5.5 Energy consumption patterns
5.5.1 Electrical appliances within residences
In analyzing the students’ energy consumption patterns, the study firstly documented the different electrical appliances in the university residences and the appliances that students have in their rooms. The patterns of energy consumption were drawn from students’ practices and behaviour towards the usage of lights, plugs and electrical appliances. Another interesting aspect was the knowledge and adherence of students regarding energy usage regulations within the university residences. Lastly, the study asked the DSRA officials about the measures administered by the department to monitor and reduce energy consumption at UKZN.
In an effort to determine the energy consumption patterns in the UKZN residences by students, the study considered both electrical appliances in students’ rooms and those placed in shared places such as kitchens and entertainment rooms. Figure 5.7 below shows the number of electrical appliances each student in the study owned in his or her room.
Figure 5.7 Number of electrical appliances in students’ rooms
Source: Own calculations from the Student Electricity Behaviour Survey (SEBS) data
Figure 5.7 shows that the majority of the students in the study, 68%, had 3 to 5 electrical appliances that they used in their own rooms. Students with appliances ranging between 6 and 8 in their rooms made up 24% of the sample. Both students with two or less appliances and those with more than nine electrical appliances equally accounted for 4% each. This data showed that students staying within the university residences owned considerable numbers of appliances that had a significant
4%
68%
24%
4%
Electrical appliances owned by students
0 to 2 3 to 5 6 to 8 9/ more
99 | P a g e As RAs sometimes we conduct the un-announced residence-checks and we always find out that students have numerous appliances in their rooms that range from double- door fridges, heaters and even microwaves that are not allowed in the students’ rooms.
Since these appliances consume a lot of energy in our residence (RA4, October 28, 2015).
Nevertheless, the monitoring of residential rules on appliances and energy usage will be discussed in the following section but the quote explains why few students owned toasters and microwaves.
The study also wanted to investigate the duration in hours on a daily basis these different appliances are plugged in to electrical sockets. This was done in order to establish the energy usage pattern and to identify which appliances are plugged to electrical sockets more frequently than others. Table 5.6 below shows all the identified appliances and the duration they are used or plugged in, by both female and male students.
Table 5.6: Standard deviations, frequencies and mean daily time (in hours) for which an appliance is plugged in to an electricity, by gender.
Appliance Female Male Pooled
Mean-hours Mean Standard
Deviation N
Mean Standard Deviation N
(students in the study)
Cellphone 6.13 6.40 23 7.05 6.18 26 6.22
Laptop 5.29 5.04 21 8.31 5.07 21 7.05
Iron 0.10 0.71 15 0.14 0.12 10 0.11
Fridge 24 0 19 24 0 23 24
Kettle 0.10 0.54 10 0.11 0.10 12 0.10
Speakers 8 0 1 5.5 3.21 12 6.09
Microwave 0.10 0 1 0.30 0 1 0.2
Toaster 0.10 0 1 0.30 0.32 2 0.23
iPad 8 9.11 5 4.50 1.11 2 7
Hair-machines 0.06 0.11 3 0.10 0.11 2 0.08
Fan 3.07 2.08 3 9.22 9.24 8 7.45
Source: Own calculations from the Student Electricity Behaviour Survey (SEBS) data
Note: Column percentage add to more than 100 percentage on response data on appliances because students reported ownership of more than one in all occasions.
The data shows that the majority of the students are mostly likely to charge or plug in their cell- phones and laptops for 6.22 hours and 7.05 hours per day respectively. The data also highlights that both male (7.05 hours) (8.31 hours) and female (6.13 hours) (5.29 hours) students alike are on
100 | P a g e average more likely to use electricity on ICT devices. This data explains why the majority of the students in the study, 44%, were not satisfied with internet access (see Figure 5.1) as they use their laptops and computers extensively. Thus, students are more likely to use and charge their ICT devices namely cell-phones, laptops and iPads which access wireless internet connections.
Challenges in connecting to the internet are mostly likely to have a negative impact on students’
satisfaction. As shown in Table 5.6, room it is not surprise that fridges are connected to electricity points throughout the day and night in rooms belonging to both male and female students.
The least reported electrical appliance used by students accounting for about 8 minutes on average per day is the hairdo-machine. Interestingly, male students are almost twice as likely as female students to connect hairdo machines to electrical points on a daily basis. One of the male students reported that other students borrowed his hair-machine almost on a daily basis. This finding from the study supports the literature that South African males are culturally systematic hair clippers.
According to Khumalo et al (2007), African men prefer to have a clean shave and their hair is commonly cut or clipped with electrical clippers. Therefore, the finding confirms the fact that African males are constantly cutting their hair albeit this practice has implications on the electricity consumption within the residences, although these appliances do not consume large amounts of electricity as shown by the time it takes to charge them each day. Electrical fans have a significant average timeframe of 7 hours and 45 minutes per day mostly because the study was conducted in summer hence students tend to use their fans frequently. However, as the data shows not many students use fans in their rooms. Table 5.6 is important in illustrating the duration in terms of hours on a daily basis that students used their gadgets or appliances whilst they are plugged-in to electrical sockets.