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Demand is growing for home load shedding solutions

Load shedding has become a fact of life across Mzansi. This has created a growing market for load shedding solutions, with South Africans needing to ensure they have at least some power for their homes and businesses during power outages.

There is now very significant demand for inverters and portable power stations, ranging from entry-level devices that can power a router and charge a phone, all the way up to complete home installations that can provide a degree of independence from mains electricity. Solar panels are also becoming a must-have item, and can be seen on more and more roofs across South Africa.

Bob Shop (formerly bidorbuy) has become a trusted source of load shedding solutions for South African homeowners and businesspeople, and this marketplace website offers excellent potential for sellers and ecommerce entrepreneurs who have load shedding-related products to sell.

Load shedding solutions from Bob Shop

At Bob Shop, we are committed to helping people not just survive load shedding, but thrive in spite of it. In particular, we are offering great deals on inverters and other load shedding devices.

The benefits of inverters

Living with an inverter is all about managing the load - that is, carefully considering which devices you will link to your inverter. Your power requirement will determine the size of the inverter you need, and the capacity of the batteries. Devices with elements (such as kettles, geysers, irons and electric ovens) require a great deal of energy, and cannot be run from most inverters.

However, an inverter will let you run most other domestic and office devices, including lights, fans, computers, phone chargers, TVs, Wi-Fi routers and so on.

Inverters offer multiple advantages over other load shedding solutions. When compared to generators, they are much more environmentally friendly (no diesel or petrol fumes). Plus, they’re extremely quiet, so won’t upset your neighbours. As you don’t need to buy and store fuel, inverters are both cheaper and safer to run than generators.

Inverter technology has evolved significantly in recent years, with advances including lithium-ion batteries (which offer a longer lifespan) and pure sine wave technology (better for high-tech devices). For a greater degree of independence from mains power, inverters can be combined with solar panels, meaning that you can use free solar energy to contribute to charging your batteries.

Which inverter system is right for your home?

Bob Shop has great deals on a wide range of inverter systems, ranging from entry-level options designed to supply power to the most essential home systems, right through to solutions that can power almost everything in your house.

Choosing the perfect system for your home is all about weighing up your needs and budget.

Backup for your home router

If you work from home, having your router online is essential. In fact, when it comes to security, entertainment and pretty much every aspect of modern life, keeping your router’s lights on is non-negotiable. The good news is that routers don’t need all that much power, and if that’s all you want on, you can find solutions from as little as R600. Many of these mini-UPS devices will also let you charge your phone at the same time.

Stylish, compact solutions for AC power

If you want to do more than just run your router, then you’ll need to spend more - but at higher price points there are a wide range of options, including inverters and portable power stations that can charge or run multiple devices for hours at a time. Trust us, load shedding is much easier to bear when you can still watch TV and keep your lights on.

RCT Megapower Banks

RCT is a mid-range brand that produces more powerful AC power banks - they can be used to run multiple devices and, if you work from home, can ensure that your laptop, screens and printers are always on, so you never have to stress about missing a deadline - even at Stage 6!

ECOFLOW inverters

ECOFLOW manufactures and distributes a range of self-contained inverter and battery systems, allowing you to choose the capacity and output you require. From relatively small devices that are ideal for camping and other outdoor activities to whole-home backup power solutions, ECOFLOW is rapidly building a great reputation.

South African consumers and businesses have been quick to notice that ECOFLOW inverters and portable power stations don’t just look great, but really perform. Their sleek, compact design means that they can be easily integrated into any setting, while the fact that they pack a powerful punch means that in most situations, you can almost forget about load shedding.

ECOFLOW also produces their own range of solar panels, so you can top up your batteries without waiting for mains power and reduce your overall cost per kWh.

Bluetti inverters

While ECOFLOW represents a premium load shedding solution, Bob Shop also has more affordable inverter technology in the shape of the Bluetti range. Bluetti is known for their great-value approach to loadshedding solutions, and, like ECOFLOW, they can be combined with solar panels, including Bluetti’s innovative, space-saving folding models.

Inverter trolley solutions

Think of these as inverters on wheels. While they may not be as compact as some of the options we discussed above, they have the advantage of being more portable. This means that you can move them around your house as you require - for example, from your home office during the day to your lounge in the evening and then your bedroom at night - much easier than having extension cables running everywhere.

Depending on the brand you choose, and the power and battery capacity you require, trolley inverters can cost anything from around R7 000 to almost R30 000. Top trolley inverter brands include RCT, Mecer and Lalela.

Installed inverter solutions

If you want to really put the stress of load shedding behind you, you can look at inverter solutions that require installation by professional electricians. With an installed inverter, you can essentially have every socket in your house running on inverter power when the mains power fails. In other words, you’ll pretty much stop even noticing loadshedding.

Two of the most popular brands of whole-house inverters in South Africa are Sunsynk and Deye Inverters, with Sunsynk in particular being designed to also work with solar power inputs.

The luxury option

If you simply have to have the best of everything, no matter what the cost, then we have one word for you: Victron. These inverters are designed in the Netherlands and stand out not just for their distinctive blue casings, but for their exceptional performance. For a life that’s essentially free of load shedding, Victron is the name to know.

Is your inverter underperforming?

If you were an early adopter of inverter technology and you’ve had your system for a few years, you may have noticed that it is not doing as well as it once was. That’s almost certainly due to the batteries it’s paired with.

If you have gel batteries, it may be time to consider upgrading to lithium batteries. Gel batteries can only "cycle" (that is, be charged and discharged) a limited number of times before they start to fail. While they are more affordable, gel batteries tend to be heavy and cumbersome and have a limited life.

However, in many cases you can replace your old gel batteries with new lithium batteries, which can last for many more cycles (in other words, they have a much longer lifespan). These are some of the names to look out for if you’re in the market for replacement batteries: BlueNova Batteries, Greenrich, Dyness Batteries and the Freedom Won range.

Keeping the lights on

For online sellers or merchants specialising in load shedding solutions, Bob Shop represents an excellent opportunity to engage with buyers across South Africa and provide them with the products they need. With winter just around the corner, demand for electricity is expected to increase nationwide.

This will put further strain on the national grid, and could lead to higher stages of load shedding becoming necessary. If this happens, more and more buyers will be searching for backup power solutions online - by selling on Bob Shop, you can satisfy their requirements and grow your online business.

Useful resources:
Bob Group
Bob Group is a "one-stop-shop" for all online sellers, from start-ups to major brands. Merchants benefit from the convenience of a single unified offering, and can pick and choose the specific services or tools they need - and then adjust this as their business grows.
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