Saving Electricity and Using It Safely

1Cash Power and units

Most homes in Rwanda use a prepaid meter from EUCL, called Cash Power. You pay money at an agent, a bank or by mobile money and receive a token, a 20-digit number that you type into the meter. The meter then shows how many units you have left.

One unit is one kilowatt-hour (kWh). That is the energy used by a 1,000-watt appliance running for 1 hour, or by a 10-watt LED bulb running for 100 hours.

2Watts: how hungry is the appliance?

Every appliance has a label showing its power rating in watts (W). The bigger the number, the faster it uses up energy. Some typical ratings:

Appliances that make heat, such as kettles, irons and hotplates, use the most electricity.

Worked example: LED or filament bulb?

An 8 W LED bulb gives as much light as a 60 W filament bulb. Suppose each is on for 5 hours a day for 30 days.

• Filament bulb: 60 W × 5 hours × 30 days = 9,000 watt-hours = 9 units
• LED bulb: 8 W × 5 hours × 30 days = 1,200 watt-hours = 1.2 units

Changing just one bulb saves 7.8 units every month.

3Smart ways to save electricity

• Switch off lights, the TV and the radio when you leave a room.
• Use LED bulbs.
• Use daylight: open the curtains and study near a window in the daytime.
• Unplug chargers and appliances when they are not in use. On standby they still use a little electricity.
• Iron many clothes at once instead of one item every day, so the iron heats up only once.
• Boil only as much water as you need.
• Keep the fridge door closed, and let hot food cool before putting it inside.
• Dry clothes in the sun.

Saving electricity saves money. It also means less fuel is burned in power stations, and more electricity is left for schools, hospitals and factories.

4Using electricity safely

• Never touch a socket, switch or appliance with wet hands. Water conducts electricity, so you could get a shock.
• Never push fingers, pins or other metal objects into a socket.
• Do not plug too many appliances into one socket.
• Stay far away from fallen power lines, and never fly kites near them. Tell an adult, who can call EUCL.
• Repairs are done only by a trained electrician, who first switches off the mains.

Electricians use special tools. A tester (a screwdriver with a small light inside) glows when a wire carries electricity. Pliers with plastic-covered handles hold and cut wires. A screwdriver drives screws into sockets and switches. Rubber gloves and rubber-soled boots protect against shocks, because rubber is an insulator: electricity cannot pass through it easily.

Try it yourself

Try each one on your own first, then tap Show answer to check.