By Rabecca
Chipanta –
ZESCO has assured that the energy saving bulbs the power utility company is currently distributing have no harmful effects as claimed by some people.
Public relations officer Henry Kapata said the company has since launched a sensitisation programme to inform clients on the advantages of using energy saving bulbs.
“Consumers need to understand that energy saving bulbs contain less mercury than ordinary bulbs which also have a short lifespan.
“Some people think that these bulbs are very dangerous when in fact ordinary bulbs contain 12 milligrammes of mercury while energy saving bulbs only have three milligrammes,” he said.
Mr Kapata said the only thing people should know was that energy saving bulbs should be disposed of in a secure manner.
He said parents should not let children play or dispose of the bulbs even if the mercury content was low.
He explained that the major advantage of using energy saving bulbs was that they had a lifespan of three to five years compared to conventional ones, which only last for six months.
Energy saving bulbs emit 90 per cent light and 10 per cent heat while ordinary bulbs emit 90 per cent heat and 10 per cent light.
Mr Kapata said as the company was distributing energy saving bulbs, it was also educating members of the public on the importance of the need to change.
He warned members of the public to be wary of people purporting to be Zesco employees and were selling the bulbs.
“As Zesco we are not selling the bulbs but giving them out for free, although people are free to buy from shops because the main focus is to reduce power consumption,” he said.
Mr Kapata said replacement of the bulbs was concentrated in Lusaka and North-Western provinces because the two areas consumed more power than any other regions in Zambia.