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There’s been talk going around that load shedding could be a possibility this winter and schedules have been sent out. Is it possibly time to bring out the load shedding survival guides and prepare our homes and offices for load shedding again? Possibly. Which is why we ask, how are you preparing for the possibility of load shedding this year?
In case you’ve forgotten, here are a few things you’ll need to consider.
The first thing you need to do is check the load shedding schedules. This will let you know at which two and a half hour intervals you can expect to be without power in your section. And if you aren’t sure which area you fall under, on the Eskom website you can find a detailed area map with that information.
Print out a schedule for your area and put it up on the fridge so you know when you need to prepare for no power.
In those preparation periods, you’ll need to put all your electronic devices on charge if you’re going to want to use any of them while the power is out. Cellphones, tablets, kindles, portable charging stations and power banks (these come in handy when you forget the power is about to go out and haven’t had a chance to charge your phone).
With a schedule to follow, there’s no excuse for not being prepared. But, if you want to go device-free for two hours, there are a thousand other things you can do that will probably be a better use of your time.
Another thing you’ll need to do beforehand is shower and store up some boiling water. No electricity means no geyser. And no geyser means no hot water for your morning or evening shower. Check out the schedule and work out if you’ll need to shower the night before or earlier in the morning to still make it in time for work. And if you’re wanting a wake-up coffee or tea and the power is out, boil the kettle just before it’s scheduled to go off and store the boiling water in a thermos flask that will keep it warm for when you’re ready to use it.
One thing you’ll realise when the electricity is off is that you can actually get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time. There are no Instagram or Facebook scrolling distractions to waste your time.
To make your life without power easier at home, you’ll want to invest in gas appliances for such an occasion as load shedding. Then you won't have to worry about no morning coffee or giving in to takeaway foods all the time. This doesn’t mean you’ll need a full-on gas stove, but even just a gas stove top or camping stove will do the trick.
When load shedding happens late in the evening or early morning while you’re still sleeping, that’s not too bad. But when the power goes off just after dinner while you’re still relaxing for the evening, it can be dark and quite boring.
Bring out the candles, lamps and torches for backup lighting. With this, you can still do some reading and not stub your toe on the corner of every object in the house. You may also want to think of a backup security system as most alarms rely on electricity.
And be sure to have backups for your backups. You know when load shedding is happening, so make sure your AA and other battery stores are full and readily accessible for when the lights go out and your backup lights won’t turn on.
But the best possible solution for making it through a power outage is to not allow a power outage to happen at all. And you can control that by investing in a backup generator or a mobile generator solution from Babcock International.
The Babcock International Group has a variety of power generation solutions for your home and business. Any business that relies on the internet and electronics to do their jobs can’t afford to experience load shedding. That’s why it makes more sense to spend the money on a mobile generator or generator set for the building that will allow you to keep making money and not cost you two and a half hours of business every other day.
Load shedding at work is the worst if you rely on computers and the internet when there’s no backup generator. Employers and employees waste their time and that’s not an attitude companies want to encourage or get into the habit of. Look into Babcock South Africa for your business and tailor a power generation solution to suit your business needs.