Did'nt take long for certain folk to start inviting Power Sellers to town.... I believe a group of potential sellers are in town this afternoon, in essence what they do is act as middle man between the bulk supplier of power and the consumer, making a profit in between..... welcome to the real world....
However, what certain people do not seem to realise, is that the entire infrastructure , both power and water, will need to be replaced..... Heard from an individual that worked at Town Electrical a decade ago, that an investigation was done on how much it would cost to embark on such an excercise..... he recalled a figure of 60 million being banded around....
Now as far as I know, the current infrastructure is still owned by the mine and not by the individuals trying to "outsource" it..... and I do not think that they are aware that the electrical network is not up to standard..... just the other day we had a problem with Spar's electrical supply to our fire alarm, a tester was placed on the system for 24 hours and we were amazed to see the fluctuations on the power supply..... 15 % in some cases....as most experts will tell you, this kind of power is referred to as "brown" power and can damage appliances and electronic goods....
The other issue with Oranjemund's power, through no fault of anyone..... the power cables connecting the various buildings are not connected to a "standard" grid plan.... we have discussed this ad hoc on this forum before..... guy welds in his garage, power trips at his neighbours house..... I know of plenty of garages who don't source their power from their allocated house, but from the neighbours, all because the DB board in the particular kitchen was closest to the garage when it was being built......
So whilst I know we have to pay for power, as the real world does, and that the company is under no obligation to be caretaker of us all, a lot of work has to be completed before we start to invite power sellers to our powerless town....
It took Alexander Bay over to two years just to bring their water infrastructure up to standard!
Anyone else out there care to add anything to the interesting debate....
:ciupa1:
It will take a decade to upgrade the power grid in this town if it ever happens.
So be prepared to pay for brown power.
If you use power you will pay and some extra to pay for the upgrades to power facilities around town. ThatStinks2
of course the answer lie in solar power...bring it on boys...
Quote from: Adriaan Van Rooyen on February 01, 2013, 08:18:53 PM
of course the answer lie in solar power...bring it on boys...
No need to rely on others, you can buy it yourself. triumphant.png
http://www.dako.co.za/ (http://www.dako.co.za/)
http://www.sinetech.co.za/solarsystems.htm (http://www.sinetech.co.za/solarsystems.htm)
As a rough guideline solar installations can cost : 0 - 1 KW installed : +- R80.00 - R100.00 / watt
1 - 10 KW installed : +- R60.00 - R80.00 / watt (Grid-Tie)
10 - 100 KW installed : +- R50.00 - R60.00 / watt (Grid-Tie)
100KW - 1 MW installed : +- R40.00 - R50.00 / watt (Grid-Tie)
Should you then decide to go further, the system will have to be professionally designed and there is a design fee involved which depends on the size of the system.
As a rough estimate, the costing on a small house could be between R50 000 - R200 000; on a medium size house R200 000 - R600 000; and on a large house R500 000 - R1.2 million. This is dependant on many factors including the quality of the solar panels and other equipment you purchase.
First and most cost effective step is solar geyser ,, proven and much improved .. cuts usage dramatically especially in our sunny climate ,,, on the subject of the 15 % variations in power ,, yes indeed very damaging to some appliances , and notably CFL lighting ,, they never reach their rated hours because of these fluctucations thanks to ESKOM .. further , Eskom in a bid to reduce amperege load on the grid tweaked voltage to 240 volts from the original 220 volts ,, fine if it drops 15 % but if it peaks at 15 % plus ?? we lost a lot of capacative sensors on certain eqpt in our factory due to the fact that design was 80'S 220 volts ,, the 240 volt average fine with a minus 15 % , but the 240 plus 15 % fatal for these sensors,, one by one they died and had to be replaced ..
Ok so I don't understand all this technical stuff but I use a gas geyser. My monthly Eskom bill averages around R380 - R400 per month running a 60,000 Lt pool as well, and I use about R180 gas every 6weeks. So work that out...am I economical ?????? I don't know what others pay.
That's nothing Diana, if you cut back on only 10% of your wine consumption, you would be able to cover not only your power bill, but your entire street!
image201
By consuming wine I do cut back on my power bill...... I drink myself warm. drinking-41