Comments on: Diesel: the Full Monty http://www.greenerhouse.co.za/2007/11/24/diesel-the-full-monty/ Your Earth, Your Home ~ in South Africa Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:58:47 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: boroughs http://www.greenerhouse.co.za/2007/11/24/diesel-the-full-monty/comment-page-1/#comment-9078 boroughs Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:30:25 +0000 http://www.greenerhouse.co.za/2007/11/24/diesel-the-full-monty/#comment-9078 Virginia, I am planning to do some research on UPS for an upcoming article and will report back. It certainly seems to be a cleaner option than a diesel generator. I do worry, however, that if the whole country had UPS, we would use more electricity, because of all those batteries being charged. This is a smaller concern if they are set up to charge in the middle of the night, when demand on Eskom is at its lowest. Does yours have the capability to be charged only at certain hours? Don Virginia,
I am planning to do some research on UPS for an upcoming article and will report back. It certainly seems to be a cleaner option than a diesel generator. I do worry, however, that if the whole country had UPS, we would use more electricity, because of all those batteries being charged. This is a smaller concern if they are set up to charge in the middle of the night, when demand on Eskom is at its lowest. Does yours have the capability to be charged only at certain hours?
Don

]]> By: Virginia Fourie http://www.greenerhouse.co.za/2007/11/24/diesel-the-full-monty/comment-page-1/#comment-8835 Virginia Fourie Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:35:56 +0000 http://www.greenerhouse.co.za/2007/11/24/diesel-the-full-monty/#comment-8835 Dear Don I read your article in the Mail & Guardian "A case of collect-a-con" with a lot of interest and then visited your website "Greener House". Perhaps you can help answer a trend I find quite worrying? Why with the Eskom crisis is the generator is being hyped as the answer to our work/home energy problems? Very little is being said about Interrupted Power Supply (UPS) options. We have recently installed a UPS at our home office (with limited functionality in our home) and I honestly believe that it is one of the best things we have ever done. A UPS provides a pure power thus is does not spike and damage sensitive equipment. Unlike with diesel/petrol you do not need a permit to keep large quantities on site, you do not have the risk of potential leeching, the UPS is quiet running and does not emit harmful fumes. And perhaps most important, one of the perks of the UPS is that you can charge it using solar energy. Yet when I mentioned this to a media contact I was told that they "are looking at alternative power sources in order of preference and time permitting, we will look at UPS. Personally, I think it is more important to highlight solar power and wind turbines etc and I intend to do so, so we'll just see how it goes". If we are already considering the pollution being caused to the environment with the number of vehicles on our roads what will the added impact be of the generators being bought and run from our homes? Yet this message does not seem to be getting out there? Virginia Dear Don
I read your article in the Mail & Guardian “A case of collect-a-con” with a lot of interest and then visited your website “Greener House”.

Perhaps you can help answer a trend I find quite worrying?

Why with the Eskom crisis is the generator is being hyped as the answer to our work/home energy problems? Very little is being said about Interrupted Power Supply (UPS) options.

We have recently installed a UPS at our home office (with limited functionality in our home) and I honestly believe that it is one of the best things we have ever done.

A UPS provides a pure power thus is does not spike and damage sensitive equipment. Unlike with diesel/petrol you do not need a permit to keep large quantities on site, you do not have the risk of potential leeching, the UPS is quiet running and does not emit harmful fumes. And perhaps most important, one of the perks of the UPS is that you can charge it using solar energy.

Yet when I mentioned this to a media contact I was told that they “are looking at alternative power sources in order of preference and time permitting, we will look at UPS. Personally, I think it is more important to highlight solar power and wind turbines etc and I intend to do so, so we’ll just see how it goes”.

If we are already considering the pollution being caused to the environment with the number of vehicles on our roads what will the added impact be of the generators being bought and run from our homes? Yet this message does not seem to be getting out there?

Virginia

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