Cape Town – Vodacom Business, Sensor Networks, and Ariston are proud to announce a strategic partnership that brings confirmed sensible geyser expertise to the forefront of South Africa’s efforts to enhance the soundness of the nationwide electrical energy grid and scale back family vitality consumption.
This collaboration builds on Vodacom’s nationwide connectivity, already powering Sensor Networks’ sensible units in properties throughout the nation.
By combining Sensor Networks’ innovation in sensible equipment expertise with Ariston’s world experience in water heating, the partnership permits clever management of some of the energy-intensive home equipment within the residence: the geyser.
“Geyser expertise is evolving to satisfy the vitality challenges South African households face,” says Mark Allewell, founder and CEO at Sensor Networks.
“With a linked controller put in on the geyser, owners can handle scorching water heating instantly from their smartphone: switching it on or off, adjusting temperatures, and setting superior schedules with a number of time and temperature blocks all through the day.
“This degree of management not solely helps photo voltaic integration and vitality effectivity, but in addition positions households to learn from time-of-use tariffs as they’re launched in future, decreasing prices and easing demand on the nationwide grid”.
Through an put in fleet of over 12 000 sensible geysers with Sensor Networks expertise, common knowledge signifies that giant households are saving on common over R400 monthly in electrical energy prices.
This equates to roughly 50 000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electrical energy saved every day – roughly 1 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) monthly and over 18 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per 12 months.
At a mean electrical energy worth of R3 per kilowatt-hour, these financial savings translate into practically R55 million a 12 months in diminished vitality prices for shoppers.
Sensor Networks, South Africa’s main producer of linked geyser units and residential vitality administration options, first partnered with Ariston, one of many world’s largest geyser producers, to distribute choose Ariston geysers bundled with Sensor Networks’ sensible expertise by way of main retailers throughout South Africa.
The partnership has now formally expanded to incorporate Vodacom Business, a long-standing connectivity associate to Sensor Networks.
Leveraging their Global Data Service Platform (GDPS) connectivity and intensive community infrastructure, Vodacom Business offers the safe, scalable spine required to make sure uninterrupted entry to sensible geysers – whether or not put in inside ceiling cavities, behind partitions, or in distant areas.
As Sensor Networks prepares to roll out its vitality administration platform throughout the African continent, Vodacom’s community scale and reliability will probably be crucial to delivering seamless, continent-wide management and connectivity.
“While alternate options like photo voltaic and gasoline geysers may be costly and take years to repay, linked geyser expertise provides a extra accessible and speedy manner for households to chop vitality prices,” says Wayne Vertue, Country Manager at Ariston SA.
“With full management through smartphone – scheduling, temperature settings, and distant switching – South Africans can begin saving from day one.”
Malcolm Subramony, Executive Head of Department, IoT Connectivity at Vodacom Business, provides: “If this expertise had been adopted at scale throughout the nation, the affect may very well be monumental.
“It would take actual strain off the grid, and accomplish that at a fraction of the price of constructing new energy infrastructure.
“This is a confirmed, home-grown resolution that delivers outcomes.”
In South Africa, geysers will not be solely among the many highest shoppers of family electrical energy – they’re additionally some of the frequent sources of insurance coverage claims, usually leading to pricey water harm. Connected geyser expertise addresses each challenges.
Proven by way of years of deployment with main insurers, Sensor Networks’ resolution detects early indicators of failure – corresponding to leaks, strain build-up, or overheating – and mechanically shuts the geyser down earlier than harm happens.
This reduces claims, lowers insurer payouts, and improves buyer expertise.
As a part of this broader position, Sensor Networks will probably be rolling out extra sensors by way of its vitality administration platform to totally automate and optimise vitality use throughout the house.
“The speedy rollout of residence vitality administration expertise provides a sensible, scalable resolution to South Africa’s vitality calls for,” concluded Subramony.
“By giving households actual management over how and after they devour electrical energy, platforms like Sensor Networks are serving to to stabilise the grid, scale back strain throughout peak instances, and bridge the hole whereas broader structural reforms take impact.”
