[Question] Splitting Residential Electricity Supply

[Giles]

Hi Guys - I'm new to this forum and would like some advice from those more electrically inclined than I am. I want to build a beach house on the KZN south coast that includes two ground floor apartments and a single upstairs apartment. Currently the property has an existing house with existing household supply direct from Eskom on the Homepower Standard tariff. This existing house is due to be demolished and replaced with the new double storey building. With a view to future holiday rental of the two ground floor apartments I would like to have separate distribution boards for each apartment as well as separate prepaid electricity meters. In other words I need the electricity supply split into 3 to supply the three apartments (2 downstairs and 1 upstairs). The upstairs apartment will carry the common items like security lights, remote driveway gate, etc. Each of the downstairs apartments will have their own 150 litre geyser, hob & oven, plug points (for a fridge, dishwasher, washer/dryer combo, TV, decoder, PC, 2 x 12000BTU split inverter A/C units, etc.), internal ceiling lights & fans, remote garage door, outside lights front & back, 2 x garage plug points. The upstairs apartment will have all the same conveniences except including a 38000BTU ducted inverter A/C unit and possibly a few extra plug points and lights as it is a lot bigger than the downstairs apartments. Now what I need to know is can the electricity supply be split in three or will I need to request a larger supply and if so what sort of Amp supply would I need to ask for? Also, when the existing house is demolished I will need the exisiting supply to be moved from where it is now to an appropriate point where it will enter the new building - is this a job for Eskom or an electrical contractor? Thanks in advance for any information any electrical expert on here is able to provide and my apologies for asking any newbie questions and possibly questions that may have already been asked.

[ians]

With that amount of power required...i would say a 3 phase supply would be a better option.

Yes you can split it into 3...1 phase per unit.

Yes you will need to get an electrical contractor...who will need to work out what supply is required...looking at what you have listed above...you gona need to find a person who knows what they are doing...to do the calculation and balance the load.

It would be advisable to fit a 3 phase Eskom meter and 3 private single prepaid meters (from what i am reading on your post)

38000 btu unit is a big A/C unit...the 2 x 12000 inverter should work on a standard 20 amp circuit each.

A word of warning i have just finished doing some work at a holiday home north of Durban...everything had to be replaced due to corrosion...every single socket outlet was faulty...every light fitting had to be replaced...every wire had to be cut back and re terminated...you get the idea.

even if the lights are in sheltered areas...like in under cover parking lots...they have to be corrosion proof.

The A/c units literally rusted off the brackets.

So just a heads up...pay the extra and do it right...otherwise you gona be in for huge maintenance bills.

[Bodie]

Hi Guys - I'm new to this forum and would like some advice from those more electrically inclined than I am. I want to build a beach house on the KZN south coast that includes two ground floor apartments and a single upstairs apartment. Currently the property has an existing house with existing household supply direct from Eskom on the Homepower Standard tariff. This existing house is due to be demolished and replaced with the new double storey building. With a view to future holiday rental of the two ground floor apartments I would like to have separate distribution boards for each apartment as well as separate prepaid electricity meters. In other words I need the electricity supply split into 3 to supply the three apartments (2 downstairs and 1 upstairs). The upstairs apartment will carry the common items like security lights, remote driveway gate, etc. Each of the downstairs apartments will have their own 150 litre geyser, hob & oven, plug points (for a fridge, dishwasher, washer/dryer combo, TV, decoder, PC, 2 x 12000BTU split inverter A/C units, etc.), internal ceiling lights & fans, remote garage door, outside lights front & back, 2 x garage plug points. The upstairs apartment will have all the same conveniences except including a 38000BTU ducted inverter A/C unit and possibly a few extra plug points and lights as it is a lot bigger than the downstairs apartments. Now what I need to know is can the electricity supply be split in three or will I need to request a larger supply and if so what sort of Amp supply would I need to ask for? Also, when the existing house is demolished I will need the exisiting supply to be moved from where it is now to an appropriate point where it will enter the new building - is this a job for Eskom or an electrical contractor? Thanks in advance for any information any electrical expert on here is able to provide and my apologies for asking any newbie questions and possibly questions that may have already been asked.

Actual monthly cost from company:
OPTION 1:
SELF-MANAGED VENDING

Property Manager or appointed delegate/representative will be responsible for generating PREPAID VOUCHERS for the tenants/End user
Service fee of R17 Rand per meter per month and receives access to vend UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF VOUCHERS for the tenants/End user
The Property Manager can also request for the meter to be set into an arrears of R17 at the beginning of each month to be collected on the tenants/End users first purchase in the month therefore the Property Manager recovers the service fee
Tenants/User to pay Property Manager directly for prepaid vouchers
Prepaid Vouchers can either be vended via our Web interface or via the registered Property Managers cell-phone number