Residential Load Management FAQs

1. What is DSM?
2. What does the Residential Load Management mean / entail?
3. Why do we need this programme?
4. How does it work?
5. Will I still be able draw hot water from the geyser when it is switched off?
6. What are the advantages of remote-controlled relay system?
7. What does the Residential Load Management (RLM) team need from me?
8. How do I benefit?
9. How does the municipality benefit?
10. Who is responsible for the installation of the system?
11. What about security?
12. What happens if the system breaks down and who is responsible for
maintenance?
13. How much is saved?
14. What is a megawatt?
15. Does the tariff structure of the municipality influence the savings?
16. The unit is causing my bill to go high.
17. My geyser has not worked from the moment they have installed the unit.
We have cold water.
18. The unit does not save me any money. They said it would save electricity.
19. The unit was said to minimise the extent of light cut-outs in the area.
This has not happened. We still experience light cut-outs.

Question: What is DSM?
Answer: DSM stands for Demand Side Management, whereby Eskom tries to influence the way in which industrial, commercial and residential customers use electricity. The main aim is to help the consumers to manage their electricity consumption, particularly during peak periods, with cost savings for customers and the utility. The DSM programme mainly consists of energy efficiency and load management projects.

Question: What does the Residential Load Management mean / entail?

Answer: Residential Load Management forms part of the overall Demand Side Management strategy. It is aimed specifically at the residential sector, in other words, consumers at home. Geysers consume the most electricity in a household and they are therefore currently the focus of RLM. One of the programmes currently being implemented involves the connection of radio or/and ripple control units (or relays) to geysers, allowing them to be switched on and off by remote control.

Question: Why do we need this programme?
Answer: Eskom's residential customers consume around 17,5% of the total electricity generated, with their demand at peak periods amounting to over 30%. Helping residential customers to manage their electricity requirements better will have a significant impact on the overall demand for energy, while also achieving cost benefits for the consumer.

Question: How does it work?
Answer: A small control unit (relay) is installed in the home of the customer. This unit will switch off the supply to the geyser during peak demand periods for a predetermined period. Groups of geysers and individual geysers will be controlled and monitored centrally from the local Municipal Energy Centre by means of a radio or/and ripple based communication system. The Centre will also take care of all customer queries.

Question: Will I still be able to draw hot water from the geyser when it is switched off?
Answer: The load control system will switch off the power supply to the geyser only during peak periods. Even when the power has been switched off, the water stored in the geyser should be sufficiently hot to cater for normal water usage.

Question: What are the advantages of remote-controlled relay system?

Answer: The temperature of a geyser is normally controlled by a thermostat. The thermostat continually switches the heating element on and off depending on the amount of water that must be heated. The relay system switches the heating element off during times when the electricity consumption of the country is high. This will prevent the building of another power station, and will keep electricity prices affordable.

Question: What does the Residential Load Management (RLM) team need from me?
Answer: Eskom's contractor will require access to each home in order to install the relay enclosures. This process will be properly co-ordinated with the RLM Customer Services representatives. Properly identified people will do the work. Please do not provide access to persons not in possession of authentic Eskom identification.

Question: How do I benefit?
Answer:

• The system will help to reduce the peak electrical load at times of maximum demand
• Expansion of the generation, transmission and distribution system networks will not be necessary in the short term.
• The need to operate costly hydro-electrical or gas plants to cater for these peak periods is eliminated
• Implementing the system will help to reduce tariff increases to a minimum.

Question: How does the municipality benefit?
Answer: If the municipality does not have to upgrade its electricity supply systems to accommodate higher consumption at peak periods, then the costs associated with these upgrades will not be passed onto the consumers. It will also lead to better management and optimisation of current infrastructure to improve service delivery to customers.

Question: Who is responsible for the installation of the system?

Answer: Eskom finances the capital and operational costs of the system with the costs being recovered by way of savings through network expansion and better utilization of generating capacity.

Question: What about security?
Answer: Technicians authorised to carry out the installation of the control systems will be issued with appropriate identity cards; householders should demand that anybody claiming to be a technician working for or on behalf of Eskom should produce his or her card before entering the property.

