Parkhurst
Post
February 2008
Electricity Eaters
The mantra that our hot water tanks (also called cylinders or geysers)
make up 40-50% of our electricity bill has been passed down as a household
law along with such myths that leaving the cut crust on one end of the
loaf stops it getting stale. I always wondered why our electricity bill
didn’t really get any less when we went away for a few weeks and
turned it off. So with the fuss going on about cutting our electricity
usage by at least 10%, I felt it was time to do some research of my own.
My starting point was the excellent table of the drawing power and cost
of using various household electrical appliances that appeared in the
Star on 21 January 2008. I added a few extra items that are applicable
to my household and worked out exactly how much we are paying for our
electricity in Parkhurst (R0.5191 cents a Kilowatt hour including VAT).
And the results lead to some interesting findings which I have presented
in the three graphs below.
Cost of Using Domestic Electrical Equipment
The above graph shows, in descending order, how much it costs in rand to use an item of electrical equipment that we often have in our homes.
Sure enough the hot water cylinder or geyser tops the list at R2.338per
hour when it is heating water. Of the top 20 energy hungry appliances,
only 4 items are not related to heating something up.
Right at the bottom of the list is one of those energy saving bulbs with
which we are being urged to replace the old incandescent bulbs. It only
uses 0.4 cents an hour, while the old style 60 watt bulb costs 3.1 cents
an hour (or 12 times more electricity than the energy saving one).
This kind of information is useful, but it is limited as it doesn’t
take into account the actual usage of the appliances. I therefore used
my house as an example for actual energy usage. It is a normal 3-bed 2-person
house with pool, security system, loft insulation & granny flat.
Annual Electricity Cost
The pie chart above shows the breakdown of energy use categories (like heating, electronics & computing, lighting, cooking, etc) as well as some of the appliances that use enough electricity to be placed in their own category.
What I have done is estimate how much I use each appliance (and it is
only an estimate). I was gobsmacked by the results. Contrary to popular
belief, our hot water cylinder only accounts for R900 (or 9%) of my annual
electricity bill (based on it heating water the little bit of water we
use in showering and doing the washing up). It came in at # 7 in the list
of most costly electricity catagories.
Top of the list was the pool pump which costs me R2000 a year to run (or
20.37% of my energy bill). My pool guy recommends that it should be on
12 hours/day for the 8 months of summer/spring and 8 hours/day in the
4 months of winter. It is by far and away the worst energy consuming single
item in the household - about the same as all our cooking appliances together.
Other energy sapping culprits are
• 19.60%: Cooking (stove, oven, microwave, kettle, etc);
• 10.49%: Heating (we have four 7-fin oil heaters used for about
5 hours a day in winter);
• 9.93%: Electronic and computing equipment (2 computers, printers,
answering machines, hi-fis, TV, etc - we both work from home);
• 9.67%: The 2 fridge-freezers cost R475 each per year to run);
• 9.57%: Lighting - we have a mix of energy savers where we can
and normal bulbs in the chandeliers and spots. Note that despite bulbs
being cheap to run it is number of them and the long time they stay on
that racks up the bills (we have a total of 38 in our house);
I have included another item we leave on 24 hours a day - the electric
fence (R00 or 1.02%). Despite putting out 12000 volts it uses very few
amps (the bit of electricity that has the power to make things work) and
so it hardly draws any current and costs less than R10/month to run.
This, then, is a much more useful analysis and really does give me pointers
where I can make real savings based on real facts. So here is what I have
done and will be doing to reduce my energy consumption both to save me
money and to help Escom (and therefore you) to avoid those dreaded planned
power cuts.
• Roof insulation - recycled paper treated with fire retardent
and rodenticide that was installed in 07;
• Install timer switch on hot water geysers and pool pump to reduce
the load on the electricity grid - about to do in early March o8;
• Replace electric hot plates with gas - about to do in March 08;
• Use an electric blanket in the bedroom instead of oil heater -
bought one in 07;
• Reduce pool pump usage - I have a salt chlorinator and so need
to run it to generate chlorine. I will add a chlorine floater to the pool
and run it for 8 hrs in summer and 5 in winter;
• I will replace ALL my old incandescent bulbs with the energy saving
ones;
• I will use those light sensitive energy saving bulbs for my outside
lights;
• I will replace the two old brass chandeliers with more modern
low energy light fittings;
• I will turn off my PC more often (even if only the screen when
I am away from the desk and office);
• I will turn off the at the wall all the devices that have a standby
function (like the TV, hifi, DVD player, toaster, cell charger, etc).
