Lighting
Efficient lighting can make a difference in your electric bill
Incandescent
Incandescent lighting uses an electric current to heat a metal filament in the bulb, giving off light. Only ten percent of the energy is used to produce light — the rest is wasted as heat.
Compact Fluorescent
Compact fluorescent lighting uses as little as one-third the electricity as incandescent lighting and lasts up to ten times longer. They are designed to be used in place of incandescent light bulbs. Over their life, compact fluorescent lamps cost less to buy and operate than incandescent lamps require for the same amount of lighting.
Tube Fluorescent
Tube fluorescent lighting has improved over the past ten years. Fluorescent lighting can be purchased to match incandescent lighting in quality. The new fluorescent lights make good sense for indirect lighting around a room or above a bathroom mirror. In living areas, choose electronic ballast for tube fluorescent fixtures. They cost more than standard magnetic ballast, but they save more energy.
Halogen Lamps
Halogen torchiere floor lamps are quite popular due to the bright white light they reflect against the ceiling. But they are very inefficient and can be dangerous. They use 300 to 600 watts of electricity, most of which is wasted as heat.
Many discount stores sell halogen floor lamps at a very low cost. However, the floor lamp can easily cost more to operate each year than the purchase price. These lamps use so much power that using one could cancel the savings you would gain by replacing six 75-watt incandescent bulbs with 18-watt compact fluorescent lamps.
Companies have begun making energy efficient torchieres with compact fluorescent lamps. These lamps feature full dimming or three stage dimming. They use only a fraction of the electricity and are much safer.
Solar Powered
A photovoltaic panel generates electricity and charges a storage battery during the day. At night that electricity is used to energize the light. Most of these lights are used to light walkways for safety. They do not put out much light, but it is enough to light the path and costs nothing to operate.
