A Spark of Genius
Given that Arbeidsgenot 3 is packed with all the mod cons, ranging from the relatively ordinary, such as a built-in dishwasher and a built-in washer-dryer, to the unconventional, such as an electric shower, it had the same issue that many other South African homes have - if all the appliances are switched on, the property can easily use more power than is made available, per home, by the power grid...
Without proper power management, the maximum available load, of 50 Amp of current per household, could easily be exceeded, which could cause the circuit breakers of the house to trip (which can be very annoying for guests).
The time had come to turn to an old friend Jaco Mostert from Jaytec, who is a seasoned Electrical Engineer, and an undisputed ace in truly bespoke electrical design. His mandate: Arbeidsgenot 3 needed its own custom intelligence to monitor its electricity use, but then it also needed the capability to, proactively and automatically, step in, if needed, and take fully automated steps to avoid electrical overload, without impacting our guests, but then also to reverse those actions again once conditions normalise. A challenge like this is not something that Jaco easily passes by...
The result - the property now has become smart - it monitors its own power consumption on key circuits and starts to perform proactive internal load shedding.
For example: When the electric shower (the most power-hungry appliance) is in use, the system will automatically detect the high demand and therefore automatically disable non-essential systems such as the Heat Pump and the Geyser (that provide hot water for the kitchen and the basin in the bathroom). It would also temporarily disable the electric kettle (which is another very hungry power system). Once the shower is no longer in use, it will detect the power is available again and restore power to the systems that have been temporarily suspended.
In the hospitality business, it is all the small things that you do (sometimes unseen), that add up to ensure that your guests have a truly great experience. Taking away a typical annoyance, such as a tripping circuit board (that trips for no good reason), is one of those small (unseen) things that you can do as a host, that adds up to a great guest experience.
In my view, Jaco is simply one of the most talented electrical engineers in the business, worldwide.