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Reduce residential lighting energy use


Residential lighting uses 9% of US residential electrical energy.

US residential electricity use
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If you become aware of residential lighting cost you will find that you can reduce electricity use easily. Lights are frequently left on needlessly, energy wasting incandescent lamps are used when there are very cost effective alternative low energy lamps available, you can also often use local focussed low energy lamps rather than light large areas.

What can I do to reduce residential lighting energy use and costs?

  •   Always turn off lights that are unneeded.
  •   Use daylight whenever possible, open shades or blinds and turn off lights. If privacy is an issue, add translucent shades.
  •   Replace all incandescent or halogen light bulbs that are used for more than 2 hours per week with low energy light bulbs, and don’t forget the outdoor lighting. Low energy lamps take 1/4 the electrical power for the same light output and last many times longer than incandescent or filament types. Remember though that generally low energy light bulbs cannot be used with dimmers. By using this new lighting technology you can reduce your residential lighting cost by 40%.
  •   Use local focused low energy lamps when performing a task in a small area instead of lighting the entire room Use movable floor lamps or table lamps and place them where you need the light.
  •   Use floor lamps or table lamps fitted with low energy light bulbs to give background lighting especially in rooms having energy wasting halogen spot lighting, turn these off.
  •   Paint rooms a lighter color to reflect the light so you need less lighting and use lower energy light bulbs, or dimmer controls on incandescent lamps.
  •   Dust light bulbs occasionally to increase light levels.
  •   Fit motion detectors on outside lights, especially high power security lights, so they are not left on continuously.
  •   Choose light fixtures that require fewer light bulbs, or unscrew some of the bulbs in existing fixtures.
By adopting as many of the above ideas as you can quite easily reduce residential lighting energy use and costs by up to 60%, your electricity use by 5% and your electricity cost by around 5%!

Native American Wisdom: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children".

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