Stoves: Gas vs electricity

[agentrfr]

Slightly OT, but for people considering solar geysers, you can make your own relatively easily for next to nothing. (Suggested you are an engineer/DIY veteren).

Simply build your own and stick it on your roof/garden.

It's a fun project if you are into this sort of stuff. An extra pair or two of hands is recommended. It should cost around R2000 for bits and scrap to make a 6m^2 collector. That is far more than enough for SA's climate for a house of 5 people.

We built a couple for the water baths at the stables for horses during winter, all out of scrap. It took tap water from 10degC to about 25degC when flowing freely from a hose. It'll take 3 competent people about a day to fully make a 6m^2 collector.

If you can, go for a parallel pipe design in the collector (video on it below). The pressure drop is much lower, as are flowrates. That means water spends more time in the collector heating up. If you only have black garden hose, you can put in in a snaking pex design... but its up to you.

The idea is that (assuming garden big enough), you set it up as a thermosyphon. Get a tank installed in the roof to act as heat reservoir, put the panels of the collector on the ground. If not, you just need a small pump if you install the panel on your roof and the reservoir in the roof next to the electric geyser.

Eg.: Heat Reservoir design ideas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEWD6D7Vwbg

Parallel thermosyphon design.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP8H5IOTwYU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermosiphon

If you don't have enough space for thermosyphon, you'll need a pump to regulate flow between collector and reservoir. You must have a friend or a friend of a friend that is a Chemical Engineer. It'll take him/her 20 seconds to tell you what you need and make a design for you with the pump, reservoir and collector.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Would have loved a smeg. They not cheap though.
+1 on the gas braai. We got one for those quickie braai s and ended up using it the most.

My inlaws recently bought a nice big smeg, was on special for R12k
Im thinking of putting one into the new place Im going to build next year.

 

[Hosehead]

I had the same dilemma search for thread.

I ended up with a used freestanding Eurogas Italian made for R4000

Stick to the defy only if it has a thermofan and because you will have to spend an xtra R1300-1500 for a gas line in a rental apartment and you'll need another wad of cash for the gas bottle deposit and the actual gas.

In my opinion your wife CAN cook in a gas oven it cooks beautifully but takes a lot of adjustment as temps change but get a thermometer and start from there. But for convenience and less hassle get electric oven for her, one reason - does she bake? if so then she will have to compensate for added moisture from the gas to achieve those crispy crusts. People cook on all Gas ovens every day.

You won't be in a rental forever so at some point you'll want to sell the freestanding stove and go for built in. Let me tell you it will be easier to sell the defy on Gumtree and than the Smeg because people just don't want to fork out stupid amounts of cash for freestanding units. And in my opinion you are overpaying for the defy. You should get a reasonable gas/electric unit for 6K but single oven size - a stainless Bosch at Tafelberg furnishers for example.

 

[Gert.M]

I think that the price of a Smeg is way too high for what you get. There is no difference in the way that it functions to a Defy or any other make for that matter. We replaced our Defy electric hob with a Whirlpool gas hob and kept the Defy twin oven. This works for us and the capital outlay was less than R3000.