Switch off to avoid hefty electricity penalties

Volgens hom betaal Suid-Afrikaanse verbruikers gemiddeld sowat 2 Amerikaanse sent per kilowatt-uur. “Die koste van nuwe vermoë is egter sowat 10,7 Amerikaanse sent per kilowatt uur. Die prys sal moet styg.”
Click to expand...

Newspeak for "Damagement have bought a couple of really cute and cozy seaside cottages, and a couple of flashy cars, and they need the money most urgently, and we will be increasing our tariffs to give them more money".

But I don't like where it's going...
 
the only way to reach the lofty fat cats in eskum and send them a clear cut message......is to STOP paying them every month!!

they will soon wake up with a bang when their " LIMITLESS " income stops over night!! and they realise that they cannot meet their commitments at the end of the month!

there is no way on gods earth eskum is going to take every defaulter +-R30m of us to court now is there? so whats the worse thing they can do?.....cut your power!!..........well they've done that already and we still pay them?? basically its called a " BOYCOTT " the world used it to bring the old apartheid SA to its knees, but WE the SA public will rather sit back and chirp **** to each other:rolleyes: Ah we can but dream can we not?

In the mean time we should just get on with the job of equipping ourselves with the latest alternative energy technology and therefore slowly ween ourselves off eskum. eventually eskum will loose one of its CASH COWS!!

I wonder what new ways they will conjure up to bill us for more money, in order to supplement there dwindling income?

actualy (slightly off topic) STD bank have found another way to glean money off me!! I got a leaflet last week telling me that when I deposit MY HARD EARNED money into my bond account they will now charge me for doing so??

Has anybody else received this notice yet?? is this a new thing or has it being around for a while? cause i dumped 120k into my bond last just prior to the interest rates going up and did not notice this charge or even heard of it at the time??


regards
spiff
 
This is what I put in my kitchen

I took 6 x GU10 and mod then into LEDs each GU10 I could only fit 17 Leds
Here are the Pictures
The unit
Close view
GU10

The complete 6 LED GU10 only gives off 4.05watts of light that is half the amount then a energy saver BUT YOU DONT PAY FOR ELECTRICITY and each light only cost me R20 to make

Spiff

The only way to get more light from LEDs is if they make LEDS of higher voltage then 3volt
 
Spyral said:
This is what I put in my kitchen

I took 6 x GU10 and mod then into LEDs each GU10 I could only fit 17 Leds
Here are the Pictures
The unit
Close view
GU10

The complete 6 LED GU10 only gives off 4.05watts of light that is half the amount then a energy saver BUT YOU DONT PAY FOR ELECTRICITY and each light only cost me R20 to make

Spiff

The only way to get more light from LEDs is if they make LEDS of higher voltage then 3volt
Click to expand...

spyral

r u using high bright LEDS??

nice system.....I'm was planing on using these cable hanging lighting systems to put up some LED's shown in the url I posted, makes it easier to install, however yr looks just as good. I don't feel like drilling holes into my ceiling or lifting all the insulation in the roof just for a few LED lights. They will be powered from a 102Amp deep cycle battery at night and during the day will be charged by either a solar panel or wind turbine, not sure which one will be more suitable?? any ideas??

spiff
 
spiff said:
spyral

r u using high bright LEDS??

nice system.....I'm was planing on using these cable hanging lighting systems to put up some LED's shown in the url I posted, makes it easier to install, however yr looks just as good. I don't feel like drilling holes into my ceiling or lifting all the insulation in the roof just for a few LED lights. They will be powered from a 102Amp deep cycle battery at night and during the day will be charged by either a solar panel or wind turbine, not sure which one will be more suitable?? any ideas??

spiff
Click to expand...

A solar panel will be much more suitable since we have sun most of the time... the wind is not always 100% suitable for wind turbines, even on a very small scale.
What size panel are you looking at? A 100W panel will set you back around R1200 or so and then you just need the converter (forgot the technical term) that allows you to store the energy in the battery. Remember to get a sealed battery which can be used indoors (some are not sealed and release gas).
 
I think you guys are getting all worked up over nothing. I doubt they'll fine people unless your bill/usage is way out of proportion for your property. If you can prove that you've taken measures to cut usage I'm sure they'll be reasonable.
 
froot said:
A solar panel will be much more suitable since we have sun most of the time... the wind is not always 100% suitable for wind turbines, even on a very small scale.
What size panel are you looking at? A 100W panel will set you back around R1200 or so and then you just need the converter (forgot the technical term) that allows you to store the energy in the battery. Remember to get a sealed battery which can be used indoors (some are not sealed and release gas).
Click to expand...

thanks froot I was favouring the solar panel although the wind turbine is cheaper to make, for me anyway, I'm a mechanical engineer so I have access to all types of engineering machines:D

I thought the panel size depends on how fast u want to charge the battery?
well I guess the LEDS draw so little they will probably burn for a week on a 102A battery? I got a Deltec sealed 102Amp deep cycle and was lucky to get a 700w inverter from brights for R500 just prior to the "dark matter" hitting the fan:)

What about using these 12vdc fluorescent lights used in caravans they give off more light than LEDS?? maybe a combo of the 2? start on fluorescent lights and when battery power drops switch over to LEDS?

spiff
 
spiff said:
thanks froot I was favouring the solar panel although the wind turbine is cheaper to make, for me anyway, I'm a mechanical engineer so I have access to all types of engineering machines:D

I thought the panel size depends on how fast u want to charge the battery?
well I guess the LEDS draw so little they will probably burn for a week on a 102A battery? I got a Deltec sealed 102Amp deep cycle and was lucky to get a 700w inverter from brights for R500 just prior to the "dark matter" hitting the fan:)

What about using these 12vdc fluorescent lights used in caravans they give off more light than LEDS?? maybe a combo of the 2? start on fluorescent lights and when battery power drops switch over to LEDS?

spiff
Click to expand...

