Electricity not used for heating - SAIRR
2013-03-05 13:08
Johannesburg - Even though most homes in South Africa have electricity, over 50% of households do not use it for heating, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Tuesday.
"Of the 14.8 million households in South Africa, some 12.4m (84%) use electricity for lighting, 10.7m (73%) use it for cooking, and 6.5m (44%) use it for heating their homes," the SAIRR said.
It said it reached its SA Survey findings using data obtained from Statistics South Africa.
"Of the 16% of households without electricity for lighting, 10% used candles, while the remaining 6% relied on paraffin and other unspecified resources," SAIRR said.
It said 27% of households did not use electricity for cooking. Instead, 2% used gas, 7% paraffin, 13% wood, 1% coal and 4% other sources.
Heating
The survey found that 56% of households did not use electricity for heating. Paraffin and wood were used by 28%, gas by 2% and other means by 24%.
The SAIRR said lights consumed far less electricity than household appliances used for cooking and heating.
It said electricity prices had risen above the inflation rate in eight of the past 10 years.
"If this trend continues, it can be expected that the average household will increasingly switch from electricity to other sources of energy for heating and cooking," said SAIRR researcher Kerwin Lebone.
"Energy sources such as candles and paraffin are also the main contributors to shack-settlement fires, that cause untold damage in terms of loss of life and property," Lebone said.
- SAPA
