Consumers welcome ban on energy-wasting bulbs

Electricity consumers in Chitungwiza have welcomed the ban on inefficient incandescent lights, which consume more power than the highly recommended fluorescent lights.

Speaking at the recent Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (zera) consumer education and awareness outreach held in Unit L, Chitungwiza, residents noted that the use of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and light emitting diode (LED) bulbs could help conserve energy.

Government, through Statutory Instrument (SI)21 of 2017, banned the use of inefficient lighting products and labelling, including the import, wholesale and retail of incandescent or filament bulbs.

zera’s engineer for renewable energy Mr Tobias Mudzingwa said the use of LED bulbs for indoor use and LED floodlights for outdoor use conserve energy by more than 80 percent.

LED lights are also believed to be durable.

“The use of LED bulbs save energy as they use five watts of energy and they have the longest lifespan of about five years, and are durable,” said Mr Mudzingwa. “They can be used when they are broken.

“CFL lamps use 14 watts of energy while the incandescent consume most energy of about 60 watts. They have the shortest lifespan.”

Sharon Geza, a Unit L resident who attended the consumer education and awareness outreach workshop, said they welcomed the ban of incandescent bulbs.

“We welcome the ban of incandescent bulbs since the introduction of prepaid electricity meters,” she said. “We have been using incandescent bulbs.

“Little did we know that they consume more energy. We were wondering why our electricity was not lasting.”