Solar geysers
There has been a lot of talk about fitting solar geysers in South Africa amidst unusually high electricity price increases and the likelihood of increases around 30% a year for the next few years.
Solar geysers offered by approved Eskom manufacturers and installers with the necessary accreditation attract rebates which are paid directly to the consumer ahich, for an average household of 4 people using a 300 litre solar geyser amount to around R13 000.
This incentive to install solar geysers in your home or workplace may not seem like a whole lot, but when you consider the immediate savings offered by solar geysers in supplying hot water and the increases over the next 3 to 5 years, the calculations make a lot of sense.
When you consider installing a solar geyser use the simple calculation of 75 litres of hot water per person per day as an average and install a 300 litre geyser for a 4 to 5 person household. Remember, you are looking for capacity and need not worry about the geyser heating up and consuming electricity as with an electrically heated geyser. In the case of solar geysers your electricity will only kick in if you run out of hot water provided by the solar panels so rather have a geyser that is slightly larger than too small, you are not paying anything to heat the water after the solar geyser has been installed.
Solar geysers are an important asset that more and more prospective home buyers are looking at these days that are adding value to a home and a consideration that buyers are looking at when doing their affordability calculations.
While interest rates are coming down and it would appear that affordability is getting easier, the flip side is that rates, water and electricity prices are far outstripping the saving from an interest rate side and solar geysers are becoming the water heating device of choice for home buyers.
It has been seen that buyers, when confronted with 2 or 3 similar homes in their price bracket, are opting to make offers on the properties that have electricity saving devices and water friendly gardens.
Think carefully before you simply replace your geyser with an electrical geyser, the choice to install a solar geyser could make a significant difference to your household budget going forward and to the saleability of your home in the future.