After the power has been restored to your home, check all timers to ensure that your appliances are still set correctly and do not switch on at times during the day or night when they should remain ‘switched off’, such as during 5pm and 9pm weekdays, the period of peak demand for electricity in the residential sector.
Every time the temperature in your geyser drops 2°C to 3°C, the thermostat switches the element back on and heats the water up to 60°C – a timer drastically reduces the number of times your geyser switches on and off during a 24-hour period.
In the case of pool pumps, the general rule is that swimming pool water should be filtered twice every 24 hours when the pool is used frequently in summer – research has shown that 4 to 6 hours per filtering cycle is sufficient.
Electric element geysers and pool pumps are the two appliances that use the most electricity in homes across South Africa.
Maintaining correct timer settings will make a huge contribution to lowering demand pressure on the national power grid.
