Energy Saving Tips for Lighting

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In the average American home, lighting accounts for 5-10% of the homeowner’s total energy use per year. We offer tips to help keep your electricity expenditures on lighting stable while striving to lower it.

Utilize natural lighting; open blinds and shades and turn off lights in areas that receive sufficient natural lighting
Clean lighting fixtures and change any yellow or hazy looking bulbs to ensure the best lighting
Use task lighting when possible like fluorescent under cabinet lighting in the kitchen and desk lamps in the den
Don’t focus on lighting up the whole room because ceiling lights use the most energy
Buy lighting fixtures that have a dimmer
Paint walls a light color, less light is needed to make the room appear brighter
Arrange furniture so that your reading sofa is near a window
Use tube fluorescent lighting, it’s no longer only fashionable for the garage and basement
Instead of outside décor such as gas lights, use solar-powered accent lights
Use incandescent light bulbs wisely; Higher wattage ones are more efficient than lower wattage, it takes 4 forty watt bulbs to provide as much light as a single hundred watt bulb
Install a motion detector light outside that only goes on when movement is detected
Place lamps in corners where light can be reflected off of two walls
Invest in Halogen lighting which provides a similar effect as incandescent bulbs but uses 40% less energy