Loadshedding and your home...

The South African Energy crises seems to be a crisis that will be part of our everyday lives for a long time to come. As all South Africans know, loadshedding comes like a thief in the night - when you least expect it. It is a bothersome activity and creates immense frustration for everyone affected by it. Although there seems to be few positive points regarding load shedding, good preparation and an in depth understanding of how to protect your home and appliances could lead to you feeling less frustrated.

 

1. Protecting your property

 

Many people might feel that having to put extra measures in place to protect their appliances and electrical systems in their house as quite the schlep. With the increase in shedding taking place this might be your only option. Prepping for an unexpected outage is very important - loadshedding can be implemented at a drop of a hat and unfortunately one is not always home to ensure that things are in order. Below are a few tips that can help you protect your household valuables.

• Unplug all unnecessary appliances.
• Install surge protectors on your electrical main as well as on all multiplugs.
• Have your homes electrical system checked by an electrician.
• Make use of a UPS.
• Make sure you are up to date with your insurance plan details.
• Ensure that you have torches or alternative lighting which are fully charged, stored in the same place constantly
• Ensure that all cell phones, laptops, Ipads etc are fully charged before loadshedding
• Think of purchasing a power bank.
• Ensure that all electrically powered gates and doors have back up batteries installed.

 

2. Various power sources

 

With a variety of alternative power sources on the market, one can supplement the loss of electrical power for some time, which will help you out during loadshedding and life needs to carry on. Some of these power sources are Generators, Solar Power Systems and UPS systems. Below we discuss each source in depth and explain how these sources differ from each other.

 

UPS

An uninterruptable power supply/source unit (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that supplies emergency power. A UPS is usually used to protect computers, data centers, and telecommunication equipment. The size of a UPS varies and can be small enough to support a single computer. Larger units can support data centers. An inverter is very similar to that of the UPS mentioned above and the way in which they work is the same. The biggest difference between these two is the time it takes to start working when the electrical supply is switched off or cut. A UPS has an almost instant activation of between 3 and 8 milliseconds. This is perfect for protecting computers and data centers. An inverter however takes longer to activate - between 25 to 500 milliseconds. Some equipment is too sensitive and are not able to handle the long lag without power. Sensitive equipment such as computers are better suited to a UPS instead.

A UPS is not meant to be used as an alternative power source. It's there to simply help you keep your sensitive equipment safe by preventing power interruptions like during loadshedding. They usually only last a couple of minutes. In the case of a pc, it's giving you enough time to close programs and save documents before shutting down your computer safely.

Inverters are bigger scaled UPS systems; they can power a few items for longer or even power your entire house during the full loadshedding slot. This depends on the size of the inverter which means more equipment will need more batteries. An inverter can solely charge its batteries from the municipal grid or you can add solar panels to lessen the need for a recharge from the municipal grid. It's important to check with your installer the recharge time your Inverter will need. If it needs an 8-hour recharge cycle to fully recharge your batteries, you may want to consider a higher recharging unit to prevent loss of power when loadshedding hits a stage 4 or 5 where time slots between loadshedding schedules are only a couple of hours.

 

 

 

Generator

A generator provides larger amounts of electricity than what a UPS does for a household or a business. It does so by burning fuel, which is converted in motion, which is further converted into electrical power. Should you be thinking of investing in a generator, you will need to purchase diesel for the generator to function. A UPS is permanently plugged in and has its battery charged, a generator is switched on and off as needed.

 

 

Solar Power Systems

Solar power panels generate electricity in the home by making use of sun power. Depending on the number of solar panels installed will determine the amount of electrical generation. These panels are installed on your roof and through photovoltaic Sells generate electricity that you are then able to use in your home. Both generators are costly once off, but can provide you with larger amounts of electricity which means it can support more appliances, geyser, lights etc.

 

 

3. Loadshedding Security Tips

 

Unfortunately, loadshedding provides the criminals the perfect opportunity gain access to your home because alarm systems are either faulty during this period and because the loadshedding schedule is made public. Below are a few tips which can help you keep you and your family safe.

• Double check your alarm system
• Secure your perimeter
• Stay vigilant
• Be device ready

It is up to everyone to do their part in keeping their homes, their families, and themselves safe during bouts of loadshedding. It does not need to be a daily struggle. Preparing gives you the upper hand of having all the necessities in place, which means you can remain calm during these inconvenient instances.