Durban North electrician shares load shedding tips
An invertor or generator is more suitable for a home during load shedding.
NOBODY wants to hear the dreaded words ‘load shedding’, but unfortunately, it’s become a regular occurrence which just won’t seem to go away.
A Durban North electrician, Les Levin, who’s been in the business for over 50 years, spoke to Northglen News about some of inventions and gadgets that could alleviate the stress that comes with not having electricity for hours on end.
“I’ve built some which is more affordable than what’s available on the market. It’s not really an invertor or an uninterrupted power supply, it’s a 12v system which works off a 12 v battery,” said Levin.
The battery is charged when it’s not in use and switched off.
The battery is then turned on during load shedding and is able to power up some of the led lighting which Levin installed in his home.
“My family love it. They are able to still have light to complete tasks. My grandchildren love it especially and are able to complete their homework,” he said.
He added that invertors and generators have become popular in the home. An UPS is more suitable for the office and larger buildings.
Levin said that appliances blowing up when the electricity is switched back on after load shedding, have become common but, there are things homeowners can do do avoid this.
“A surge arrestor can be placed in the distribution board which would protect all electrical appliances in the house. A cheaper way would be to switch off all main plugs. When the power comes back on it may only be your lights that are affected by the surge, but lights are not that expensive to repair,” he said.
To save electricity, he advised that homeowners install a geyser timer, switch off geysers or turn it down to a lower temperature.
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