Efficient Lighting can Lower Your Electric Bills

Increasing your lighting efficiency is one of the easiest ways to decrease your energy bills. For example, if you replace 25 percent of your lights in high-use areas with fluorescents, you can cut your lighting energy bill by about 50 percent. Remember to review your indoor lighting and, if applicable, your outdoor lighting as well, and always look for the Energy Star® label when shopping for lighting products. The U.S. Department of Energy offers these money-saving tips for your home or office:

Indoor lighting

Use linear fluorescent and energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in fixtures to provide high-quality and high-efficiency lighting. Fluorescent lamps are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs and last six to 10 times longer. Although fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, they pay for themselves by saving energy over their lifetime.

Outdoor lighting

Many home and business owners use outdoor lighting for decoration and security. When shopping for outdoor lights, you will find a variety of products, from low-voltage pathway lighting to high-sodium, motion-detector floodlights. Some stores also carry lights powered by small photovoltaic (PV) modules that convert sunlight directly into electricity; consider PV-powered lights for areas that are not close to an existing power supply line.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project