Loadshedding solutions

[The Ouzo]

2 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Happened to me, more than once, over the years.

yeah look the running out has happened many times, but we can usually tell its just us as there is a Telkom building diagonally behind us and their big a$$ diesel gennie kicks in when the power goes down. But last night we did not even bother to check if anyone else was down, we just assumed.

[117]

4 hours ago, DJuice said:

Looking for some advice to cool our garage where our inverter and batteries are located. Number one priority, cost effective, ek is kuiken swak. Would a standup fan make a difference?

It is an very old home, the garage can take 6 vehicles no problem, the garage is just to large for an ac and ac takes up to much power for our system.

As you are aware we live in Upington, used to heat, love the heat, but this last two weeks, was hellish.

Our system can carry the water cooler no problem, but ac we have to use sparingly, installing three more panels to carry the ac in the home. Water cooler the solution, but way above my means at the moment, and then the family will ask why not a water cooler for down stairs in the home.

We have Hubble batteries, some love them, some hate them, it was what we could afford and sofar worked with no problems, they are 7 months old, working temprature is +-55, has not bombed out, so atleast temprature below 55, but I have seen a 50.

Have a great day all!

 

To me your best solution will be to create a through draft/cross ventilation to bring the inside temps down. Some people create this through draft by opening all their patio doors, then lifting the garage door about 100mm off the floor. 
The trick to create the trough draft is to make sure the air exit area is about twice the size of the air entry area. This allows the air to accelerate through the house which pulls more in - ala venturi effect. 

A simpler way to is know where the prevailing wind comes from. Then, open the windows, say a 1/3rd, on that side of the house. On the opposite side of the house, open an equal or more of them up fully and leave the interleading doors open. Use a burning candle to see the airflow directions throughout the house and you'll be able to work out which incoming windows are effective at what gap opening versus the ones that are not. Its not a 10min exercise, but if you have kids that are bored it can give them something to do for a bit (or, send the MIL around to open and close stuff, that'll keep her out of your hair. They love to do that kind of sh*t anyway)

You could also install a whirlybird vent or two into the garage roof, but you must ensure that there are ventilation holes around the immediate area to allow the whirlys to pull the air into and through the garage. If not, they'll pull air in from the house door and this could end up adding to the heat problem. They also need to have direct access to the space in the garage and not only the roof - ie: they need to be ducted past the ceiling boards. 

Google is your friend to give you some cross ventilation ideas. Note the prevailing wind directions and you'll be able to figure it out. Just check in some of the diagrams on your search they show a dust trap - mommy will hate you more if you dont put one of these into your grand ventilation plans

 

 

[Spookie]

2 hours ago, -cK- said:

Is the friends down the road on the same fibre provider as you?  My ONT box has a LOS indicator to show if the fibre line is down or not making it easier to pin point problem otherwise can't you log into the router and check status of line.  There is usually and status indicator to show is the line is down or whether the ISP is down.

Yeah, I’m in a complex, same fibre provider for the whole lot…

I’ll have to take a look and see if I can find the details, thanks 

[-cK-]

Well if it is the same fibre provider and they are online while you are down then it is most likely your ISP that is going down due to lack of backup power or some other technical issue.  If so going to a different ISP might solve the problem but I'd first confirm that by checking line status on the router during a loadshedding period.

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, Bundu Ric said:

Thanks. 

Apologies for the noob questions, so the R3k vs. R4k battery is the same except for the gel innards and it being sealed?

Does this mean the gel / sealed batteries are better for the normal acid batteries in my study, meaning safer?

 

Two notable differences.

 

A gel battery has a significantly faster recharge time 👍👍👍 very important for higher loadshedding levels.

 

 

A "sealed battery" should not be discharging gas under NORMAL operation.  In theory thus safer.  BUT, under fault conditions it may still gas ....

 

Best to use this in a WELL VENTILATED area.

[Theunissa]

38 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Two notable differences.

 

A gel battery has a significantly faster recharge time 👍👍👍 very important for higher loadshedding levels.

 

 

A "sealed battery" should not be discharging gas under NORMAL operation.  In theory thus safer.  BUT, under fault conditions it may still gas ....

 

Best to use this in a WELL VENTILATED area.

The better part of gel is highly debatable. I have experienced that they are different. Lead Carbon and lead crystal is different though. I think with gel it depends on what you buy

[Theunissa]

6 hours ago, DJuice said:

Looking for some advice to cool our garage where our inverter and batteries are located. Number one priority, cost effective, ek is kuiken swak. Would a standup fan make a difference?

It is an very old home, the garage can take 6 vehicles no problem, the garage is just to large for an ac and ac takes up to much power for our system.

As you are aware we live in Upington, used to heat, love the heat, but this last two weeks, was hellish.

Our system can carry the water cooler no problem, but ac we have to use sparingly, installing three more panels to carry the ac in the home. Water cooler the solution, but way above my means at the moment, and then the family will ask why not a water cooler for down stairs in the home.

We have Hubble batteries, some love them, some hate them, it was what we could afford and sofar worked with no problems, they are 7 months old, working temprature is +-55, has not bombed out, so atleast temprature below 55, but I have seen a 50.

Have a great day all!

 

I've found a 250w high volume fan to help. Install a temp controller. Cheap 250 and let the fan come o. Auto. But you nedd to bring in cool air. I would look at small aircon. And a big walk in cupboard for the solar( a solar room) Upington is next to the sun so eish a fan... 

[Spy007]

a bit late to this topic but had my solution installed in 2019.

3kva + 4 x 100ah 12v lead accid.

