Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde Craig
Indoor Lighting: 10 Money Saving Tips
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Lighting is critical for comfort and security and would you believe that it accounts for up to 15% of your annual electricity costs? By reducing lighting energy consumption
is one of the fastest and most effective ways to lower your utility bill. There are many things you can do to improve the energy performance of your home's lighting, including the following:
1.Turn the lights off in any room you are not using and throughout the house when no one is home.
2.Instead of lighting an entire room, focus low-power light exactly where you need it aka task lighting. For example, try using a portable lamp for your home office, or use under cabinet lighting in your kitchen area.
3.Use high-efficiency fluorescent tube lights in garages, work rooms & laundry rooms.
4.Clean light bulbs regularly to maximize light output. Who would have thought to clean their light bulbs?
5.Taking advantage of natural light during the day is one of my favorites. You can open blinds, shades and other window coverings.
6.Use three-way lamps as they make it easy to save energy by reducing light levels when a bright light isn't needed.
7.Install dimmer switches to reduce the intensity of light in a room which will always helps to save energy.
8.Replace low-efficiency incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). They use a lot less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
9.Use high-performance, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps for decorative lighting, holiday lighting & under kitchen cabinet lighting.
10.Consider installing occupancy sensors to control when & how long the lights in garages, storage rooms and other areas of the house will stay on.
When shopping & purchasing light bulbs....Think Lumens, Not Watts.
Lumens measure the light output of a bulb, while on the other hand, watts measure the amount of energy they use. For decades, consumers have purchased bulbs based on watts. In today's lighting market, with such a large variety of energy efficient lighting products available, it is more economical to compare lumens rather than watts.
Source: http://www.energystar.gov/
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