GEYSER SWITCH-OFF TIMES

GEYSER SWITCH-OFF TIMES

Issued by George Municipality 14 July 2022

The George Municipality switches off geysers according to the Eskom tariff structure peak times.

September to May (Low demand season)

Monday to Friday: 8am-10am and 6pm-8pm

Saturday: 10am-12pm and 6pm-8pm

Sunday: No switch-off

June to August (High demand season)

Monday to Friday: 7am-9am and 5pm-7pm

Saturday: 10am-12pm and 6pm-8pm

Sunday: No switch-off

As per government legislation all municipalities have been required to install geyser control systems to help flatten the peaks on the national load curve and this has been in place nationwide for about a decade. The geyser control system is intentionally set to switch geysers off during peak times as without it there would be more load shedding.

While most municipalities switch geysers off for three hours during the entire morning peak time, George switches off for two hours – an hour each in morning and evening peak times.

Due to the current load shedding and the excessive load that is encountered during certain times after the power returns, the automatic geyser system takes control and keeps the geysers off until the load reaches satisfactory levels.  This normally takes about 30 to 45 minutes.