Question: What happens if the system breaks down and who is responsible for maintenance?
Answer: If the relay should develop a fault, it will be the responsibility of the Municipality together with a preferred contractor (ESCO) to repair or replace it. The consumer will not have to bear the costs of repairs or replacement.

Question: How much is saved?
Answer: The customer does not save anything. The municipality saves by shifting the load from peak times to standard and /or off-peak times and so produces a lower electricity bill to the customer. The amount saved is between R150.00 and R190.00 per switch annually, on the Eskom MegaFlex tariff.

Question: What is a megawatt?
Answer: A megawatt (abbreviation - MW) is a unit of power equal to 1 million watts. A typical household geyser uses between 2 kW and 3 kW of power. In other words, if 500 geysers, each 2 kW, are on, they will consume 1 MW

Question: Does the tariff structure of the municipality influence the savings?
Answer: Municipalities are requested to make sure which tariff is being charged by Eskom. There is a difference between NightSave (maximum demand tariff only) vs MegaFlex (more energy shifting and a little maximum demand).

Question: The unit is causing my bill to go high.

Answer: The RCR or geyser switch unit installed in your house is not currently active as we are busy with the installation process. Explain the process (see info leaflet). The unit only uses electricity to power the pilot light as seen on the switch. This is very little power. It will cost you 41c per month. To curb the cost, Eskom and your Municipality have given you two CFLs (energy-saving lamps) free of charge that would save you electricity

Only when all the units are installed, will the switches be activated for proper operation (commissioning). You will be informed when commissioning will take place.

How does it work?
During the peak electricity demand period in a day (7 to 10 am and 6 to 8pm), the geyser switch will regulate the power supply to the geyser for short periods by minimising the electricity demand on the substation. This will be carried out from the control centre stationed at the Municipal Electricity department.

The regulating of the power to the geyser will not cause you to have cold water. This is due to the geyser being switched off for a short period so that its does not allow the water to lower its temperature.

Additional information
This process to inform local residents involves the following :

• Creating awareness of the installation via posters, radio and the local newspaper.
• A member of the installation company, appointed by the Municipality, would have come to your home to hand you a flyer and discuss the installation.
• The technical staff will then proceed to your area for the installation process via specific appointments or a general visit when in the area. After you had been contacted by the installation company, an installer or technician approved by the Municipality would have visited your home to install the unit.
• We also have a call centre which is available to you.

Question: "My geyser has not worked from the moment they have installed the unit. We have cold water."
Answer: We dually apologise for the situation you are in. I would like to inform you of the following:

• I will immediately inform our technicians of the situation and ensure that they visit your home.
• The technician will replace the switch and ensure that it is connected properly. Once he has done that and confirmed the switch is correctly installed, he will then ask you to observe the geyser for the next hour after which you should have hot water.
• If this is not the case, the fault will then be at your geyser. Due to our technicians not working with your geyser directly, the geyser will have to be repaired at your own cost.
• We have been instructed by the Municipality to install the geyser switch without tampering or repairing the geyser in your home.

Additional information

The RCR is connected to the power supply to your geyser. This is from the geyser circuit breaker on the distribution board to the RCR and then to the geyser. All our technicians have been instructed not to tamper with any geyser.

Question: "The unit does not save me any money. They said it would save electricity."
Answers: The geyser switch is installed to minimise the electricity demand during peak periods (7 to10 am and 6 to 8 PM) in your municipal area. This saving of electricity will assist the Municipality to be able to offer a constant supply of electricity. In managing the demand for electricity, the municipal area saves electricity during this period. When the municipality saves electricity, they also save money when they buy electricity from Eskom. This enables the municipality to minimise electricity rate increases annually and ensures the supply of electricity to communities without electricity.

Through supporting this project, you assist Eskom in saving electricity and money for further development and growth.

Question:"The unit was said to minimise the extent of light cut-outs in the area. This has not happened. We still experience light cut-outs."
Answers: The geyser switch installed in your house is not currently active as we are busy with the installation process. As soon the installation is completed in your municipal area, and specific areas and our control centre is functional, we will then test the system and then further communicate the commissioning of the system to you.

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