Lighting

Artificial lighting consumes about 15 percent of a household's electricity use. Opt for efficient lighting solutions and use natural light to your advantage to help reduce your electricity usage.

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

• By switching out five standard light bulbs for fluorescent ones, you can save about $60 a year on electricity.
• ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent bulbs have been tested for quality and longevity. According to its website, ENERGY STAR qualified fluorescent bulbs use 66% less energy than your average incandescent bulbs.
• If every U.S. household replaced the incandescent lighting in their five most frequently used fixtures with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), the nation would save 800 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumption. That's the equivalent of shutting down 21 power plants!
• To learn more about fluorescent lighting, click here.

 

Indoor Lighting Tips

• Use tube fluorescent and energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in fixtures throughout your home to provide high-quality and high-efficiency lighting.
• Turn off the lights every time you leave a room, or consider installing timers or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.
• Consider three-way lamps; they make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not necessary. Install a three-way CFL to make an even greater difference.
• Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to fill the room while preserving privacy.

 

Outdoor Lighting Tips

• When shopping for outdoor lights, look for solar-powered versions that use small photovoltaic (PV) cells. These work as great lighting solutions for areas that are not close to an existing power supply line.
• Turn off decorative outdoor natural gas lamps – just eight natural gas lamps burning year-round can use as much natural gas as an average-size home does during the winter.
• CFLs are great for exterior lighting as well, and won't have to be changed as often because of their long life.
• If using outdoor lights for nighttime security, install motion sensors so they only turn on when someone is present.