I have just taken a leap of faith and installed solar heating in my home in Johannesburg. About time, some might say, but I like ,any others in the country have been seduced over the years by a perception of cheap electricity. That is until the power cuts started back in 2007 and have continued ever since.
After the latest round of cuts, I have finally ‘bitten the bullet’ and decided that I should start being self-sufficient. I started rain water harvesting last year and now intend to reap my share of the 300 days of sunshine we have in Johannesburg every year.
What will we achieve?
Well, for a start, we’ll have hot water, even if the power goes off. And added to that we’ll have have hot water heating (solar heated) in our coldest rooms in the winter. Best of all, we’ll more that halve our electricity bills.
More than that, we’ll use less Eskom power (they are woefully short of supply) and we’ll consume less of their coal fired generated power – good for the planet too?
When our household handyman, Dumisani, asked why we had done it, I explained that I felt we should all do something (rather than complain). And doing something, however small, would make a difference.
His response was: “If we all do a little……. then there’ll be a lot.”
Spot on!
ReinventSouthAfrica 