Saturday, 10 January 2009

• Saving On The Electric Bill with Right Lighting

  Ms. Thrifty

  After my last post, when I saw that other people paid much more for electricity, I thought I would share what I do to help combat the costs.

  I think one of the biggest wastes of electricity is creating light.  Everyone knows to turn off lights when you aren't in the room.  That is a big place to start.  Right now, The only lights on in the house are the ones right next to me.  The more lights you have on, the more electricity is required.

  Many people have switched to CFL's to save on electricity costs.  I have not yet done this.  About 3 1/2 years ago, I bought a case of light bulbs because it was much cheaper in the long run than buying them individually. 
  

  I still have over half of the case left.  They are 60 watt bulbs.  I never use anything over 60 watts.

  Jim and I spend most of our time at home on the couch.  We have a floor lamp next to it by the corner of the room.  The lamp has 3 separate lights.  You can turn on each individually.  We usually only turn on one. 
  

  It faces the corner so that the light is reflected back into the room.  If you attempt this and find you still dont have enough light, try hanging a mirror near the light source.  The mirror will help reflect the light better and make the room even brighter.  Here is how we have it set up in our living room:

  

  Another room that often wastes electricity is the bathroom.  Most bathrooms have light fixtures above the mirror above the sink.  Ours has 3 separate lights in the fixture.  I have seen many that have 5 or 6 lights in the fixture.  How often is it necessary to have light that bright?  We only have 2 light bulbs in the fixture. 
  

  There are times when I am using the bathroom at night and turn on the light switch to find Jim as loosened one of the light bulbs so that only one emits light.  He doesn't like bright lights in the morning!  If you were to ever walk into our bathroom and turn on the lights here is what you would see:

  

  Another way we save electricity is when we aren't home.  When going out for the evening after dark, it is nice to be able to see when you get home.  No one wants to walk in the door and fumble around in the dark.  For us, that means leaving a light on in the kitchen. 
  

  Whoever designed our house, didn't think to put a light switch by the back door.  We would have to walk through the kitchen to turn on the lights.  If your hands are full and the cat greets you at the door?  That could be a recipe for disaster.  Therefore, the light above the stove is left on when we aren't home. 

  That is the only light we leave on when we are gone.  We do not leave an outside light on.  We live in a townhouse.  There is always plenty of ambient light from the neighbors and the moon.  I understand this isn't always a possibility, based on where you live.  However, take advantage of nights when the moon is full or near full.  That is more than enough light to get into the house with.

  What are you doing to money on your electric bill? Do you have any other suggestions for saving electricity on lighting?

  
  

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