It feels like yesterday that Eskom first asked South Africans “nicely” to use less electricity, as its network was under immense pressure – but this was back in 2007. The nation “would not listen”, and we were introduced to something that would change our lives drastically and for which we didn’t even have a name before: load shedding. And the situation has worsened since.
Fortunately, today you can empower your household against load shedding with rechargeable lamps, battery backup systems, generators, solar panels and built-in batteries and power inverters. Naturally, the prices vary: from about R100 for a rechargeable LED bulb to more than R200000 for a system that will have you feeling like a cabinet minister who lives in an estate where they never experience load shedding.
Platteland will be looking at the various options, but the focus of this article is a compact power box you can build yourself from parts that are relatively affordable and easy to find, and that can keep a small home office running when it’s your turn for load shedding: the Wi-Fi router, a laptop or two, and possibly a cellphone or a Fitbit in need of charging. You can also go to sleep with the assurance that this box will keep your home alarm on. You could even watch Netflix.
Here are your step-by-step instructions to build a power box.
You need
MATERIALS
□ a plastic ammunition box with a high lid (R300 at Outdoor Warehouse)□ a 1000W inverter (Takealot sells the Gamistar we used for about R1 350. The advantage of this model is that it is equipped with the type of three-point sockets that are standard in South Africa. A lot of the others on the market have European or US sockets, which necessitate an extra fitting.)□ 2 kitchen cupboard air filters (most hardware shops stock them in various colours – we bought ours at Gelmar for R2 each)□ 8 screws of 4 x 4,6 mm□ a multi-plug wall socket (R50–R200 – we chose one with sockets for 1 three-point plug, 1 two-point plug and 2□ a wall socket box into which the multi-plug wall socket fits – the type that is usually built into the wall (± R20)□ a three-point power plug (± R30)□ electric cable, about 65cm long (R20)□ a smart charger for a 12 V battery with a minimum power output of 3,5 A (we found this Bosch C3 charger on Takealot for R880)□ double-sided tape□ a 100Ah deep-cycle battery (R2500–R11000 – Battery Centre branches countrywide sell a First National battery for R2 550; see our advice on batteries on p 104)□ a battery meter (we bought a Lumeno battery meter at Outdoor Warehouse for R300)□ ± 30cm-long 1,5mm red-and-black twin flex power cable□ 2 contact rings (10mm)□ 2 contact-breaker points (4mm)
