Get through power outages

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

                         

So with the return of rolling back outs, load shedding🙄 we are once again faced with the inconvenience of having to sit through two and half hours of darkness and the risk of loosing appliances to an electric spike or surge.

In this blog I explore a few practical ideas and options for getting through load shedding.

I'm not a technician or mechanic but I am a practical thinker and a recipient of Eskoms load shedding...and facilities management is my occupation. So without further delay  here are my thoughts.

          

Preparation is the name of the game. To save money and not spend anything or as little as possible on machines or tech we're gonna need to plan ahead. Get the load shedding schedule.

I use the app called "Telkom se push" available from Google play store. There are many such apps used to view the load shedding schedule. One can also get the schedule from the Telkom website.  Now get the schedule for your area.  

If you're lucky and load shedding is scheduled for day time, then plan an outing for those two and a half hours. Go for a walk, take the dog, the spouse and the kids for a walk. Two and a half hours....wearing your masks.  If load shedding is in the morning hours over the weekend, well, that's a no brainer, sleep in! 

                      

                      

For early evening till night time load shedding, my family and I  finish up the cooking before the outage. There have been occasions were we have also braaied/BBQed through a load shedding period. Its fun especially if you have kids.  Load shedding is a good opportunity to light up a fire throw some chops and worse on the grill. This option also work during the week but weekends are best.  So we're either having supper by fire light or after load shedding. After load shedding is a quick warm up in the microwave oven, eat and then to bed.  All the kids get washed and on with pajamas! If you've gone the fire route then bath time will obviously be after, once the power has returned.  All devices get charged. Make sure tablets, phones, laptops, little power banks etc. are charged and set up any lighting you may have. So if you have battery operated lamps or lights even candles light 'em up.

Sinewave Power Inverter

Ryobi Inverter Generator 2000w Suitcase

 For peace of mind and not have to think about when and if load shedding is happening a back up system needs to be installed.  We have a few choices here.  There are mainly two, battery and engine.  Generators and Inverters. 

  

open frame Generator

Inverter Generator

                                                                                    

Lets chat about the generator, two basic types, invertor generator and open frame generator.  Invertor generators have variable speed, meaning when the load is heavy the Genny runs faster and when the load is lighter the Genny runs slower. This feature save fuel, while the open frame runs at one speed whatever the load demand.  The open frame generator is heavy and usually needs two pairs of hands to move it, however for the same capacity the inverter generator is lighter and easier to move around. The Inverter generator also comes in a "briefcase" design making it practical to lift, move and pack away in a cupboard.  Another star goes to the inverter Generator as it runs quiet, just a low purr, making it great for use in flats, complexes, camping sites, business centers etc., unlike the open frame that runs deafeningly loud. I'm sure you know the sound all to well, you've seen them grinding away at carnivals, camp sites and building sites. The open frame wins when it comes to price they are less expensive than the inverter generator. Open frames are robust and best suited for building sites and carnivals producing raw energy. To run your home its best to spend a bit extra and get the inverter generator that produces clean power suitable for all your home appliances.

However bare in mind that generators are engines and need fuel to run. They also need to be maintained meaning oil changes, filter cleaning/changing and now and again an off load maintenance run.  All these are expenses to consider. 

Ellies 1440W/2400VA Inverter UPS 

Deep Cycle Battery (For Use With Inverters)

Inline Interactive UPS

           

      

                     

The next option is battery. UPS and inverter.  In simple terms a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) is a box with a charger, a battery and an inverter that converts DC to AC current. It is  designed to protect your data meaning your computer will stay on giving you enough time to finish up and save. UPS typically have 15-20 minutes battery life.  UPS is a sensitive machine that cannot be used to run home appliances. Kettles, NO! Fridges, NO! Offline UPS are for your desktop, hard drives/servers and laptops. This piece of hardware should be mandatory for anyone with a home office as it also protects equipment from power surges etc. There are inline interactive  UPSes that have been used to run Android box, smart TV, LED lamps, Wi-Fi router and charging of cellphones for the two and a half load shedding period. However UPS should not be used for general home usage.

To keep your home running normal for the load shedding period is the next option, inverter hooked up to deep cycle batteries. For the technically savvy, inverters and batteries can be bought separately and connected directly to the DB board.  This is a more permanent installation.   But for the layman there are easy to use plug and play packages. A battery bank on wheels with its own inverter simply plug it into the wall and then plug into the inverter a multi plug for the appliances you want to keep on during load shedding.  

Remember the size of your backup will determine the cost and how many appliances can be run. Like with generators there is maintenance however it won't be as involved as the generator, if any at all. UPS and inverters usually have their batteries replaced after several years of use and this also is dependent on usage frequency.

