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Lighting Tips
No Cost
- Disconnect or remove lamps in multiple lamp fixtures. Use task lighting where needed. Use up to 50% less in lighting energy.
- Make sure you are getting the best possible light by cleaning fixtures and replacing any yellowed or hazy lenses and diffusers twice a year.
- Open blinds and shades. Turn off lights in unoccupied areas or in spaces with sufficient natural lighting.
- Turn off the lights when not needed. It is a myth that leaving them on uses less energy than turning them off. Turn off signage and other lights not necessary for security and safety.
Low Cost
- Buy fixtures that have a dimmer, which allow you to manually adjust the intensity of light in a room. Because most lights use less electricity at lower settings, you do not need to pay for more light than you need. Dimmers can be used with incandescent lights, including low-voltage systems, but only with new-screw-based dimmable fluorescent bulbs. Other fluorescent lights must have their own dimmable ballasts.
- Rooms that have several kinds of lights i.e. overhead and counter lights in a kitchen should have separate switches for the various types. A three-level switch on table and floor lamps is an easy way to use one fixture for several lighting needs.
- Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops.
Good Investment
- Before going to buy compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), write down the light output of the standard A-shaped incandescent bulbs you want to replace. Then check the lumens rating on the CFL package and buy lamps that provide approximately the same amount of light. For example, most 60-watt incandescents provide around 800 lumens, so look for ENERGY STAR CFLs that provide 800 lumens or more.
- Consider using 4-Watt mini-fluorescent or electro-luminescent night-lights. Both are much more efficient lights than regular low-wattage night-lights. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.
- If you have torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps, replace them with ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent torchieres. Halogen lamps generate excessive heat that can create fire hazards. Compact fluorescents are cooler, use 60% to 80% less energy.
- Install ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in the fixtures you use most frequently. CFLs are most efficient when they operate for two or more hours at a time. CFLs use at least 66% less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent lights. Replacing four of the most often used incandescent light bulbs with CFLs can save you $35 annually.
- Use ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in the fixtures that are hard to reach such as ceiling fans, other ceiling fixtures and enclosed outdoor fixtures. Because CFLs last longer, you enjoy the convenience of buying and changing bulbs less frequently.