Six lighting tips to save you money on your electricity bill

With energy costs rising, it really makes sense to be energy efficient.   Your old lighting could be undermining your efforts.  Here are six common energy-saving blunders  —  and what to do about them.


Forgetting to turn the lights off

Sounds daft and we all do it, but this is the simplest way you can cut your energy costs.  Install a motion sensor (or PIR sensor) in the loo or utility room so the lights come on automatically when you walk in and go off just after you leave.


Using incandescent bulbs

With these bulbs, you get as little as 10% of your energy converted into light.  The rest is wasted as heat.  Where practical, consider switching to fluorescents, compact fluorescents, micro fluorescents or LED’s.  Although we usually think of lighting in terms of watts, the amount of light generated by each watt varies from 10 to 60 lumens depending on the type of bulb.  Generally, fluorescents and LED’s are best, low voltage halogens come second with mains voltage halogens and incandescents coming third.  Energy saving lights are more expensive to buy, they last between ten and fifty times longer and use up to six times less energy.  They will save you a lot of money in the long run.


Lighting without a dimmer switch

Where it is not practical to switch away from incandescents, using a dimmer switch makes sense.  You can adjust the mood of the room while lowering the wattage of your bulbs, bringing down your overall energy consumption.  In addition, they’ll extend the life of incandescent bulbs, so you’ll save money on replacements.


Lighting an entire room when you’re only using a corner

Generally you will save energy by lighting rooms with several small, focused light sources centered around the most active areas of the room.  This way, you won’t waste energy by lighting the entire room only to perform a task in one part of it.  For example, in a corridor use low level LED wall lights, so you can easily see where you are walking without over-lighting the whole area.


Keeping your outdoor lights on all night

Outdoor lights can consume a great deal of energy  —  especially if they never go off!  To conserve energy, install motion sensors (or PIR’s) so they come on only when you need them to.  In addition, make sure to turn off all outdoor lighting during the day.


Not dusting your bulbs

Regularly check lampshades and light bulbs for dust.  You’d be surprised how much light a thin layer of dust can absorb; up to 50% of your light’s output.