What are you going to do? I would suggest that you use the figures in the first graph and work out your own usage. Then have a look at what is really costing you money and wasting electricity. Then DO SOMETHING about it and make those changes.
Geysers - Beyond the Truth
OK - the above analysis exploded the geyser myth about it being the major
electricity user in the home. But it is a major power user when it is
on, especially at certain times of the day when EVERYBODY else’s
geysers are on. This is what ESCOM are getting at when they want us to
turn them off at certain times of the day.
From listening to “experts” on Talk Radio 702 and chatting
to my plumber and electrician I have come up with the following information
on geysers.
If you were to turn it off from time to time, would you (1) help save
electricity and make you feel that you are doing something to help with
the electricity shortage; and (2) save you any money? The answer is “it
depends.”
The geyser uses electricity to heat up water in a large cylinder. When
the water gets to a certain temperature, the geyser turns itself off.
When the temperature of the water starts dropping, the geyser turns itself
on to heat it up to the desired temperature again. This continues all
the time often as much as 20 minutes per hour in an old geyser. So obviously
the insulation of the hot water cylinder or geyser is important.
Old Geysers
If you have an old geyser, it is unlikely that it is not well insulated.
This means that you will save money AND electricity by buying an insulated
jacket and fitting it so that you decrease the heat loss. An uninsulated
geyser loses heat quickly and so it has to work harder to keep the water
hot.
If you turn off this type of geyser for several hours a day, you will
save money. I asked a plumber about stressing the element (the thing that
heats the water) in an old geyser by turning it off and on and he said
that he hadn't come across this problem.
I have one of these in the granny flat I only turn it on when we have
visitors. The element hasn't blown so far.
New Geysers
These tend to be the more like square boxes. The box often has insulation
inside it to keep the water warm and the water loses about 1'C every 24
hours. Because the heat loss is less, the element doesn't have to work
as hard to keep the water hot. Turning off this type of geyser will not
really save you money as the money saved in turning it off will be added
on when you have to reheat it again.
I have one of these in my house and I find out that the water stays warm
enough to have 4 showers a day and sundry hand and dish washes for two
days.
You can also turn down the thermostat on the geyser. I found that when
I did this, I used more hot water as you don't use so much cold water
to cool it down. I also found that the shower was weaker as it needed
the cold water to boost its power. I will be investigating a low flow
shower head which may solve this problem.
Ethics
As mentioned above, expense and just saving electricity is often not the
main reason for turning off the geyser. The main problem we are facing
is that at certain times in the day, the demand for electricity exceeds
the ability of Escom to supply it. So if we can have our cylinders (and
pool pumps, etc) turned off at these peak times (from 6-10 am and 4-9
pm), then we WILL be helping to solve the energy crisis.
Recommendations
I would recommend that you install a timer on your geysers (and also on
your pool pump) that isn't affected by power cuts (it has a little battery
built into it) that turns on your geyser at night and your pool off during
off-peak periods. Ask your electrician about them they cost R1500 to supply
a good quality one.
You can also fit an insulated cover onto the cylinder which will help
a little bit for the new cylinders and a lot on old ones. Of course it
will work better in winter when the temperature is colder. They cost from
R200-300 each depending on your geyser size and are available from Parkhurst
Paint and Hardware.
Power Cuts that Killed the DVD
We all know about power surges and outages causing damage to your computer
equipment, but they can also have a disastrous effect on many of your
electrical devices in the home.
Those most at risk are the ones that themselves powered by small micro-computers
such as the more obvious MNET/Multichoice decoders, TVs and DVD players.
However many other devices like fridges, microwaves and toasters also
now have little computers or microprocessors built inside them.
