Price Of Electricity

Receiving my latest Electricity Bill caused me to "Blow a Fuse"

On opening my latest June/July electricity account I could not believe my eyes. Experiencing a cold winter one tends to make use of heating systems, but give us a break Eskom!! One reads of the warnings of price increases in the media all the time and then reality hits home and it’s time to pay.

“Going Green” and utilizing solar power to cut down on these exorbitant bills is making more and more sense and consumers will be taking the installation of solar energy products more seriously in the future.

So let's think about planning for the future to help curb these bills as increases have already been approved for the next two years and if we don' t do something soon the Council will be disconnecting large numbers as these costs are not affordable to most consumers.

In a lot of countries around the world Governments are giving consumers rebates and tax breaks for reducing the amount of electricity utilised in order to reduce the amount of carbon emission. Global warming is a world problem and scientists are urgently seeking ways of reducing the CO2 emission.

Escom offers certain rebates to consumers in South Africa who install solar water power systems on their roofs to reduce the amount of electricity used to heat water.

This is only the start as numerous products are on the drawing board at the moment. As reported in the media, renewable energy has been the fastest growing industry in the USA over the last two years.

Window film is an “energy saver” as it keeps the heat out of buildings in the summer and saves you having to use “electricity guzzling” air conditioners.
In winter all the heat generated by expensive heating systems escapes through the glass as glass is a bad insulator of heat.

With the changing climates around the world and Johannesburg experiencing colder winters in the last few years, it makes sense for building owners to take a closer look at Klingshield’s new “Summer Winter films”. This product is the latest technology to come out of the window film industry as it reflects 80% of solar energy in summer and keeps in 80% of the warmth in winter. This product costs twice as much as the regular style sun control film but it has twice the performance.

Consumers need to think about changing their light bulbs to low energy high efficient bulbs which are now available in the market place today. This exercise will also help to reduce electricity bills.

Certain other electricity reducing applications are being introduced to conserve the amount of power that appliances use.

Geysers run all day and are only utilized when turning on the hot water tap. They can be regulated to come on when required.

Another issue that needs to be considered is to understand peak loading which in simple terms means that one is penalized for using too much electricity when the demand is at it's greatest. You pay higher rates to use the luxuries at the same time as other consumers and that is where shortages come in.

This is one of the reasons we experience “black outs”. The electricity grid cannot cope with the demand and the consumer gets punished.

The “best news” of all in dealing with this problem in the future, is the introduction of Photovoltaics technology thin film. The light film will be available to be installed on roofs of buildings to collect the suns energy and turn it into electricity and reduce our horrific Escom bills in the future. This revolutionary product will be distributed and installed by Klingshield in the near future.

Manufacturers’ research and development departments and production plants are working around the clock to come out with the most efficient products at the most affordable price.

Big bucks have been invested in photovoltaic planes all over the word and a huge plant is at the present time being built in the Cape with technology invented by a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg after years of research and a large investment.

In the future all leading banks will be offering finance to implement these energy saving exercise, as in the long run it will save consumers money and after a certain time building owners will have more disposable income. In the short term the savings can pay for these improvement loans.

In conclusion at this point in time, my advice to all consumers is to become “very very energy conscious” switch off lights when they are not needed, share baths , don't overuse appliances and keep them off when not in use - and of course call Klingshield to install their energy saving products to get the ball rolling.