Last year added 2 panels to assist during daytime to charge.

After 3 years the batteries did not hold charge but that was expected.

Swapped the 4 x 100h for 2 x 12v 200ah Litium.

From research and expiernec gel prices are so high now and i got  litium.

Pricing i worked out for s similar system now

around 35k excluding installationa nd wiring etc.

 

Mine has COC and seprate db board so dont realy know it is loadshedding

 

Be carefull . many as the installer called tehm (Bakkie brigades) jumping on teh wagon and not clealy explaing or selling correct solution.

[_David_]

13 hours ago, Spookie said:

Noob Q: Anyone else having issues with fibre during loadshedding?

I have a UPS that can last the 2-4h stints no problem, but after an hour of loadshedding the internet stops working. So everything is connected, just no data flow (broadband light is red and service light is off - usually both are green).

Raised it with my ISP and they just blame Eskom and their ‘batteries not having enough time to recharge’. I’m not super clued up on these things, so trying to confirm that it’s definitely an ISP issue and not a fibre provider issue before I change ISP’s only to find I’ve gone full circle 😂 friends down the road are MWEB and have zero issues even in 4h windows.

 

Vuma Fibre / Web Africa at home, zero issues never goes down. Rain 5G at the office and noticeable drop in speed during laodshedding and no connectivity after about an hour.

Edited January 19, 2023 by _David_

[DJuice]

2 hours ago, 117 said:

To me your best solution will be to create a through draft/cross ventilation to bring the inside temps down. Some people create this through draft by opening all their patio doors, then lifting the garage door about 100mm off the floor. 
The trick to create the trough draft is to make sure the air exit area is about twice the size of the air entry area. This allows the air to accelerate through the house which pulls more in - ala venturi effect. 

A simpler way to is know where the prevailing wind comes from. Then, open the windows, say a 1/3rd, on that side of the house. On the opposite side of the house, open an equal or more of them up fully and leave the interleading doors open. Use a burning candle to see the airflow directions throughout the house and you'll be able to work out which incoming windows are effective at what gap opening versus the ones that are not. Its not a 10min exercise, but if you have kids that are bored it can give them something to do for a bit (or, send the MIL around to open and close stuff, that'll keep her out of your hair. They love to do that kind of sh*t anyway)

You could also install a whirlybird vent or two into the garage roof, but you must ensure that there are ventilation holes around the immediate area to allow the whirlys to pull the air into and through the garage. If not, they'll pull air in from the house door and this could end up adding to the heat problem. They also need to have direct access to the space in the garage and not only the roof - ie: they need to be ducted past the ceiling boards. 

Google is your friend to give you some cross ventilation ideas. Note the prevailing wind directions and you'll be able to figure it out. Just check in some of the diagrams on your search they show a dust trap - mommy will hate you more if you dont put one of these into your grand ventilation plans

 

 

Thanks for the reply 117.

I will have a look at what is possible to implement. There are a few challenges...the garage has direct street access, leaving the garage door open will be disastrous. 

Our prevailing wind is the warm desert wind blowing North/North west into the garage door.

I have open 3 windows, to basically try and create the 1 inlet -2 outlet scenario that blows across the system and the inlet is from the gardens side that is irrigated twice daily.

 

[DJuice]

1 hour ago, Theunissa said:

I've found a 250w high volume fan to help. Install a temp controller. Cheap 250 and let the fan come o. Auto. But you nedd to bring in cool air. I would look at small aircon. And a big walk in cupboard for the solar( a solar room) Upington is next to the sun so eish a fan... 

Thanks Theunissa will look over the weekend what is available locally.

 

[LongDonkey]

22 hours ago, Bundu Ric said:

Just a question on the above, if you have batteries (lead acid) charging managed via an inverter could there still be overcharge or is it safe to assume the inverter managing that risk for you?

The charging of lead acid vs Li is different. It depends on how your charging is set up. Assuming the charging is for the correct type of battery, then it should get to a float voltage and hold there. Inverter needs to work correctly in the installation.

https://batteryuniversity.com/articles

Lots of information here.

[117]

26 minutes ago, DJuice said:

Thanks for the reply 117.

I will have a look at what is possible to implement. There are a few challenges...the garage has direct street access, leaving the garage door open will be disastrous. 

Our prevailing wind is the warm desert wind blowing North/North west into the garage door.

I have open 3 windows, to basically try and create the 1 inlet -2 outlet scenario that blows across the system and the inlet is from the gardens side that is irrigated twice daily.

 

Yeah, road facing garage door wont work. I think you'll have to go with some whirly birds on the roof to help 

 

edit: The warm desert wind isnt the issue. It will cool things down purely by the movement through and the exit of the house

Edited January 19, 2023 by 117

[Frosty]

I.t.o. ventilation, the regulations for a gas refilling plant (containerized) is an X-flow ventilation.

Openings are at floor level and just below ceiling level, on both sides of the room. It would then create a cross flow that cover both heat and density requirements. Hot air rises and escapes out the top, while gases that are more dense than air will sink and escape out the bottom. There was even a minimum hole size based on the size of the container/room.

I notice many older homes have air bricks, but newer homes not. 

[The Ouzo]

23 minutes ago, Frosty said:

I notice many older homes have air bricks, but newer homes not.

which is strange, because many older houses use those steel framed windows that are always twisted and never seal so they already have ventilation, whilst newer homes tend to have aluminium windows which seal much much better.

[117]

Those air bricks were to keep moisture at bay

You dont see many older houses with rising damp issues as much as you see newer modern houses with damp and no airbricks today. Ask me, I'm busy ordering a few t-shirts