They are also designed to operate on a constant and steady power supply
to work well. They have been designed to be disconnected one or two times
a month, but once or more a day is bad for them.
But the main problem is the on-off, on-off with the surges and dips in
the current when the power is reconnected. An expert on Talk Radio 702
said that the best thing we can do during planned power cuts (and also
in case of unplanned ones) is to shut down the device and turn it off
at the wall. Only turn it back on when the electricity has been switched
on again.
For the devices like fridges, you can fit one of the many external power
supplies like a UPS or surge protector.
Rates
As you all know in July the Johannesburg City Council are planning on
increasing the rates in the city to bring the rates more in line with
the current market value of properties in the city. For instance, my rates
are currently R490.11 on a property valuation of R371 000 (or a taxable
rate of R0.00132 for every rand that the property is valued). The value
of the house is laughably low - the last valuation we had in 2007 was
R2.2 million. So if I were to pay the market related rates at the current
taxable rate I should be paying R2904 a month.
The city is now realistically valuing properties and then applying a reduced
taxable rate to work out your rates bill. The new city valuation of my
property is a pretty accurate R1.98 million which will attract a rates
bill of R818.75 (a taxable rate of R0.00041 per valued rand).
What the city has done is increase the value of my property by 533% and
decreased the rateable tax by 322%. This has resulted in an increase in
my monthly rates by R328.64 or 66.92%.
I think that we all agree that the properties are currently undervalued
and it is a good idea to update them. However, by increasing the rates
bill by a whopping 67% over night is pretty steep. If you add the current
R180.87 that I am paying for refuse collection, sewer services and bin
hire, the total monthly bill will go up from R670.98 to R999.62.
To object to and comment on the increase, please contact our rates and
alternative energy sub-committee chair Mike Gardener mjcg@webafrica.org.za.
Check Your Valuations & Increases
There are two methods of doing this:
1) Call 011-375-5555 between 8am-4pm on weekdays and choose option #7. You will need your erf or stand # (it is found on your rates and electricity bills.
2) The Internet using the following instructions:
• Go to “eservices.joburg.org.za.”
• Enter your user name and password (or register if you haven't
done it yet).
• Click "valuation services" in the grey box on the left.
• Click "I agree."
• Click on the black box called "Click here to get the new
market value of your property."
• Click "I agree."
• Tick "township" and enter "Parkhurst."
• Tick "stand" and enter your stand #.
• Click "search."
• Click on "Parkhurst." This should bring up a screen
with your property details and new valuation.
• To access an estimate of your monthly rates bill, click on the
property details screen and then click on "click here” next
to “calculate your draft rates".
• This will bring up a page with your property details and proposed
increases.
Living Link
Nestling behind one of the high walls in 12th Street, there is a very
special place for people with intellectual difficulties who often need
a helping hand to launch them into adulthood as vital and productive members
of society.
The Living Link was founded in 2000 by daughter and mother team Julia
Wilkinson and Ingrid Menzel after their efforts in teaching life skills
and social skills to their own intellectually impaired sister and daughter
Nadine Wilkinson. They realised that there was very little support offered
for intellectually impaired people once they left school and were determined
to use their experience gained from helping Nadine with other similarly
disadvantaged people.
The main services offered by The Living Link are:
• Life Skills Training Programme: this is a year long programme
where students are given instruction in everyday life skills, opening
and running a bank account, workplace skills, safety and independent living
skills. They are also given some work experience through various organisations
and businesses like the Johannesburg Zoo and Ernst and Young.
Once they have graduated, The Living Link helps to find them a job and
also appoints a job coach who supports the student, the employee and co-workers.
There are now 60 graduates holding down jobs in the open labour market
in such places as warehouses, factories, offices, schools and hospitals.
The type of work that is suitable tends to be the repetitive and not frontline
jobs like filing, data capturing and basic paper work.
• After Employment Programme: They are assisted in independent living.
In South Africa there is very little affordable housing for the disabled
and most of the independent graduates live at the 14 REEA
Contact the Editor
Tim Truluck
072-238-2790,
011-442-5201
info@parkhurst.org.za
