Three Ways to Save Money on Lighting

Roughly ten percent of the energy the average American household consumes is dedicated to arguably its simplest and most primary function: lighting. This means making good decisions when it comes to your lighting could save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. What’s great is that these good decisions don’t have to be difficult either: a few simple good habits and some relatively inexpensive purchases could make an almost-immediate impact on the amount of energy you use in your home. Here are three things you can do save money on your lighting costs.

Turn off the Lights

What’s the easiest way to save money on your lighting costs? Simple: don’t have the lights on. Everyone knows turning off the lights saves energy, but do you know how much? It’s estimated that kitchen lighting is nearly half of all lighting costs every year, and the living room is behind that with 26 percent of all lighting energy consumption. Simply turning off the lights in these rooms when you aren’t using them could save you a bundle.

Use LED Bulbs

Normal incandescent and halogen lightbulbs have been old technology for quite some time and energy-efficient options have been on the market for several years. However, just recently the most efficient technology yet has become remarkably affordable: LED bulbs. These simple devices use a mere fraction of the energy that a traditional lightbulb uses, put off an immense amount of light (in a wide range of colors and shades as well), and cost just a few cents more than the old lightbulbs would, despite having an expected service life of roughly 50,000 hours (that’s roughly five years…if constantly left on).

Choose Better Fixtures

The type of light fixture you choose has a huge impact on how efficient it can be. If you try to use too small of a fixture to light too large of an area, not only will you not get enough light, but you’ll probably use it inefficiently as well. You’ll have to select a bulb that draws too much power in order to get enough light to adequately light the space, and even then it may not look right. A fixture that’s sized right for the space you place it in and paired with the right type of bulb is the perfect energy-saving combination.