Reduce your electricity bill this winter – Focus on your geyser
Water heating comprises 40% to 50% of the average South African home’s monthly electricity bill, making reducing your geyser’s electricity consumption a priority when trying to save money.
LookSee executive head Marc du Plessis explained that the average geyser consumes approximately 3kW of electricity – which can cost up to R9 per hour. Older geysers, on the other hand, can reach as high as 5kW.
Given the power-hungry nature of a geyser and South Africa’s ever-increasing electricity prices, it is therefore important to take every measure available to reduce its electricity consumption.
Quick wins
Thankfully, there are several ways to save on your electricity bill by reducing the amount of power your geyser uses.
To understand the benefit of these electricity-saving methods, it is important to first know how and when a geyser heats up water:
- Power is supplied to the geyser element which heats the water until it reaches the temperature set on the thermostat.
- When cold water comes into your geyser it requires significant heating to get it up to the desired temperature.
- Hot water slowly loses heat over time, requiring your geyser to reheat this water back to the set temperature.
Du Plessis said the first step South Africans must take is to buy a geyser blanket to minimise the need to reheat their hot water.
“Use an SABS-approved geyser blanket for safety reasons and to ensure the most efficient geyser insulation possible,” said du Plessis.
A good geyser blanket only costs a few hundred rand and is an investment that will pay for itself many times over. These blankets are particularly valuable in winter, as colder temperatures cause your hot water to lose temperature more quickly if the geyser is not well-insulated.
Geyser solar conversion
Once you have installed a blanket, du Plessis’s top recommendation is to convert your electric geyser to use power from solar panels.
This is more accessible and affordable than installing a new solar geyser, as you can keep your existing electric geyser and simply connect it to the dedicated solar panels.
Furthermore, the geyser conversion solutions offered through LookSee come with free installation – whereas dedicated solar geysers have an additional installation cost, including expensive plumbing work.
“The best part is that when you take out a LookSee Solar Loan to pay for your geyser conversion solution, most families save money from day one,” said du Plessis.
This is because the amount of money you save on your electricity bill each month could be more than the loan repayment – as shown below:
3-panel geyser conversion system (1.65KWp) for 4-person home
- Monthly LookSee loan repayment: R524 per month
- Estimated electricity bill savings: R587 per month
- Estimated Immediate savings: R63 per month
4-panel geyser conversion system (2.2KWp) for 5-person home
- Monthly LookSee loan repayment: R579 per month
- Estimated electricity bill savings: R783 per month
- Estimated Immediate savings: R203 per month
“When the five-year loan term is complete, you will then be making pure savings from the system,” said du Plessis.
With such impressive savings on offer, converting your electric geyser to solar is a no-brainer – so contact LookSee today to convert your geyser to solar.
Smart geyser controller
For those that are not ready to invest in changes to their water heating, Du Plessis suggested setting your geyser to only run at specific times by subscribing to a Smart geyser controller.
This device is connected to your existing electric geyser and allows you to easily manage and control your geyser from an app on your smartphone, including setting up a heating schedule to help you save money on your electricity bill.
For example: If you know you will be away from home during the day, you should set your geyser to turn on in the late afternoon. This is enough time to heat its water for your evening shower, while stopping the water reheating in your geyser during the day when you are not at home.
Click here for more information on subscribing to a Smart geyser controller.
Loading ...