Which ever option you choose to go with calculate and prioritize accordingly by deciding what you will need during the blackout and then proceed to add up the watts. The watts can be found behind or under the appliances you wish to running. When you are ready speak to the supplier/manufacturer they will advise and supply you with suitable machinery/tech.

                                        

How To Survive Load Shedding

HOW TO SURVIVE LOAD SHEDDING

             A Layman's Guide

All is well, the TV is on, the kids are occupied and calm. Pots are simmering and hubby got his feet up. You're home and it has been a long day....and then....

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It happens. Load Shedding. Eskom strikes again. You feel the sadness creep up into your soul as you scramble, scratch and fumble around looking for your phone to activate the torch app. Meanwhile the kids have 101 questions about the obvious and your mind hasn't processed "the we need light" part properly yet. Know the feeling?

Well, here are some suggestions and ideas

Luminous paint. Paint a one of the kitchen drawers with luminous paint so when the lights go out.....glowing drawer. Why do I need a glowing drawer? That's your emergency drawer. Matches, candles, lamps, torches etc.

Or one could invest in rechargeable bulbs. Clever bulbs that have their own batteries that charge while the power is on and then stay on when the power goes out. I personally love these bulbs however, they are a bit pricey so, I would not fit the entire house rather the necessary areas like kitchen, bathroom, outside....OK maybe the living room. 

Nothing worse than not being able to cook or God forbid we can't make a cup of tea/coffee. For me the obvious choice here is gas. Two plate stove is all you need really. One for the kettle and one for the pot. There a range of gas stoves to choose from. If your a camper then don't break the bank your only gonna whip it out for those three hours of load shedding then pack it away after.  If your already on gas good for you. Work safely with gas. 

To keep devices charged there is a power station ( a big larnie power bank) which can charge most devices and power lights. These cost a pretty penny so in your emergency drawer have spare emergency power banks to top up cell phones. 

For surviving load shedding the fridge and deep freezer can remain off for the three hour shut down. Fridge will retain its cold for 4-6 hours freezer 24hrs. Freeze up a few bottles of water and when the power fails pop the frozen water bottles into the fridge. Also a full fridge holds its temperature longer. 

TV? ....leave it of even the devices for that matter. Devices (cell phones) are there for any emergencies illness, accident etc. Talk to each other it's only three hours. Dust off the old board games.

Oh p.s. remember switch off appliances at the plug sockets to protect them from returning spike or surge. Or purchase surge protector it looks like this.

The name of the game is "be prepared."  So in closing, when the lights go out don't rise to the occasion, sink to your preparation.

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

Water Harvesting Tank Installation

Catch and Create your own water

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

With the resent scarcity of rain, water has becomes the new 'rare commodity'. Soon we'll be trading it on the stock market if things continue the way they are. With low to no rain fall coupled with a "....I pay my water." attitude we are heading for trouble. So in keeping with the 'green' trend and the save water campaigns being run by government, here's what I did.

I installed a 5000l water tank. Simple as that. Rural South Africa has been doing it for years.
First I cleared out a space for my tank and leveled the space out. Then I proceeded to mix up a batch of dagga...mortar, not weed! Cast a circular foundation and let that set and cure, 24 hours.

Since I was on a tight budget I opted for stone instead of buying blocks or bricks. Stones were free and I happen to like a stone finish. It was time to tap into my inner stone mason. I had to tap quite deep. I'm not gonna lie, it was labor intensive. Collecting and carrying. Then I sorted them and began to lay my first course. It was like doing a puzzle. Looking for the right piece to fit in and those that didn't cooperate got chiseled to fit. I must say, with all the chiseling, mixing and carrying my arms got quite the workout, it would have been great to have a mortar mixing machine but my protruding veins and glistening skin from the sweat gave the ego a great boost.

I brought my master piece up six courses. Cleaning the cement off the stone. 

                    






 

I filled her up and compacted the earth and rubble till it was hard. I now had a hard solid platform for my big green water tank. Now an empty water tank is not that heavy. It's getting ones arms around the thing to that may cause problems. At this point it's good to have a second pair of hands to help lift and position.

Right! Once I had it up and positioned I anchored it down with wire. On the top are 'pikes' that are for tying the wire round. Within my stone work I build in steel pegs. As the tank is positioned under and at the end of the roof, one can simply redirect the down pipe to run into your tank.
Now when it rains all the water God sends, you catch....amazing!

Now what happens when it doesn't rain? Well you make your own water. How? Easy, an what's more you've been making it the whole time and you didn't realize it.
The roof on your house is a water making machine. Condensation people! We have been wasting liters and liters of water. But now with my snazzy green water tank I get water even when it doesn't rain.

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