Gauteng's grand switch-off plan

Moederloos said:
As for the ripple switches - no problem with them.
We have had them for years - one never even notices them doing their thing unless they break - which they do.
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I think that ripple switches, as currently used, are probably okay (except, as you say, when they break).

The problem is the potential is there for abuse. They're initially used to prevent load shedding, i.e. in extreme cases; then they start using them in less extreme cases.

Plus, as someone pointed out, how much is it actually going to save overall?
 
CathJ said:
I think that ripple switches, as currently used, are probably okay (except, as you say, when they break).

The problem is the potential is there for abuse. They're initially used to prevent load shedding, i.e. in extreme cases; then they start using them in less extreme cases.

Plus, as someone pointed out, how much is it actually going to save overall?
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It saves nothing overall - it just spreads the load a bit.
But, as you said - the potential for abuse is high.
 
Beware of these. In the 80's the JHB municipality installed one of these on the DB board of our house. The missus came home after work one day to find the wooden door on the DB board burning like mad, and a couple of the roofbeams ( eaves ) alight, the cupboard on the inside in the bedroom belching smoke. Thankfully she managed to put it out with sand. It was the municipality's device that had caught fire. I won't have one now.
 
Peter_J said:
Beware of these. In the 80's the JHB municipality installed one of these on the DB board of our house. The missus came home after work one day to find the wooden door on the DB board burning like mad, and a couple of the roofbeams ( eaves ) alight, the cupboard on the inside in the bedroom belching smoke. Thankfully she managed to put it out with sand. It was the municipality's device that had caught fire. I won't have one now.
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There's a great idea! Thanks. If I ever have one of these installed, I'm going to set it on fire and blame it on an electrical malfunction! :D
 
Peter_J said:
Beware of these. In the 80's the JHB municipality installed one of these on the DB board of our house. The missus came home after work one day to find the wooden door on the DB board burning like mad, and a couple of the roofbeams ( eaves ) alight, the cupboard on the inside in the bedroom belching smoke. Thankfully she managed to put it out with sand. It was the municipality's device that had caught fire. I won't have one now.
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Technology has improved by big strides,since 80's....

Authorities do have to make sure remote switch device pass strict safety & reliability tests (preferably done by SABS) before mass installations take place.
 
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Gooku said:
Technology has improved with big strides,since 80's....

Authorities do have to make sure remote switch device pass strict safety & reliability tests (preferably done by SABS) before mass roll out.
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These were all "approved". But never mind - you go for it.
 
Peter_J said:
These were all "approved". But never mind - you go for it.
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Sure ,I will get one.

My geyser is on for +- 3 housr a day anyway.11h00 (late night ) to 02h00 ,if I have the device ,I do not need to switch it manually anymore. works for me fine .
 
Sigh - I have had a ripple switch for most of my adult life.
Never spontaneously combusted yet.

A portable phone could catch fire if installed wrong.

Out of all the myriad of stupid ideas this guavamint has come up with, ripple switches are about the only one I favour.
 
PeterCH said:
So how will they decide to communicate to the switch to turn on or off.

NOW that is TOO much control. Ration the populance, charge extra for the power
but to tell people when they can bath or not is ridiculous. Disgusting! Way to go free
South Africa!

(bollocks)
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to be honest i would rather have a cold shower and know my business will run from 8 to 5

im sorry but not having hot water is managable

not having power and not being able to work for 3 hours a day is money and clients lost

bring it on!!!!!!!!
 
killadoob said:
to be honest i would rather have a cold shower and know my business will run from 8 to 5

im sorry but not having hot water is managable

not having power and not being able to work for 3 hours a day is money and clients lost

bring it on!!!!!!!!
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We get shed at home a LOT less than the neighbouring suburb with no ripple switches.
I reckon they look at us, say - OK - geysers will give us 50MW from there - that is their contribution, oops - Area B has no ripples, going to have to cut them off altogether... Area C... hmmm.
 
killadoob said:
to be honest i would rather have a cold shower and know my business will run from 8 to 5

im sorry but not having hot water is managable

not having power and not being able to work for 3 hours a day is money and clients lost

bring it on!!!!!!!!
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And therein lies the problem... this country is compromising already. Ag, a cold shower isn't bad. What, okay, no TV 2 times a week isn't bad. Hmmm... all traffic lights out isn't bad, I still get to work eventually. South Africans are terrible at just giving up! Why should we give up the luxuries we work hard for! Screw the government we should be lining the streets in protest. If this were a Scandanavian country there would be riots!
 
timgaul said:
And therein lies the problem... this country is compromising already. Ag, a cold shower isn't bad. What, okay, no TV 2 times a week isn't bad. Hmmm... all traffic lights out isn't bad, I still get to work eventually. South Africans are terrible at just giving up! Why should we give up the luxuries we work hard for! Screw the government we should be lining the streets in protest. If this were a Scandanavian country there would be riots!
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GOV is bring on a workable solution(remote switch) to fix above mentioned problems.

