The Southern Zonal Senior Officer of the commission, Fred Agyei-Brobbey, who disclosed this, explained that the commission was tasked in 2013 to register and license electricians and wiring inspectors.

“Currently, we have a little over 11,000 certified electricians and inspectors across the country,” he said.

Mr Agyei-Brobbey was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Bono Regional stakeholders’ engagement on energy efficiency and conservation, as well as the implementation and enforcement of electrical wiring regulations in Sunyani.

It brought together identifiable groups of electricity consumers and practitioners, such as hairdressers, dressmakers, market women, dealers in electrical appliances, electricians and members of some security agencies.

The participants were taken through the commission’s certified appliances App to aid consumers to use appliance model numbers to verify the information on the labels before making purchase decisions, how to get access to certified electricians, among others.

Arrest and prosecution

Mr Agyei-Brobbey said the commission had secured the support of the police and the Ghana National Fire Service for the arrest and prosecution of uncertified electricians and users of fake electrical products to prevent unnecessary fire outbreaks.

“We have support from the security agencies to ensure sanity in the sector because we cannot sit back and watch people put others’ lives and properties in danger,” he stated.

Mr Agyei-Brobbey explained that the commission had already arrested and prosecuted some persons who operated without its certification, explaining that it was unsafe to use people who had not been registered by the commission to undertake electrical wiring on buildings.

He appealed to the public, particularly the owners of buildings, to use certified electricians to wire their facilities to prevent unnecessary fire outbreaks.

Cost

For his part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the commission, Samuel Frimpong, said energy was one of the major costs incurred by homes and businesses.

He explained that the adoption of measures to ensure energy efficiency and conservation would reduce the cost of energy, save the economy and the environment and increase incomes of consumers.

Mr Frimpong advised the public to ensure compliance with the conservation of energy by switching off their electrical appliances when not in use and regularly remove the choke from non-functioning fluorescent bulbs.

He explained that refrigeration appliances accounted for about 70 per cent of household energy bills and appealed to the public to ensure proper usage of fridges to reduce energy wastage.

Mr Frimpong also advised the public not to use refrigerators for more than 10 years, explaining that such appliances consumed more energy.

He cautioned the public to avoid putting their fridges in cabinets but leave spaces between the fridges and walls to allow air to cool the fridges in order to reduce energy wastage.

Mr Frimpong asked Ghanaians to buy energy-efficient air conditioners with yellow labels and look for more efficient inverter air conditioners which could save 40 per cent of energy.

He also urged the public to ensure that doors and windows were shut when their air conditioners were switched on and ensure that there were no gaps in doors and windows to prevent hot air from entering the rooms.

“Ensure that rooms are well curtained to prevent direct sunlight into them. Do not over cool your room to save energy,” he stated, explaining that room temperatures of 24 to 26 degree Celsius were comfortable enough for normal work or relaxation.

Mr Frimpong urged air-conditioner users to frequently service their appliances to make them work efficiently and always switch them off when leaving the room for more than 30 minutes.