Lighting: 50,000 Hours Use, If used 3 hours a day it would last 45 years
- Gas Stoves/Fridges – Reduced electronics, connect the gas and go!
- Shower Heads: Made out of a material similar to teflon, you’ll never need to replace it!
So there you go – a Guide to My Off-Grid Goals!
If you have any questions, would like to order or just a chat – email me at info@urban-solar.co.za – I will respond to each mail I get.
Have a Solar Day!
Why LED?
The lighting efficiency of the new high power led light bulbs is nearly eight times that of incandescent lights, and twice as high as compact fluorescent lights. Led bulbs also emit a much higher percentage of light in the desired direction. This makes them even more efficient compared to either incandescent or fluorescent for task lighting, desk lamps, reading lights, spotlights, flood lights, and track lighting.
Led light bulbs also generate very little unwanted heat. The energy savings may be doubled in air-conditioned environments where each watt of incandescent lighting can add another watt or more to the power needed for air conditioning.
Led bulbs can operate for 30,000 hours or more. One led light bulb can easily outlast 30 incandescent bulbs, or 6 compact fluorescents! Led bulbs cost less than the bulbs they replace. Operating 12 hours per day, led light bulbs can last 7 years or more!
Led light bulbs are not sensitive to shock, vibration, or the extreme temperature changes that can quickly ruin fragile incandescent bulbs. And unlike fluorescent bulbs which wear out much faster if they are frequently turned on and off, led bulbs are not affected by frequent on-off switching.
-
Before – 50 Watt Halogens
Before – 50 Watt Halogens
Environmentally Friendly
You’ll never again have to choose between inefficient incandescents and fluorescents that contain mercury. LED lighting is safe, environmentally friendly and contains no toxic mercury.
LED lights use 90% less energy than conventional incandescent bulbs and less than half the energy of compact fluorescent lamps. Consuming less energy results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions being released into our environment.
Also, because each LED products is designed to last for 50,000 or more hours, there is less landfill waste from burned-out incandescent bulbs and no dangerous mercury waste from fluorescents.
-
After – 5 Watt LEDS
After – 5 Watt LEDS
Ultra Efficient Lighting
The light output is comparable to that of a 40 to 100 watt incandescent light. Our LED lighting provides efficiency and enables consumers to save over the life of the light, without compromising beauty or the environment.
LED Lights uses only 10% on average of power. That’s 90% less energy spent per incandescent light, and 50% less than a CFL.
On average in the running a 60-watt light for 50,000 hours would cost R2,100 in electricity alone. Because the LED lights uses only an average of 10 watts, running the light for 50,000 hours will cost only R420 under the same scenario. In addition, you will no longer spend time or money replacing lights. Over the lifetime of one led light, you will save R1,680 or more on your electricity cost alone.
Have a Solar Day!
The Carte Blanche episode last night, Sunday 18th October, once again opened our eyes to just how in-efficient Eskom is.
A June 2009 Confidential document leaked to Carte Blanche has highlighted the fact that Eskom has more than R3 Billion outstanding for 60 Days, of which R1.8 Billion is from one Suburb being Soweto.
It also emerged that the countries that recieve our exported electricity only experienced a 7% increase since 2008, over the same time frame the local South African consumer had to bear the brunt of 2 HUGE increases – 27.3% and 31.3%
What is most shocking for more, personally is that BHP Billiton has actually had a reduction of prices to the tune of 40% – Why you ask? Well the agreement with the large mines is such that if the commodity they produce/mine falls in price then do does their electricity costs. I would love to have been at the mining houses head office after that deal was concluded – just to see them breaking out in un-controlled fits of laughter doe to the stupidity of Eskom agreeing to deals like this!!!!!
One must remember that a large Aluminum Smelter uses the same amount of electricty as Port Elizabeth!!!! In fact Eskom is selling this electricity at this scale at a loss to BHP?
If one also adds up the past and proposed increases tabled by Eskom you will be paying 500% more than you did in 2008? This will cripple us all, jobs will be lost, businesses will be closed – and then the problem gets worse from there,
We have ALL the incentive in the world to change our habits and way we live, if we wait for these electricity hikes before we change it is too late.
An energy efficient showerhead will save you R3,500 a year – and with the cost starting at R200 (for iblog users) it is a small step to take on the path to off-grid independence – BUY A SHOWERHEAD HERE
How Eskom is sure to influence inflation and then….Interest Rates……meaning we’ll be paying more for everything by way of Eskom.
It is time to stop paying Eskom, force them to increase the effectiveness and efficieny by stopping the cash cow that is the middle and upper class…we pay for bonuses to CEO’s who run companies that make R9.7 billion losses?
Have a Solar Day!
Electricity could become hugely expensive if Eskom’s application to increase the tariff by 45% a year over the next three years is approved. Should the plan get the go-ahead, in 2010 South Africans will be paying more for electricity than consumers in countries like the USA (83c/kWh) and South Korea (49.5c/kWh) are paying.
We would be paying more than these first world countries?
Schüssler said South Africa should be paying far less for electricity than other countries, simply because it has so much coal.
Eskom has blamed part of the problem on coal costs rising – yet as the article states we have so much coal?
It is time to start changing our usage patterns….there are many products that can save you money
Have a Solar Day ! – www.urban-solar.co.za
So Eskom has no competition – they are the only entity on a National Scale that can produce and sell electricity to South Africa.
So how does a monopoly, that prices it’s products for practically each market segment to maximise revenues, go bankrupt?
3 Simple answers: THEFT, CORRUPTION & STUPIDITY – the leaders (and this goes for the majority of government dept’s) have no experience in running these businesses and departments. This allows those that do steal to get away with it with the knowledge that they will probably never get caught. The problems just snow ball…
It’s time to stop funding these incompetent enterprises. Finance your Own assets and not others…
Have a Solar Day
For those of you who have not seen the articles today please click below…
It al centres around Eskom’s proposed Tariff increases for the next 3 years of 45% each year which will drive up your electricity costs to SHOCKINGLY high levels.
People need to understand that they can make changes now – CFL’S, LED’s, SOLAR, ENERGY EFFICIENT FITTINGS – all will reduce your usage substantially.
Most people complain that these items are TOO expensive and lets face it, they are more expensive than the usual alternatives. BUT this is the completely wrong way of viewing these items. We need to stop thinking like consumers, we need to re-think the way we live.
We need to understand that these Items are ASSETS and not expenses. They generate a return on the investment you have spent. For instance a LED bulb will save you approximate 50% when compared with the usual incandescent bulb. You therefore save money and in the real world saving money is just as good as making more money!
We have to run our homes like businesses – think carefully about our purchases and the rewards will be dramatic.
Right now with the Eskom increases we are financing THEIR assets and footing the bill, paying more for nothing? We have not increased our usage, in fact I would guess in most instances we have reduced our usage – YET we still pay more. This is not how it is supposed to work.
What can we do about it – GO SOLAR, GO EFFICIENT – so a solar system may cost you R15k but you get a return on that investment, and each time Eskom increases their tariffs your return increases. Once you have recouped your initial outlay in savings all that hot water is free – YOU COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT ESKOM DOES IN THE FUTURE.
This is the case with all energy saving products – you generate a return on them and they are in fact assets to you and your household.
You need to take a long term approach and in 24 months you could be generating 80% of your own electricity and saving the rest.
Visit us online – WWW.URBAN-SOLAR.CO.ZA
Have a Solar Day!
Recent Comments