We just need to take part in that solution.
 
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Gooku said:
GOV is bring on a workable solution(remote switch) to fix above mentioned problems.

We just need to take part of that solution.
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As much as I loathe and detest guavamint, this one measure I support.
It is workable, and it does work.

Just hope it is not abused.
 
timgaul said:
And therein lies the problem... this country is compromising already. Ag, a cold shower isn't bad. What, okay, no TV 2 times a week isn't bad. Hmmm... all traffic lights out isn't bad, I still get to work eventually. South Africans are terrible at just giving up! Why should we give up the luxuries we work hard for! Screw the government we should be lining the streets in protest. If this were a Scandanavian country there would be riots!
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tim im not sure if you know this

WE HAVE A MASSIVE POWER SHORTAGE

this is not going to happen or might happen, its happened

all we do is moan like little girls about how this is not right and we should not have to do this and that but at the end of the day we have power shortages and need to find a way to resolve this issue

maybe loosing 3 hours a day does not effect as much as some companies who cannot run without power

im sure the billions of rand that have been lost due to these power outages would also disagree with you

i guess that having hot water, bitching moaning crying like little girls is better than finding a solution

yes tim lets go made and riot, thats sure going to solve our problem

luxaries vs billions of rand and business coming a grind everyday

yes luxaries it is

nothing like watching the country go to the dogs while taking a hot shower and enjoying your LUXURIES
 
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timgaul said:
Do me favour. Go to the window. What continent do you see outside?
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I know, I know....
But what else can we do?
As I have said - we get load shedded a lot less than we should be - and I reckon they are turning off our geysers when our turn comes along.
 
Gooku said:
GOV is bring on a workable solution(remote switch) to fix above mentioned problems.

We just need to take part of that solution.
Click to expand...

But cold showers? Why should I compromise my lifestyle for someone else's bugger up? We must continue to tighten the thumbscrews on government, until they purge those responsible. Only then will we have people who can give us viable alternatives - I don't want to be preached to by the same ijot who created this situation.

How can a deputy minister be fired for taking an unauthorised trip, yet several ministers (and a certain vice-president) keep their jobs despite plunging SA into the worst crisis since the end of Apartheid!

Yes, we will accept workable solutions. But no! We will not compromise. If this affects us adversely we must continue protesting! Don't accept, we've done too much of that already!
 
Moederloos said:
I know, I know....
But what else can we do?
As I have said - we get load shedded a lot less than we should be - and I reckon they are turning off our geysers when our turn comes along.
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We don't get loadshedded, and we don't turn off our geysers.

By the way, when all the geysers suddenly come back on that section of the grid is going to experience some serious overloading.
 
killadoob said:
tim im not sure if you know this

WE HAVE A MASSIVE POWER SHORTAGE

this is not going to happen or might happen, its happened

all we do is moan like little girls about how this is not right and we should not have to do this and that but at the end of the day we have power shortages and need to find a way to resolve this issue

maybe loosing 3 hours a day does not effect as much as some companies who cannot run without power

im sure the billions of rand that have been lost due to these power outages would also disagree with you

i guess that having hot water, bitching moaning crying like little girls is better than finding a solution

yes tim lets go made and riot, thats sure going to solve our problem

luxaries vs billions of rand and business coming a grind everyday

yes luxaries it is

nothing like watching the country go to the dogs while taking a hot shower and enjoying your LUXURIES
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying, I really do. We're in this mess, as much as we shouldn't be, and we have to find a way out.

But I still feel we should do it kicking and screaming. When we start getting complacent, and start thinking of a hot shower as a luxury, that's when we forget it was supposed to be temporary, and it just becomes normal. We forget that we're supposed to be finding a way out.

I'm not saying don't save electricity. I'm saying save where you can, but complain about it constantly.
 
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