City urges consumers to consume less energy

By Ofentse Mokae
04 July 2009


As consumers brace themselves this month for an average electricity price increase of 33,5%, the City of Cape Town has urged households to save energy by monitoring their electricity consumption.

“By measuring your usage you can adjust your lifestyle to effect savings. For example, hot water geysers ‘guzzle’ electricity, but if you adjust the thermostat from 65C to about 55C, the energy savings are considerable,” says Clive Justus, Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services.

“Pre-paid meters and some of the older credit type of meters can be read daily to check the number of units being used. You can also monitor consumption through your monthly municipal account,” says Justus.

According to Don Early of Cape Town’s Electricity Services, the average domestic consumption is about 600 kWh per month.

“More affluent households average about 1 000 kWh per month, while consumption in informal housing areas is usually in the region of 90 to 150 kWh per month. These amounts will vary according to the size of a household, the usage of electrical appliances, and will be higher in winter than in summer,” says Early.