How to beat those hefty Eskom bills
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WITH Eskom’s
prices reaching new heights each year, everyone is looking for ways to reduce
their bills. There are many options, from switching off anything electric
when you aren’t using it to knocking your house down and rebuilding it
entirely off the grid. Here are some ways to decrease your reliance on Eskom
— and your bills:
• Solar
It doesn’t yet
make financial sense to power your entire house using solar energy, but solar
can make a significant dent in your power bill.
Solar geysers pay
for themselves in three to four years. But there are downsides in terms of
convenience. You won’t get hot water in the mornings or if it’s been cloudy,
and heat is generally reduced in winter when the sun is less direct.
There are two ways
to get around this: you can change your habits so that you use the water when
it’s hot or you can have a back-up plan using another power source.
• Geyser heat pump
Hendrik Roux, CEO
of Home Comfort, a company that specialises in energy-efficient technologies,
suggests using a geyser heat pump either in conjunction with a solar system
or on its own. The heat pump works by compressing ambient air and heating it.
Water is heated in pipes that run through the hot air in the pump and into
your bathroom or kitchen. The heat pump uses about 70% less electricity than
a normal electric geyser. It is compact and easy to install, and it produces
cool air as a byproduct, which can be used to cool the house in summer.
• Gas
Gas water heaters
are small, you heat only the water you need, and your water is always hot
when you need it to be. You also never have to worry about them bursting. The
downside is that gas is not cheap and this option might not be ideal if the
heater is used extensively. But, used in conjunction with a solar system, it
could cut costs.
Gas is the obvious
choice for cooking and for heating your home if you want to extricate
yourself from Eskom. The heat from a gas fire can be used to heat much more
than just one room. At Waterfall Estate, in Kyalami, heat is in some
instances collected from above the gas fireplace and piped through the walls
and ceiling to heat upstairs and neighbouring rooms.
Plastic piping,
which is built into the screed of the floor, is placed on top of the
polystyrene insulation, which is laid above the concrete layer.
Water, heated by
gas in a radiator, is then circulated through these pipes to warm the rooms.
Piping can also be used in walls and ceilings in double-storey homes to heat
top-floor rooms.
This system also
works using solar or Eskom power.
• Biogas
Biogas has long
been used as an energy source, and its popularity is growing in rural regions
of countries like India and China. It has great potential for rural South
Africa, but could also be used in periurban areas. The process involves
creating methane, which is captured and stored and used for the same
processes as LP gas. It isn’t easily transported, as it can’t be compressed,
and is most efficiently used on site.
Organic waste,
such as garden and kitchen waste products, animal manure and even human
waste, are used to create biogas. These waste products are mixed with water
and placed in a biogas digester, an airtight container inside which the wet
waste is broken down by anaerobic bacteria. The result of this process is the
production of methane and carbon dioxide.
Typically, one
cubic metre of biogas will provide a cooking time of two hours. Each 2.5
cubic metres of biogas is equivalent to 1kg of LP gas.
• Insulation
Insulation is
vital if you want to keep the house at a steady temperature and reduce your
need for heating and cooling. Ceilings and floors are often insulated in
South Africa, but a great deal more temperature control can be achieved by
insulating the doors and windows. Double glazing is a possibility, but is
expensive. It involves two sheets of safety glass with an air pocket in
between, which, according to Dan Brown, Century Property Developments deputy
executive director, cuts down by between 60% and 70% the transfer of
temperature from the outside.
A less expensive
option is laminated glass, which is about 10 times more effective in keeping
outside temperatures at bay than ordinary glass. It involves two sheets of
glass with a laminate in between. It can also be tinted for greater effect.
A loose-fill
insulation is also worth considering. It is a granulated material made from
carpet offcuts, wool and paper products that is literally blown into the
ceiling. Unlike traditional carpet-style insulation, it gets into corners and
hard-to-reach areas. Because it is granulated, you can add things to the
ceiling — a sound system, for example — without having to cut away the
carpet. This kind of insulation is also effective when used between two
layers of bricks in an outside wall.
Source: Sunday
Times
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