Newsletter Issue 6 June 2019
Project Manager’s Message
Welcome to the 6th edition of the S&L News.
We have a full newsletter this month with lots of news, so I will keep my message short. May has been an eventful month, the highlight being our engagement with the lighting industry working group for the introduction of mandatory technical specifications for general service lamps. As we are still consolidating the comments received, we will only be able to provide an update in the next edition – suffice to say that significant progress was made, and we now move to public comment and then a public consultation workshop. The second industry meeting worth mentioning was our consultation with the appliance industry to get their inputs and comments on the technical study being undertaken on the feasibility of a recycling plant.
Please feel free to share this with interested colleagues. And if you’re new to the newsletter, hit the subscribe button to receive your monthly issue.
Theo Covary
S&L Project Manager
Makro Retail Campaign
May was Energy Month and the S&L Project took the opportunity to increase consumer awareness by partnering with Makro for a new retail-based campaign – a newsletter explaining the initiative was sent out earlier this month. Both online and instore consumers were able to benefit from the R400 discount being offered on selected energy efficiency appliances. The campaign will run until June 04. Access the campaign here.
Crushing & Disposal of Illegal Lamps
Over the last couple of years, South Africa has experienced an influx of lighting products that do not meet the minimum mandatory energy performance, quality and safety standards. This points to our market being targeted by international manufacturers to dump products. Although illegal lamps may be cheaper, the hidden cost to the public when purchasing and using substandard products is enormous, in terms of high electricity usage, regular replacements due to early failures as well as safety hazards.
The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) is responsible for the surveillance of the market, identification, confiscation, and destruction of non-compliant products to protect the local industry and the consumers. The NRCS is currently holding over 1.2 million confiscated, non-compliant incandescent and CFL lamps. The S&L project will be paying for these illegal lamps to be destroyed over the next three months to prevent them from resurfacing in the market. This crushing follows shortly after 1.3 million confiscated lamps were destroyed by the NRCS in the last half of 2018. The majority of Illegal lamps are confiscated at ports and borders across the country. Considering the magnitude of the challenge, the dti, the NRCS and DoE are working with international experts to put in place more effective measures to regulate this market.
New Features on the Saving Energy Website
The website has been revamped, changes include a new homepage, reports and newsletter pages. Usability improvements have been made to simplify and reduce the time needed to navigate the website. As the S&L program has grown the number and types of visitors has increased and we also have a lot of useful information to share. The reports page consolidates historic and recent research reports, legal reviews and technical studies for the S&L program (presented in a user-friendly table) and is
updated regularly.
We hope you enjoy our new website and please send us feedback, comments and suggestions.
Appliance Registration Database
The database unfortunately has taken a little longer than we had hoped. However, a final internal UAT has just been completed. The project will now work with selected appliance suppliers to test the system from an applicant’s perspective – these companies have been contacted and the 10-day pilot will start on the 3rd of June. Depending on the success of the pilot, which I am personally confident of, the database will be rolled out and made available to all potential applicants. Keep an eye out for updates!
Review of S&L Guidelines
We have appointed a design team to revise and update the S&L Guideline. Work will start soon. If you have noticed any errors or have any comments, please send them to Ras Ramodimo ras@theguild.co.za
Air Conditioner Study
As prescribed by VC9008, AC suppliers have successfully shifted to a Class B minimum energy efficiency rating. To understand the progress and plot a way forward, the S&L Project finalised a study “A Market Assessment of Residential and Small Commercial Air Conditioners in South Africa”. The study has highlighted technology shifts, such the dominance of reverse cycle units and inverter control. It has also estimated the market size to be 350,000 units/year, with 91% found to be of a split type.
AC units are different from the other appliances regulated under the S&L programme as more than 60% are purchased by commercial, not residential customers. Building on the data and international lessons, 12 interventions have been recommended; regulation advancements (e.g. including SEER metrics for inverter units), compliance strengthening (e.g. building a local AC test centre) and market response enhancements (label inclusion in commercial sales). The two reports provide much needed information about AC’s in South Africa and will be a primary input to the National Cooling Plan which is to be developed later this year.
“We must start…rebuilding our cities around energy efficiency and human needs, rather than around the car and wasted energy”
– Jay Inslee