BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Environment Turning On / Off Lights

It can make a huge difference on your electric bill (and on the environment) if you just turn off lights when you're not using them. But how about when there's a situation that you'd like a light when you come home, for safety or security?

We found several solutions here that work.

In our kitchen, we swapped out the switch with a sensor switch. It was super easy to do. Now when we enter the kitchen the lights come on automatically. It's great for when you come in with groceries or such. When you leave, they go out. You can also "turn them on" if you want them to stay on, but this is a great alternative to leaving them on when you leave so they'll be on when you get back.

Another option is to get a simple light timer, they have millions of varieties. Set it to come on just before you usually get home so that it's only on for a short period of time to greet you.

We also have motion sensing lights outside both of our main doors, so they light up the path for anyone walking towards the house.

What do you guys to conserve light electricity?

The landlord pays for utilities, therefore we have been lenient over the years and keep one light on all day in the living room and the rest get turned off as needed.

I do use nightlights in the kitchen, living room and bathroom and do not use the lights attached to the ceiling fans.

The light outside is motion sensored if I turn it on that way, but I usually only keep it on for a few hours each night.

If you use nightlights I *really* recommend the new LED ones. They are nice and bright for in the bathroom. Because they use LEDs they draw hardly any power at all

I think I might have that kind, they plug into the outlet and just a small green dot of light shows.

Keep in mind, LEDs will last for practically forever, but they lose luminosity over time. In the first five years of frequent use, the average LED will lose up to 25% of its luminosity. So if you're using them for night lights, where the amount of light emitted per LED is important, you will probably have to replace them within five years, or switch them out, moving the older ones to less essential locations/duties.

We live in an apartment, so installing timers and dimmers on anything but floor and table lamps is not an option for us. If we need or want to leave a light while we're away, we'll leave on one of the kitchen lights. Both the main overhead light fixture and the small light over the sink are fluorescents, not as energy efficient as new LEDs, of course, but definitely less expensive than leaving on something like the full-spectrum bulb in my desk lamp! We don't often leave lights on in unattended rooms, but when we do, it's usually one of the kitchen's fluorescents.