Effect of solar water heating system in reducing household energy consumption

Electricity demand has increased in recent years in South Africa beyond the capability of the South African grid. This has resulted in the increase of electricity price hike of more than 24% over the last 5 years. In addition, the economy of the country has been greatly affected with the frequent rolling blackouts. It is estimated that in South Africa, about 40% of household’s electricity consumption is used for heating water using geyser. There is an urgent need to reduce household’s energy consumption and to improve the quality and the security of supply. This could be accomplished by using renewable energy such as solar energy. This paper investigates the effectiveness of using solar water heaters to reduce the energy consumption in South African households. The effectiveness of the solar water heaters is studied together with heat pumps by comparing these two technologies based on energy consumption, cost and payback period.