loadshedding

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

From a different angle, I would love to see how this load shedding has hit the insurance market and in turn the insurance payer in the next year.

Surely there is a massive increase in claims for Geysers, frigdes, electronics, etc. I would imagine there are probably many people who are would see it as an oppurtunity to claim for that new TV even thought there is nothing wrong with the old one.

 

Anybody in insurance who could comment?

[Pure Savage]

From a different angle, I would love to see how this load shedding has hit the insurance market and in turn the insurance payer in the next year.

Surely there is a massive increase in claims for Geysers, frigdes, electronics, etc. I would imagine there are probably many people who are would see it as an oppurtunity to claim for that new TV even thought there is nothing wrong with the old one.

 

Anybody in insurance who could comment?

 

They are too busy completing claims today after three days of load shedding to have time to come onto the forum and comment

[ahmedbadat]

so i was thinking.....for Eskom to reduce the load on the grid they load shed certain areas for 4 hours at a time, but if they turned the lights off for the whole country, wouldn't they make up the same amount in much less time

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

so i was thinking.....for Eskom to reduce the load on the grid they load shed certain areas for 4 hours at a time, but if they turned the lights off for the whole country, wouldn't they make up the same amount in much less time

please, not this line of reasoning again...

 

They cannot store generating power. So they have to switch off however many areas they need to in order to match their generating capacity plus a certain security buffer. 

 

If they switched off the whole country that would gain them nothing. In actual fact, they would lose big time, as they would have to run down all generating capacity, which then takes upwards of 2 weeks to get back on line.

 

It's not one big ass battery. It's power. Power needs to go somewhere. It's not about "making it up" by switching us off. It's about them matching our demand to what they can supply. 

Edited April 16, 2015 by El Capitan

[ahmedbadat]

please, not this line of reasoning again...

 

They cannot store generating power. So they have to switch off however many areas they need to in order to match their generating capacity plus a certain security buffer. 

 

If they switched off the whole country that would gain them nothing. In actual fact, they would lose big time, as they would have to run down all generating capacity, which then takes upwards of 2 weeks to get back on line.

 

It's not one big ass battery. It's power. Power needs to go somewhere. It's not about "making it up" by switching us off. It's about them matching our demand to what they can supply. 

well there goes my theory, sorry everyone I thought I solved our problem, thanks for the explanation.

[Bobbo_SA]

please, not this line of reasoning again...

 

They cannot store generating power. So they have to switch off however many areas they need to in order to match their generating capacity plus a certain security buffer. 

 

If they switched off the whole country that would gain them nothing. In actual fact, they would lose big time, as they would have to run down all generating capacity, which then takes upwards of 2 weeks to get back on line.

 

It's not one big ass battery. It's power. Power needs to go somewhere. It's not about "making it up" by switching us off. It's about them matching our demand to what they can supply. 

 

The Industrial impact of a sudden shutdown would be beyond comprehension, think of the massive aluminium smelters in Richards bay for example, if they loose power they would not be able to clear out the material before it hardens, and once that happens there is virtually no way to fix it besides total rebuild.

 

The same is true for most mining houses, although on a smaller scale, some of the Platinum and Gold mines have sufficient capacity to keep their stuff heated long enough to clear it out.

 

But yes, to your point, storing a couple of amps in a battery is easy and reasonably cheap 100-200amp is still ok, but that wont run your fridge for longer than a couple of hours, never mind pool pumps, geysers etc.

[Winstonian1984]

It must be hectic seeing that chris willemse is selling generators LOL

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/anditiger-topfoord-n5000-petrol-generator-25-kv

[mazambaan]

Ja as el Capitano says I have heard that municipalities get pretty short notice (maybe minutes) to shed x MW. (where x is in the 1000's).  They then rotate this load shedding according to their schedule. For sure the equipment is not designed for this and there is a spike when they turn the power back on as just about everyone has left their appliances on.

 

Don't get me started on co-generation please.

[Bobbo_SA]

It must be hectic seeing that chris willemse is selling generators LOL

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/anditiger-topfoord-n5000-petrol-generator-25-kv

 

Perhaps a bit late on that gravy train, I have a couple of mates that made a killing on generators in 2008 and onwards, but they were in the game already and had the stock when everyone else had not received theirs yet.

 

At least this time round the pricing seems to be staying reasonable stable ZAR/Kv, back then there were guys selling the things with massive markups and still could not keep up with the demand.

[DJR]

It must be hectic seeing that chris willemse is selling generators LOL

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/anditiger-topfoord-n5000-petrol-generator-25-kv

They should sell indoor trainers with generating capacity.

[Bobbo_SA]

They should sell indoor trainers with generating capacity.

 

I've always wondered why we could not come up with something to generate the power needed from the 2 massive engines standing in the garage, either via the wheels or the exhaust pressure.

[Capricorn]

I've always wondered why we could not come up with something to generate the power needed from the 2 massive engines standing in the garage, either via the wheels or the exhaust pressure.

Of course you could do it, but then you have to deal with the devil: conversion losses.

 

But if you have an engine driving wheels or creating exhaust pressure, why not just take the power straight off the drive shaft. but then  you back to having a bog standard generator. Such a perfect little circle....

Edited April 16, 2015 by Capricorn

[Bobbo_SA]

Of course you could do it, but then you have to deal with the devil: conversion losses.

 

But if you have an engine driving wheels or creating exhaust pressure, why not just take the power straight off the drive shaft. but then  you back to having a bog standard generator. Such a perfect little circle....

 

True that, I know they do it on Tractors to "power" the attachments (not Electric power, mechanical rather). Just seems a waste to have an engine capable of generating sitting doing nothing.

 

S'pose you could use your car battery for a while to power some lights and then run it very now and then to recharge.

[Eddy Gordo]

You can use your car battery to power lights.

My barber uses his to run an inverter so that he can power some lights and his clippers.

Currently I am using a 104Ah battery to power some 10w LED spot lights. MY whole house is lit as well as the front and back garden. NExt step is a solar panel to recharge for free and then get the garden lights to run at night and not use eskom power for those

[DJR]

I've always wondered why we could not come up with something to generate the power needed from the 2 massive engines standing in the garage, either via the wheels or the exhaust pressure.

Well, if you drive a Landrover, you can buy a power tap that you bolt to the gearbox. It was designed for it. The idea was that a farmer could use it to power all manner of farming machinery when not using it to plough or transport livestock or fodder. You then essentially have an extra drive shaft that you can use to power whatever machinery you want while the car is stationary. I recall a farmer that ran a hammer mill off his Landy when I was a kid. If you look at the back of the older Series Landrovers, you will notice a round hole in the back "bumper". That is for the auxiliary shaft to run through. I see no reason why you cannot get it to drive a generator to power your house. 

 

(Just in case anyone wonders why Defenders sound and feel and drive like agricultural implements.....I love them!)

[DJR]

Like this, I mean, LIKE A BOSS