King Edward VII School (KES) has seen its electricity bill cut in half thanks to Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) member, Solarsave.
The company installed energy efficient lights in all the school’s buildings which totaled around 850 light fittings and 1,500 bulbs which use about 60% less electricity than the previous lights. The group also replaced the water heating systems with newer models. Solarsave replaced the old boilers, which were expensive to operate, with heat pumps which use 50% less electricity.
Solarsave director, Enzio Zambetti, said that KES had shown considerable foresight by adopting sustainable energy solutions now. “From a financial point-of-view, it made sense to explore ways to reduce the amount of electricity the school is using,” he said. “Electricity is currently expensive, and will also increase substantially over the next few years.
“Then, the school also considered potential changes to South African law, for example, Government intends promulgating legislation banning the use of the ‘old’ incandescent type of light bulb. Finally, it acknowledged that the country as a whole has to cut its use of carbon-based energy and, by opting for heat pump technology, it was playing its part.”
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