What to do when it’s light out – due to load-shedding
Santam has released tips for people to protect their homes and businesses from the damage load-shedding can cause.
With the recent increase in rotational load-shedding by Eskom, Pretoria residents are finding themselves in the dark more often.
When faced with these outages there are several things to consider including the effect it has on your appliances.
Constant power cuts, which often end with a power surge once electricity is restored, may damage your appliances and even affect their warranty, according to insurance company Santam.
“The reality is load-shedding has an immense impact on consumers and businesses alike – who must cope with the damage to appliances brought on by power surges or risk loss through theft, burglary as a result of faulty security systems,” said Marius Steyn, personal lines underwriting manager.
Steyn provided the following tips to protect your property when you experience load-shedding:
– Ensure that your alarm system is always in good working condition even without power.
– Ensure that you keep your devices fully charged. This includes your cellphone, laptop and tablet. It is important to have access to other people if ever you encounter trouble.
– Always keep a spare torch or headlamp. You can also use your cellphone’s torch. Another reason why it helps to keep it fully charged.
– Always save emergency contact information on your phone. Also, keep a paper copy safe for everyone to have access to it.
– Consider switching to gas for cooking. Now that we are also in winter, a gas heater is a great option to keep everyone warm even during a blackout. Using gas also saves electricity.
– Keep emergency frozen water stored. Frozen water can help keep food cold during a power outage and will also not spoil.
– Always unplug all the cables from the wall sockets. It is due to the high surge in power that occurs when the electricity is restored. This mostly applies to electric appliances like the television or refrigerator.
– Electric power surges are one of the biggest causes of damage to equipment or appliances during a power outage. Installing surge protection devices can help minimise the damage caused by power surges.
– Back up your data on your laptop or use a hard drive. Backing up your device can help to avoid losing your important work or documents when the electricity goes off and you have not saved it.
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