SINGAPORE: All households living in one- and two-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in the North East District will receive a S$25 voucher to buy LED lights, in a bid to encourage these households to use more energy-efficient lights.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) and North East Community Development Council (CDC) announced this initiative on Saturday (Aug 18), at the launch of the “Switch and Save – Use LED” @ North East programme.
Households can reap “both energy and cost savings” by replacing incandescent or compact fluorescent lights with LED lights, said NEA and North East CDC in a joint release.
More than 13,000 households in the North East District will benefit from this programme, they added.
According to the Household Energy Consumption Study conducted by NEA in 2017, only 28 per cent of households in one- and two-room public housing flats use LED lights – the lowest adoption rate among household size types.
Lights are one of the top five electricity-consuming applicances in a home, according to the study.
“If all these households switch to LED lights, they are expected to collectively save about 360,000 kWh annually – equivalent to more than S$70,000 in energy savings – and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 150 tonnes per annum,” said NEA and North East CDC.
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Minister Masagos speaking on the benefits of LED lights. (Photo: NEA)
Due to a growing population, Singapore’s total household electricity consumption has gone up by about 17 per cent in the last decade, said the two bodies.
“As electricity is largely produced by the burning of fossil fuels, lowering our electricity consumption can help reduce the environmental impact of resource mining and emissions produced to generate electricity,” the statement added.
All eligible households in the North East District will be notified via mail to collect their vouchers from designated collection points, such as their nearest community centre.
The S$25 voucher can be used at all Home-Fix, Selffix and Sheng Siong stores across Singapore, Philips Light Lab, as well as roadshows organised by NEA and North East CDC.
More details can be found at NEA’s Clean & Green Singapore website.
“Taking care of the environment can be done though simple ways,” said NEA Chief Executive Officer Ronnie Tay. “By choosing energy-saving appliances, households can not only save energy and reduce their utility bills, but also reduce carbon emissions.”
“Switching to LED lights is a simple first step all can take. I urge everyone to do his part to conserve electricity and reduce his household carbon footprint to mitigate climate change.”
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From left: NEA CEO, Mr Ronnie Tay, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and Adviser to Pasir Ris-Punggol Grassroots Organisations, Mr Ng Chee Meng, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, and Mayor of North East District and Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC, Mr Desmond Choo, launching the “Switch and Save – Use LED” (SSUL) @ North East programme. (Photo: NEA)
The programme was lauched at Punggol North by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli.
