Expect week of evening load shedding

MickeyD

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Cape Town – Eskom’s capacity to meet demand is expected to be short by almost 3 000 MW during the evenings this week, data from its system status bulletin showed.

This could result in load shedding moving from stages 1 to 3 during the evening from Tuesday to Thursday.

Eskom implemented stage 1 load shedding on Monday from 15:00 to 22:00, which required 1 000 MW to be shed from the grid to ensure a total blackout was averted.

On Monday, Eskom had planned maintenance cuts of 6 322 MW and unplanned outages cuts of 4 641 MW. Peak evening demand this week is predicted to be far greater than the capacity, with Tuesday (less 2 958 MW), Wednesday (less 2 576 MW) and Thursday (less 2 703 MW) showing signs of load shedding up to stage 3a, when 3 000 MW needs to be cut from the grid.

Stage 1 requires 1 000 MW less electricity usage, stage 2 (2 000 MW), stage 3a (3 000 MW) and 3b (4 000 MW).

Work with Eskom

Eskom said South Africans could assist in lessening the impact of load shedding by lowering their consumption.

"There is a golden rule that applies to saving electricity in the home: If you’re not using it, switch it off," Eskom explained.

"By partnering with Eskom and changing the way we use energy everyday, you can make a difference to the electricity supply shortage in our country."

Eskom gave these tips:

Geyser: it guzzles 39% of your monthly energy usage. Switch it off to reduce your energy demand. Don’t forget to insulate the geyser and water pipes.

Shower: it uses less water than bathing and using less hot water means less work for the geyser. Use an energy efficient shower head since it uses less water.

Lighting: replace all your incandescent bulbs with energy saving Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and switch off the lights in unoccupied rooms.

Standby electricity: don’t leave your TV, DVD player, etc. on stand-by mode; they still use up to 50% of their operating power. Rather switch them off at the power switch and don’t forget to unplug your cell phone charger after your phone has been charged or it will continue to draw power.

Refrigeration: close your fridge door quickly so it doesn’t use extra power to get back to its optimal cooling level.

Temperature control: keep the room temperature between 18°C - 23°C, this is known as the “golden zone”.

Fin24

Source: http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Eskom/Expect-week-of-evening-load-shedding-20150511
 
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Fulcrum29

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They started loadshedding at 15:00 and issued a positive statement at 16:00 only to warn the public 15 minutes later... This is going to be a terrible week with no absolute electricity planning whatsoever.
 

MickeyD

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They started loadshedding at 15:00 and issued a positive statement at 16:00 only to warn the public 15 minutes later... This is going to be a terrible week with no absolute electricity planning whatsoever.
Brace yourself for Stage 2 or 3 every evening this week.
 

MickeyD

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What pisses me off is that they should come out and acknowledge their problem and then declare Stage 2 from 16h00 to 22h00 every day for the rest of the week. Upfront, as in NOW.

We can then plan our lives and get some stability and there will be no confusion!
 

akescpt

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What pisses me off is that they should come out and acknowledge their problem and then declare Stage 2 from 16h00 to 22h00 every day for the rest of the week. Upfront, as in NOW.

We can then plan our lives and get some stability and there will be no confusion!

Don't be silly. That would require forethought.
 

heartbroken

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What pisses me off is that they should come out and acknowledge their problem and then declare Stage 2 from 16h00 to 22h00 every day for the rest of the week. Upfront, as in NOW.

We can then plan our lives and get some stability and there will be no confusion!

We have been asking for this for years. Just plan ahead. Sigh
 

bwana

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What pisses me off is that they should come out and acknowledge their problem and then declare Stage 2 from 16h00 to 22h00 every day for the rest of the week. Upfront, as in NOW.

We can then plan our lives and get some stability and there will be no confusion!

To be honest I'd prefer them to switch those ageing substations on and off as little as possible.
 

xumwun

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That forecast is totally pulled out of their arses. Those numbers seem very oddly specific.
 

NeonNinja

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This switching off your geyser theory. Isn't it repetitively disproved?
 

Creag

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It does however shift the load to a time where the system is under less stress.

...but costs you more to hear up to the desired temp than simply maintaining the temp (ie. no switching off). So do you become selfish or compliant?
 

Archer

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...but costs you more to hear up to the desired temp than simply maintaining the temp (ie. no switching off). So do you become selfish or compliant?

Why would it cost you more? You're heating the same amount of water to the same temp, whether you do little top ups, or one huge one, it'll be the same energy input.

If we want to get super technical, heat transfer is greatest when the temperature differential is large. So letting the geyser cool down "a lot" means the rate of energy loss would be lower overall than if you maintain the higher temperature. It would be minimal, but technically you'd be better off letting it cool down.
 

cavedog

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...but costs you more to hear up to the desired temp than simply maintaining the temp (ie. no switching off). So do you become selfish or compliant?

Eskom apparently say that it is a myth that you will use more electricity to heat up a geyser from scratch compared to keeping it on to keep the temp high.
 

Agent_Smith

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I switch my geyser on for about 45 minutes every night and then switch it off again. Shower is piping hot the next morning when I use it. I have left it on accidentally in the past and have noticed the reading on my prepaid meter drastically lower as a result. So mine stays off when not in use.
 

MickZA

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Many years ago when living on my own the geyser element packed in, hot water usage was limited to morning showers and it took about a week for the water to become noticeably colder - it reached the stage where I was only turning on the hot tap :)

iro of switching off geysers causing premature element failure; NMBM installed a ripple control around 2008 and we haven't experienced any failures ... plus we use plenty hot water.
 
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