There’s a common perception among Nigerians when it comes to purchasing appliances. With the option of buying energy conserving appliances, especially bulbs, most Nigerians still prefer to purchase regular ones because they are cheaper. There are however, reasons why this action can be categorized as penny wise, pound foolish.
After the purchase of these regular bulbs, you often time find electricity consumers complaining of having to replace these bulbs regularly. Also, there is the case of them complaining about how much energy they consume and how often they have to recharge their meters. In essence, their electricity bills go up and they spend more money buying new bulbs, all to avoid buying ‘expensive’ energy conserving bulbs.
However, the whole point of energy conserving bulbs is to reduce the amount of energy consumed. These bulbs don’t ‘draw’ as much current as regular bulbs, and they have a way longer life span. The best part is they aren’t even affected by fluctuations. Whereas regular bulbs would ‘die’ when there’s a slight trip in the electricity supply, energy conserving bulbs would not.
One thing many Nigerians do not actually understand is that in a bid to avoid ‘paying more’ for these energy conserving bulbs, they actually spend more money in the long run, in the continuous purchase of cheaper bulbs and in the increase in electricity bills.
This begs the questions: how would Nigerians begin to be aware of the benefits of energy conserving bulbs? How best would it be explained that buying these energy conserving bulbs (and appliances in general) help save money.
Read more on the benefits of energy conservation