Well if you can make the turbines, by all means... using it in conjunction with the solar panels won't be a bad idea.
Flourescent lights provide more light than LEDs which are better with directional light (such as torches). It should also provide a lower current rating. Just remember that you shouldn't discharge your battery too much, 20% should never be reached (as it has a negative effect on its lifetime). The price on the inverter isn't bad. All you need is the charge regulator between the solar panels and the battery. They regualate the current pushed into the batteries. http://www.sinetech.co.za/access.htm#solsum
 
froot said:
Well if you can make the turbines, by all means... using it in conjunction with the solar panels won't be a bad idea.
Flourescent lights provide more light than LEDs which are better with directional light (such as torches). It should also provide a lower current rating. Just remember that you shouldn't discharge your battery too much, 20% should never be reached (as it has a negative effect on its lifetime). The price on the inverter isn't bad. All you need is the charge regulator between the solar panels and the battery. They regualate the current pushed into the batteries. http://www.sinetech.co.za/access.htm#solsum
Click to expand...

yip now thats where it gets complicated which panel mono or poly :(:confused: or which charge controller :confused:
 
spiff said:
yip now thats where it gets complicated which panel mono or poly :(:confused: or which charge controller :confused:
Click to expand...

Mono or poly what?
For a charge regulator It depends on how much current you will be pulling. I'd personally go for around a 4-10A regulator. (Goes for around R500-R600). I just checked solar panel prices and almost browned myself. :eek:
A 120W 5A panel goes for around R4000-R7000 depending on the finer details... (and I thought I could get a laptop setup for around R3k... :rolleyes:)
 
spiff

You do not have to get an inverter if you are using 12v eg LEDS only and you dont need a charge regulator even with my setup as long as your panel is 12v and less amps than the battery my Battery is 12v seal unit with a charge rating of 14-15volts and at 7ah my solar panel only give out 12v max at 5ah so in other words the battery never gets to its 100% cap and I can run the lighting set above for 24h 5days and then you can see that they are starting to dim.
 
I went out on Friday and bought 8 x 15cmx15cm 3v 2500mAh at a price of R13.00 per solar panels, 1 for every table lamp and bed side lamps in the house I am just waiting for my LEDS and rechargeable AA battery's

each lamp will have 3 x super bright LEDS, 2 x AA battery's, 1 solar panel and a on/off switch,

I am going to keep the original light fittings on each lamp and mod old Golf Ball Light Bulbs with 3 leds in each. The purpose of this is not to light up a room but to have accent lighting in a room

Spiff

If you are going to make a wind turbine it will be easy all you need is a car alternator they have a charge controller built in and then your battery bank
 
froot said:
Mono or poly what?
For a charge regulator It depends on how much current you will be pulling. I'd personally go for around a 4-10A regulator. (Goes for around R500-R600). I just checked solar panel prices and almost browned myself. :eek:
A 120W 5A panel goes for around R4000-R7000 depending on the finer details... (and I thought I could get a laptop setup for around R3k... :rolleyes:)
Click to expand...

solar panels come in 2 types Mono-Crystalline or poly-Crystalline:confused: I 4get which 1 is the better 1. either way they r **** expensive:mad:
 
Spyral said:
spiff

You do not have to get an inverter if you are using 12v eg LEDS only and you dont need a charge regulator even with my setup as long as your panel is 12v and less amps than the battery my Battery is 12v seal unit with a charge rating of 14-15volts and at 7ah my solar panel only give out 12v max at 5ah so in other words the battery never gets to its 100% cap and I can run the lighting set above for 24h 5days and then you can see that they are starting to dim.
Click to expand...

for sure......the inverter was to run my tv/pvr @ night:D
 
spiff said:
solar panels come in 2 types Mono-Crystalline or poly-Crystalline:confused: I 4get which 1 is the better 1. either way they r **** expensive:mad:
Click to expand...

I have forgotten too... I also scrapped my plans for my laptop like I said... electricity is cheaper :)
 
spiff said:
mono chrystalline the better 1:D

indeed it is still cheaper..........for now:D
Click to expand...

100W solar panel: R5800 (jump.co.za)
102Ah deep cycle battery: R1000
5A regulator (protects the battery from overcharge/current): R500
150W Inverter (pure sinewave): R1000

R8300....
To make that up with a laptop: ~50c per kWh-> average power consumption of laptop: 60W
->17H =1kW
->34h per R1-> say 26h per R1 to compensate for price increases
8300*26=215800h required.
Now my laptop runs for 18h per day ->215800/18=~12000 days= 32 years.... Hmm....
 
froot said:
100W solar panel: R5800 (jump.co.za)
102Ah deep cycle battery: R1000
5A regulator (protects the battery from overcharge/current): R500
150W Inverter (pure sinewave): R1000

R8300....
To make that up with a laptop: ~50c per kWh-> average power consumption of laptop: 60W
->17H =1kW
->34h per R1-> say 26h per R1 to compensate for price increases
8300*26=215800h required.
Now my laptop runs for 18h per day ->215800/18=~12000 days= 32 years.... Hmm....
Click to expand...

:eek: indeed I got a quote from a local company a few years back for total solar conversion.......+-R52 000-00 wonder what it will cost now:(
my biggest power user is the 0.75kw pool pump if I could get that off the grid and onto solar/batteries:)

spiff
 
spiff said:
:eek: indeed I got a quote from a local company a few years back for total solar conversion.......+-R52 000-00 wonder what it will cost now:(
my biggest power user is the 0.75kw pool pump if I could get that off the grid and onto solar/batteries:)

spiff
Click to expand...

800W solar panel? :eek:... very expensive....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X