Trends in the use of domestic appliances in urban residential households in Burkina Faso : Results from a residential electricity consumption survey

It remains challenging to find accurate and reliable information on the actual characteristics of the electricity demand in Burkina Faso. However, due to the increase of the economic level in the country and, therefore, the demand, electricity patterns of use and consumption estimates become vital for energy planning and energy efficiency policy design and implementation. This study helps improve the weak body of literature, by using the results of a residential electricity use survey conducted within 387 households in the city of Ouagadougou, the first large-scale, city-wide household study undertaken in Burkina Faso, to identify the trends in the use of the domestic residential appliance. Findings showed that domestic electricity use patterns demonstrate three essential peak demand periods, with the maximum demand occurring between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. The factor load is between 33 and 58%, suggesting the existence of potentials and opportunities for demand-side management strategies implementation. On the contribution of the appliances to the demand, the cooling appliances outstand the other appliances in the summer season, while lighting and information-communication-entertainment (ICE) appliances represent the major appliances of the domestic sector during the rainy and dry and cold seasons.