Winter is coming — how to keep warm during load-shedding

For those who want to keep warm during load-shedding in the coming winter, using a gas heater is far more affordable than buying an electric heater and a portable power station in the short term, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed.

While there have been two weeks of no power cuts, electricity demand increases significantly during the winter months, and this could result in load-shedding rearing its ugly head again.

MyBroadband compared the cost of buying and running a gas heater to using an electric heater and a portable power station to keep warm during load-shedding.

Our analysis found that gas-powered heaters and the gas used to run them during two-and-a-half-hour load-shedding sessions could cost homeowners between R2,659 and R4,999 over South Africa’s four winter months.

This includes the once-off cost of buying the heater itself. Costs over the four months vary based on how intensely the heater is run and how the price of gas changes.

On the other hand, buying an electric heater and a portable power station is substantially more expensive because power stations with enough capacity to run such heaters are pricey.

Using gas to keep warm

As a basic guideline, LPG heaters use roughly 100 grams of gas per panel per hour.

At this rate, a common 9kg gas bottle will last approximately 90 hours when heating one panel, 45 hours when heating two, and 30 hours when running the heater on full blast.

Therefore, depending on how many panels you burn simultaneously, a 9kg gas bottle can last between 12 and 36 days when run daily for two-and-a-half hour sessions during load-shedding.

Buying a full 9kg gas bottle costs approximately R1,200, depending on which retailer you buy it from and gas prices at the time. However, a large portion of this is only a once-off cost.

If you already have a bottle, each refill will cost approximately R350, depending on current gas pricing.

Therefore, those who need to burn three panels to keep warm will go through two-and-a-half bottles in a month at an approximate cost of R875 a month.

Two-panel-burning households will spend approximately R585 per month on gas, while those who can get by with one panel will see one gas bottle last roughly 35 days, costing about R290 per month.

Then comes the cost of the heater itself. There is a wide range of these available from prominent brands like Cadac, Megamaster, Goldair, and Alva.

Regarding pricing, South African residents can expect to pay between R1,200 and R3,000 for a three-panel gas heater.

Common options include:

• Homestar Three-Panel Gas Heater — R1,290
• Alva Gas Heater (Three-Panel) — R1,499
• Cadac Roll About Three-Panel Gas Heater — R1,499
• Goldair Gas Heater (Three-Panel) — R1,699
• Cadac Premium Roll About Gas Heater (Three-Panel) — R2,299
• Delonghi Three-Panel Gas Heater — R2,999

Cadac’s R1,499 gas heater is the best-rated of the lot, so we used its price for our calculations.

Throughout a South African winter — which runs for roughly four months from May to August — a single-panel burning household will spend approximately R2,659 keeping warm through load-shedding sessions.

However, the cost will likely be less than that as this assumes homeowners are hit by a two-and-a-half-hour load-shedding session daily.

Two-panel-burning households will spend roughly R3,839 over the four months, while those requiring more heat will spend about R4,999 burning three panels for two and a half hours each day.

Electric heater and a power station

Using an electric heater and a portable power station to keep warm during load-shedding is significantly more expensive due to the heater’s power draw.

The heaters themselves aren’t overly expensive, with 800W quartz heaters from some brands going for as little as R199.

However, the draw of 800W creates a significant — and expensive — challenge when it comes to finding a portable power station that can keep it powered during a load-shedding bout.

At 800W of draw, the heater will require a portable power station with a capacity of around 2,000Wh to stay powered for two-and-a-half hours.

Portable power stations with such capacities are expensive. We found several options. These are the four cheapest:

• EcoFlow Delta Max (2,106Wh) — R18,099
• GeeWiz 2,200W Portable UPS Power Station (2,000Wh) — R18,495
• Magneto 2,200W Portable Power Backup Station (2,016Wh) — R19,999
• Bluetti AC200Max 2,200W Portable Power Station — R21,999

Electric heaters in South Africa start at around R200.

Therefore, homeowners who take this option route can expect to pay between R18,299 and R22,199 for their heating system.

This excludes the energy charges related to recharging the portable power station.