Please Use Only What You Need

The “Please Use Only What You Need” campaign aims to create awareness, educate, and encourage participation among the residential and business sectors to use only the electricity that they really need, and in so doing assist to relieve pressure on the national electricity network.

The overarching campaign message is “Please use only what you need" and “Together, we can make a difference” and another objective is to avoid or reduce load shedding as far as possible. Eskom will share the relevant electricity savings behavioural tips as well as information on efficient technologies and appliances with customers to empower them to effectively manage their own consumption.

Eskom recognises that this campaign needs to be inclusive as it cannot do this alone. The support from the South African residential and business sectors is crucial to relieving pressure on the power grid and making this campaign a success.

	The first and easiest way to reduce your usage is to switch off unnecessary lights.
	Boil enough water only for the number of cups of tea or coffee you’re making. Use a hot water bottle rather than an electric blanket. Use only cold water to wash your hands, to prevent the geyser from unnecessarily turning on.
	Take advantage of sunlight to warm rooms during the day, but then close the curtains to reduce heat loss during the evenings.
	Think before switching on the heater - rather dress warmly; use a blanket and a hot water bottle to keep cosy. Electric space heaters can account for up to 17% of your evening peak power consumption. When using heaters, only heat the rooms that you’re spending time in.
	Keep an eye out for Power Alert on SABC, etv and DStv. The colour-coded alerts share the electricity supply status levels with the required switch-off actions to effectively reduce electricity demand. Please respond immediately by switching off unnecessary lights, your geyser and pool pump.