Lighting accounts for 6% of the total energy use in the average home in the United States and costs between $50-and-$150 per year in electricity. Although that is not much money compared to the cost of operating heating and cooling equipment, it is enough to justify making some efficiency modifications. Also, because it is such a visible energy user, it's a good place to start teaching kids to be mindful of wasting energy.
Lighting Tips
While lighting is a relatively small part of a home's energy budget, there are several simple things you can do to keep lighting costs to a minimum.
- Avoid wasting lighting energy by turning off lights when they aren't needed.
- Fluorescent lighting is much more economical than incandescent lighting. It produces about four times more light with the same amount of energy and lamps last 10-to-15 times longer.
- Compact fluorescents allow you to use fluorescents lighting in places you never could before. Begin replacing your incandescents bulbs with compact fluorescents where ever practical.
- With incandescents, higher-wattage bulbs are generally more efficient and produce more light per watt-hour than smaller-wattage bulbs. For example, you may be able to replace two 60-watt lamps with one 100, get about the same light, and save 20-watts.
- Install occupancy sensors so lights go off automatically in unoccupied rooms.
And Furthermore . . .
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Incandescent Lighting |
Daylighting |
