How to Save on Your Monthly Electric Bill Without Sacrificing Quality Lighting

Audit Your Lighting Needs

The first step to reducing your lighting costs without sacrificing quality is to audit your lighting needs. Take a look around your home and make a list of all the places you use lighting. Consider when you use each light and how much illumination you actually require.

For example, overhead lights in living rooms or dens are often left on for extended periods, even when not needed. Accent lighting like lamps can provide sufficient ambient light for these areas when they are occupied, allowing you to turn off overhead fixtures to save energy. In spaces like hallways that are only occupied briefly when passing through, you may be able to get by with lower light levels.

Replace Inefficient Bulbs

One of the easiest ways to reduce lighting costs is to replace inefficient incandescent and halogen bulbs with energy efficient LEDs. LEDs use at least 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Here are some guidelines on where to use LEDs:

• Replace all remaining incandescent bulbs with LED equivalents. This provides the biggest savings.
• Use LEDs in fixtures that are on for more than 2 hours per day. The long life makes up for the higher upfront cost.
• Use LED flood lights for outdoor lighting. The directional light works well for this application.

Be sure to compare lumens, not watts, when choosing replacement LEDs. Lumens measure brightness, while watts measure energy usage. Choose LEDs with similar lumens to the bulbs you are replacing to maintain light quality.

Employ Lighting Controls

Adding lighting controls allows you to reduce waste from lights left on when not needed. Here are some options:

• Install occupancy sensors in closets, bathrooms and other spaces with sporadic use. These automatically turn lights on when motion is detected and off after a period of inactivity.
• Use dimmers where possible to lower light levels. Dimmers also allow you to control brightness precisely to suit each use case.
• Put outdoor lights on timers or photocells so they only operate at night.

Smart lighting systems take this a step further by allowing you to control and schedule lights remotely from your phone.

Choose the Right Amount of Light

When adding new lighting, take care not to over-illuminate. The recommended light levels from the Illuminating Engineering Society are:

• 50-80 lumens/sq ft for general living spaces.
• 30 lumens/sq ft for bedrooms.
• 20-40 lumens/sq ft for hallways.

Task lighting over counters, work benches or reading nooks can be brighter. But avoid creating overly bright, stark spaces.

Take Advantage of Daylight

One free light source is daylight coming in through windows. Make sure window treatments are allowing maximum daylight into the home during the day.

Strategically placed light colored surfaces and mirrors can also help daylight penetrate deeper into rooms.

By following these tips, you can reduce your lighting electricity usage while still maintaining high quality, visually comfortable illumination in every area of your home. Small upgrades and strategic lighting choices can add up to big savings on your monthly utility bill.