Comments for Smarter Living

Comment on Saying Goodbye to Eskom is cheaper than you think by Clara Da Cruz Almeida

Clara Da Cruz Almeida — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 19:22:31 +0000

This is a great article, very well researched and taking into account the capital costs and lifetime years of the products… well done! I am impressed. Now, we just need to get this into an infographic manual for home users 🙂

Comment on What’s a Yurt? by Alex Pearson

Alex Pearson — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 08:23:54 +0000

Hallo. Where can i buy a yurt to live in permanently. I own land in the rural KZN. I do not want to build a house i rather want to live in a yurt. How can i do this. Where can i buy one?

Comment on EV charging stations: Do you have a plan for the new tourism? by Karl

Karl — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 22:09:29 +0000

I’ve gone electric and it’s an amazing experience. Like flying a space ship… Speeder or whatever you want to call it.

My 130km range has not been a problem because I keep my old car for long trips… But it’s hardly used… Because my daily trip is not more than 60km

Comment on EV charging stations: Do you have a plan for the new tourism? by admin

admin — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 12:06:30 +0000

VW say their new EV will cost the same as a comparable diesel-engined car. Surely that will be affordable? You don’t need a range of 650km for daily use. Your regular trips of 1800km (a rarity by any standards) will require four to five stops at most, of an hour each time. Charging an electric car will cost you about 30% of the cost of a comparable amount of petrol of diesel – at Eskom tariffs. If you have solar panels, it will cost you less. Maybe EVs are not for you, but they are a no-brainer for most people!

Comment on EV charging stations: Do you have a plan for the new tourism? by Doug Isherwood

Doug Isherwood — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 11:54:19 +0000

Electric Cars are really great, however, they need to be affordable to buy and run, and have a decent range. I have yet to see either of these factors come anywhere close. A million rand plus for any car is ridiculous. Less than 650Km range is also rubbish. On top of this is that most people have not realised is that charging an electric car is not a cheap exercise. And with Eskom unable to supply our current needs what on earth makes people think that Eskom can supply the requirements of thousands of vehicles drawing massive charging currents from a grid that is already seriously broken and hopelessly inadequate. In my opinion, a few small electric cars around town and to work and back is fine. But for anyone doing long trips or wanting to go on holiday you’re in for a nasty surprise. I regularly do trips of 1800Km and to add a day to the trip just to cater for charging would be insanely more expensive and problematic with layovers, lost time, etc. People need to be careful of the sales talk going on about electric vehicles. Tens of thousands of electric vehicles on the road at one time would be a disaster for any country. Those Nuclear Power Stations you were all against – better change your ideas if you want all electric vehicles on our roads because that is the only way any country could possibly keep up with the massive increase in demand for electricity.

Comment on iShacks — Power for the People by roger chennells

roger chennells — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 12:21:59 +0000

this is an excellent story about an amazing project. Please keep us informed. This has an excellent balance of innovation and modern science, with the need for the benefiting public to contribute responsibly.