Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa August 2016 | Page 34

GREEN LIVING

Building your

Green Home

Top Tips for Eco Friendly Living
BY DREW HOOK

H

omeowners affected by dramatic hikes in
electricity costs over the past five years are
increasingly drawn to homes built according
to green building practices. This interest in “green”
homes is also driven by increasing public awareness
of green building practices. Since the new building
standards regulations were put in place in 2011,
developers and owners of all residential, public,
commercial and retail buildings have been required to
invest in energy-efficient technology for the provision
of hot water.
Approximately 39% of South Africa’s domestic
electricity usage goes to heating water. Fitting a solarpowered geyser is one of the most popular cost-saving
greening measures taken by owners of residential
property, and because Eskom offers a rebate on solarpowered geysers, it’s also a very attractive option for
greening a home.
According to Eskom-accredited solar heating
specialist Mike Bekker, if a home’s monthly electricity
payment amounts to R2 000, a solar-powered geyser
could save a home as much as R640 on power bills
a month. Taking into account Eskom’s rebate, which

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AUGUST 2016 SA Real Estate Investor

is in the region of R4 000 on a R15 000 geyser that
can supply hot water to a family of two adults and two
children, most geysers pay for themselves in three to
four years.
As such, a solar-powered geyser is probably your
best green investment to make a home more attractive
to potential buyers or tenants. There are, however,
other ways to add value to a property through the
reduction of energy bills. And if you’re handy at DIY,
installing them yourself is simple.
Insulation is one example. A typical uninsulated
home loses up to 35% of its energy through the ceiling,
says insulation specialist Ian Peddie. Heaters, which
add hundreds of rands a month to energy bills, are
usually used to replace this lost heat in the winter.
Eskom says that insulating a ceiling using blanket
insulation can make a home up to 5°C warmer in winter
and 10°C cooler in summer, dramatically cutting the
cost of heating and cooling. Blanket insulation, like a
solar-powered geyser, will also pay for itself over time.
Depending on the size of a home, at a cost of around
R60m2, including installation, it would probably take
insulation in the region of two years to pay for itself.

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