Lighting

A typical home uses 400-1000 kilowatt-hours per year in lighting. Don’t forget to:

• Clean your light fixtures regularly.
  
• Turn off lights when leaving a room.
  
• Provide task lighting over desks, tool benches, etc., so that activities can be carried on without illuminating entire rooms.
  
• Put lamps in corners of rooms where they can reflect light from two wall surfaces instead of one.
  
• Use compact fluorescent bulbs in fixtures that are on for more than two hours a day. Compact fluorescent bulbs will give an incandescent bulb's warm, soft light, while using up to 75 percent less electricity. They also last about 10 times longer. Typically, a 23-watt compact fluorescent bulb can replace a 90- or 100-watt incandescent bulb. If the fixture is on a dimmer switch, make sure that the compact fluorescent bulb is labeled as "dimmable" or "may be used with dimmers."
  
• Use dimmable incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs when possible.
  
• Install photoelectric controls or timers to make sure that outdoor lighting is turned off during the day.