Schools’ annual bills can be reduced by up to 39% if fluorescent lights are replaced with LEDs
28 January 2021 - 20:20 By Jason Avron Samuels, Leslie van Rooi, MJ (Thinus) Booysen and Sara Grobbelaar
Despite financial constraints, high costs and the best efforts of principals, electricity usage in SA’s schools remains largely unchecked, as they focus on educational outcomes. The country’s 23,471 public schools use an estimated 3.5TWh of energy a year. This is about a quarter of Koeberg nuclear power station’s production and it costs about R5bn.
In a recent study, The Conversation analysed the energy usage of 13 schools in Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape. The sample included poor and affluent schools. We then compared it with what schools use in other countries. This comparison makes it possible to estimate energy efficiency and see where money can be saved...