BY switching off your geyser you will not save a penny. If you are making use of prepaid electricity, go and check it out after you have had your geyser switched off for the entire day while at work.
Remember everybody had a bath in the morning and cold water is now filling up the geyser again, thus reducing the temperature of the water in the geyser, and now you switch it off. The geyser is far from hot and with the added cold water the geyser cools down.
When you come home after work and switch on the geyser again, the element has cooled down and anything with an element draws large amounts of electricity to heat up again. Do the same experiment with your stove or kettle filled with cold water – exactly the same effect.
A geyser has a thermostat which regulates the water temperature by switching on and off to maintain water temperature. In other words the element remains heated at all times and would not use so much energy to heat up again.
This was explained to me many years ago by an electrician who worked for a very large electricity provider. I find it difficult to believe all these automatic switches they want to install on your geyser to for it to be switched off and on in peak hours are energy saving. Indeed it is so, to ensure sufficient supply is there until everything stabilises and everybody starts using electricity again, geyser, stoves, heaters, pool pumps, saunas.
Who is benefiting now? The electricity supplier because you will have to recharge your prepaid account every second day.
Paul (name supplied), Port Elizabeth
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