In South Africa the practice of ‘Load shedding’ is when Eskom (South Africa’s largest utilities supplier) interrupts the electricity supply to certain areas as a last resort action to balance electricity supply and demand. This occurs due to a lack of electricity available to meet the demand.
Load shedding is now part of our daily lives and it’s affecting us whether we’re at home or work. It therefore makes sense to be prepared so that the situation causes us the least amount of frustration and loss of production.
Load shedding quick tips:
- Work in the cloud so that all your work is backed up automatically and not lost if you suddenly lose power.
- Unplug devices when the power is out to avoid damage from potential surges when power is restored.
- If you work from home check if the neighboring suburbs will have power so you can go work at one of the cafes. Most cafes have free wifi
- Charge electronic devices (cell phones, laptops and tablets) this may look like a no-brainer but very few people actually plan for load shedding. So, make sure you have charged all your devices before the scheduled load shedding.
- If you rely on a cordless phone, which would obviously be rendered inoperable during a power outage, keep your cell phone handy.
- Save your work regularly either manually or by setting up auto-save options in your software. If the power goes out unexpectedly, you won’t lose your work.
3 things that can minimise the impact of load shedding
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Get a generator
You ideally need a generator to cope with load shedding and minimise the impact it has on your business. Having a generator on standby means that even if the power goes off for a few hours, your business can keep running. Decide which appliances you want to run when the electricity goes out. To determine the size of the generator you need you’ll have to calculate the total wattage required.
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Know the schedule, don’t get caught in the dark
The first step is to know when your area is scheduled for load shedding. Having the latest load shedding schedules for your area gives you a better idea of when load shedding is likely to affect your business. I’ve found this app to be very useful and reliable. (Timetable)
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Surge protection
There are various devices available to protect your electrical equipment from surges when the supply voltage fluctuates.
Conclusion:
Unfortunately, it looks like load shedding is here to stay, at least for the next few years. This means that you will be affected to some degree. Whether it causes your business to succumb or not is up to you. Losing power doesn’t necessarily mean losing productivity.