Lighting

While lighting may not substantially contribute to your energy bill, savings can easily be made by switching to energy efficient options (e.g. CFLs) for relatively low investment.

The following tips will help you reduce the greenhouse emissions and cost associated with lighting in your home:

  • Turn off lights when a room is not being used.
  • Keep windows clean and use natural light, by opening curtains and blinds, whenever possible.
  • Consider installing skylights.
  • Install energy efficiency globes, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) use 80% less energy than traditional incandescent globes.
  • Download this globe calculator to see how much you can save by swapping to CFLs.
  • To choose the correct wattage CFL for your needs divide the wattage of your old incandescent light by five.
  • Use motion sensors or timers for security lighting.
  • Upgrade your traditional fat T8 fluorescent tubes to more efficient T5 (skinny) fluorescent tubes, T5s use 35 - 39% less energy and can be retrofitted into most existing fixtures using a conversion kit.
  • Replace halogen downlights with energy saving LED or CFL alternatives. Halogen lights are extremely inefficient, they work by heating the filament to such a hot temperature that it glows. Halogens can produce up to 370 degrees of heat, which in turn heats your house, making your cooling system work harder.
  • LED and CFL downlights use a fraction of the amount of energy that traditional halogens use and create significantly less heat - both LED and CFL downlight replacement will also last longer than traditional halogens.
  • When choosing new lighting fixtures look for the product that suits your lighting requirements and has a low energy consumption (look at the wattage of the lamp and any ballasts and/or transformers).
  • Consider the life span and maintenance costs when choosing lamps and fittings.