With yearly electricity tariff hikes and growing environmental concerns, home users will have to change their day-to-day lifestyle when it comes to energy use, say industry players.
“South Africans are used to cheap electricity and have not taken much notice of how they waste electricity unnecessarily; this will have to change in the future,” says Dave Patterson, marketing manager of Greenstar, a distributor of energy-saving products.
He adds that the major challenge most households face is how to manage their daily electricity usage to a budget they can control.
“The average household is reactive; complaining at the end of each month when their electricity bill arrives, but have no plan of action for the next month to ensure the bill comes down.”
Another problem, notes Patterson, is that users don't know exactly how their electricity usage behaviour translates into rands and cents from day to day.
Elton Andrew, director at Enyuka Green, a green products supplier, says most home and business premises owners are unaware of the electricity their premises consume in real-time, and which components are actually using this energy.
“There is a drastic shift required in the way people view energy. Energy is not just the power to your house but also the fuel in your car or any other fossil-type fuel that we use in our daily lives,” explains Andrew.
Real-time reminders
According to Patterson, energy monitoring systems can help electricity users to take a proactive approach in controlling their usage.
“By monitoring the household energy consumption in real-time, households can see instantly the cost impact of turning an electrical item on and off. There is no better motivation to spend less than an instant display of how much it is costing per hour, day, week and month when a light is left on in an empty bedroom.”
In addition to alerting users how much energy a building is using, these monitors can show carbon emissions and kilowatt consumption, notes Andrew. “More complex systems can track energy usage in real-time and store this data for review and comparison via Web portals.
“Energy users quickly become conscious of excessive use via the means of a visual display on the premises, and in time, change their usage patterns and look at making the building more energy-efficient,” explains Andrew.
Great potential
Eskom's set of tariff increases announced in February has seen rates rise 24.8% this year, with 25.8% and 25.4% hikes coming until 2013.
Patterson says the increased cost of electricity means people are beginning to show more interest in home energy monitors.
However, there has been little support from government and Eskom in raising awareness of the impact energy monitors can have in households, he adds. “In SA, it has been the early adopters and the environmentally conscious who have been buying monitors.”
If government showed increased interest, the future impact could be significant, says Patterson. “Using stats from the last census we estimate there are at least 1.5 million households in the LSM 8 to 10 categories that should be monitoring their energy usage.
“As an example, if these households are consuming 1 000 kWh per month and can save 6% from monitoring their usage, the result will be a 90GWh per month electricity saving.”
Andrew says the market still has a long way to go, as many homes in SA do not have energy monitoring devices, despite the energy crisis in the country. But he adds that the cost of monthly bills is driving consumers to look at these products, with this trend set to continue as electricity effectively doubles from base increase levels in 2009.
“South African energy consumers need to understand where their electricity is being used and that energy is a luxury and not a right. Fossil fuels are finite, and they need to be conserved for future generations.”
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