How to solve the power crisis

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killadoob

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South Africa.
we all know its bad

how many ppl leaves light on, tv's on computers on etc when they are not using them?

maybe if ppl stopped doing this it would ease our shortfall

im not defending or placing blame, im just wondering how south africa could help and stop the outages

if this has been mentioned before, please flame me hahah
 
Well, in the ones street i drove past the guy had the two lights at his gate burning at midday, and they were the normal old lights, not even energy savers.

Our outside lights (for security) now have the day/night sensor energy lights so that they dont keep running at day unneceserally if we forget to switch them of, the rarely used bathrooms geyser is off, only things running all the time is the geyser, the server (with router and switch), the fridge and freezer...
 
Crisis* - Crysis is a game. To solve the power issues there, go to maximum armour mode, and hide away for a bit.

:D :D
 
Agreed with you. As much as this is Eskom's fault, each of us must still try to reduce his/her strain on the grid.
 
If people have energy savers, and each household leaves on 5 lights and there are 2 million households, that's

50W or so times 2 million = 100 000 000W or 100Mw.

Way, way short of the 2500Mw or so we are short.

Not to say that it won't help, but not as big a saving as we are told.
 
well blue the way i look at it is this is a problem and its something we need to solve

its all good and well to place blame and moan all the time, that does not give us power when they load shed

so we should all try our best not to leave things on that do not need to be on
 
killadoob said:
well blue the way i look at it is this is a problem and its something we need to solve

its all good and well to place blame and moan all the time, that does not give us power when they load shed

so we should all try our best not to leave things on that do not need to be on
Click to expand...

Can we maybe have a poll for this:

Do you switch things off as a matter of routine
Do you switch things off now because of power shortages
Do you leave things on


I am, and have always been, #1. I pay for power, so I economise on it.
My family knows I get annoyed with lights and TVs left on when not in use and so on. I just shout "lights!" and people scatter to turn them off.
And it has nothing directly to do with the energy crisis - it has everything to do with the fact I am paying for it.
I even had a prepaid meter installed so I can monitor use. We used (past tense), 200Kw a week last year, down to about 180Kw now - too soon to really average properly - as I am economising just a bit more.

One big saver is the oven - 15 mins or so BEFORE the meal is cooked, turn the heat off. Oven will stay hot enough for the last 15mins (assuming you are cooking something that takes an hour or so - turn it off for the last 8 mins or so if its a 20 min thing you are cooking).
Oven uses probably 2-3KW, so 15 min is quite a saving.

Shout at the kids if they leave the fridge door open while "they look for something to eat" - not only does it waste power, but if the power does fail the fridge is already warmer than it should be and you are more likely to risk spoiled food.
 
Moederloos said:
If people have energy savers, and each household leaves on 5 lights and there are 2 million households, that's

50W or so times 2 million = 100 000 000W or 100Mw.

Way, way short of the 2500Mw or so we are short.

Not to say that it won't help, but not as big a saving as we are told.
Click to expand...

And if half of those people don't have energy savers? That's 500W x 1 million = 500MW. A computer or a TV is like 200W. Using your tumble dryer when you don't need to uses about 1000W; kettles are over 1000W typically - how many people fill theirs right to the top before making one cup of coffee? The point is that bad electricity habits contribute a lot to the problem. *edit* just saw your post above. More people need to think and act like you. Also, installing a solar water heater will cut a major portion of your household's electricity usage. Everyone who can afford one should get one. *edit*
 
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BlueCollar said:
And if half of those people don't have energy savers? That's 500W x 1 million = 500MW.
Click to expand...

That is true - but I would prefer a situation that makes people adopt energy savers, before we try and get them to switch off lights. The former is an easier solution to implement, as it is a "do once, and forget" rather than a case of changing habits.
 
Every single lightbulb in my house is a energy saver... Have been running them for years because the save money on the water and lights account and they last a LOT longer than the normal stuff!
 
Personally, I hate energy savers. They take way too long to come on to full strength (does anyone else have those dreams where you switch the light on, but it doesn't come on? That's what my life would be like if I used energy savers!).

Plus, I believe they don't work well in situations where they're switched on and off frequently (like motion-activated lights), or in dimmers. But that might be the older versions, don't know if they've improved it in the newer versions.
 
dude thats the most ridiculous idea i have ever heard

its also very selfish as some companies are losing plenty of money

cathryn i have no idea what your talking about lol

my energy savers work like any other light bulb and last 3-5 times longer
 
Why must I take conservative measures to my inconvenience in order to help solve a problem that only really exists because of some ignorant/incompetent idiots who were warned that the problem could come, anyway?
Now because I live in Africa (yea, it's all becoming the same thing now. I used to be the patriotic dude who said: "No, It's South Africa.. We actually have more than just Lions and huts".) I must have a shower instead of a bath, or turn off my geysers and lights, and can't use my airconditioning? Come on let's get real here. I'm sorry but that's just pathetic.
If everyone starts taking drastic measures to conserve electricity, then the result will be a sustained decrease in demand, and these idiots at Eskom will adopt a new mindset "Eish, demand is low. Why we must spend so much money for to build it new power plant?". As long as capacity is lacking, there will be pressure for them to upgrade it, because of the media coverage and a pulled back economy.

Personally, I'm ignoring the problem and living my life as normally as I ever have. I use what devices I want, when I want, because I worked for it. If it's such a problem, I'll just go to my house in the states where I'm not bothered by **** like this, and as an added bonus can get Verizon FiOS uncapped 15ds/15us mbps internet access for the price I pay for telkom adsl line rental alone. Why am I still here? I should be following the crowd.

Get your act together ANC.
 
I never ever leave any lights on if i'm not in that room, all outside lights are energy saving ones, and are day/night controlled, but .. I simply cannot for the life of me remember to switch off the geyser before leaving home for work.
 
killadoob said:
cathryn i have no idea what your talking about lol

my energy savers work like any other light bulb and last 3-5 times longer
Click to expand...

Really? All the energy savers I've ever seen start off a bit dim, and take a minute or two to get up to full brightness. Drives me nuts.
 
To solve the energy crisis a national state of emergency needs to be called. Construction on the stadium for the soccer now need to come second. The country must reach deep into its pockets and deep into the pockets of the world bank to purchase several nuclear power stations.

However, this is only a medium term solution. In the short term solution the government needs to subsidize (through tax cuts or lump sum payouts) solar energy and battery solutions (this is currently done in Australia).
 
Cathryn is right - energy savers do take a while to pick up.

I'm using the no-name brand, possibly because of that - but don't mind as it is better than having darkness :)

Outside I have replaced most of the lights with the energy-saving globes with the built-in daylight switch, and only have a normal floodlight with motion sensor.
 
I cannot say I have noticed a "start up time" on the globes.
Maybe my poor old eyes also have a startup time! lol.
 
w1z4rd said:
To solve the energy crisis a national state of emergency needs to be called. Construction on the stadium for the soccer now need to come second. The country must reach deep into its pockets and deep into the pockets of the world bank to purchase several nuclear power stations.

However, this is only a medium term solution. In the short term solution the government needs to subsidize (through tax cuts or lump sum payouts) solar energy and battery solutions (this is currently done in Australia).
Click to expand...

If they should subsidize solar power and batteries, then I'm gonna apply for an overdraft or the such, and get a proper set to provide us with power.
 
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