Johannesburg - Having a hot shower is what prompted Sandiswa Qayi to create an award-winning invention to heat water up quickly while saving electricity.
“I was one of those people who used to switch the geyser on and off because I wanted to reduce my electricity bill. I used to wake up at 4.30am to switch my geyser on to have hot water at 6.30,” Qayi told The Star.
A discussion with her business partners at Amahlathi Eco-Tech prompted her to design a solution to the problem.
Their resulting creation, called The Hot Spot, is a plastic glove which can be fitted over any standard geyser element to give hot water within 30 minutes of it being switched on.
It works by pushing the hot water from the bottom to the top of the geyser.
“It enables access to 50 litres of hot water at 50°C in less than 30 minutes,” Qayi said.
“You operate your geyser like a kettle. With your kettle, you heat the amount of water you need. Like a kettle, instead of heating 150 litres at a time, it heats the 30 or so litres you need to take a shower.”
It was this invention which saw the Amahlathi Eco-Tech team awarded the prize for the most promising youth-led business at the recent Global Cleantech Innovation Programme for SMEs in South Africa (GCIP-SA) awards ceremony.
The GCIP-SA is part of a global initiative that aims to identify and support SMEs and start-ups with innovative solutions that could tackle the most pressing energy, environmental and economic challenges facing the planet by focusing on energy efficiency, green building, renewable energy, waste beneficiation and water efficiency.
The GCIP-SA combined a competition and a business accelerator offering the businesses of participants extensive mentoring, training, access to investors and opportunities to showcase their innovations.
Qayi said The Hot Spot was aimed at regular residential homes for people who were not in a position to buy expensive solar geysers or timers and geyser blankets.
“The plan is to make sure you don’t have to replace your existing geyser, you just improve on what you already have. It’s an affordable solution,” she said.
The business is ready to pilot its project and will be installing the product in 50 houses in and around East London, where she lives.
“The plan is to commercialise it by next year March,” said Qayi.
The R20 000 prize money will be used to cover the business's operational costs.
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The Star