How to Save Energy and Money on Lighting Your Home

How to Save Energy and Money on Lighting Your Home

If you're looking for ways to trim the fat from your electrical bills, consider some of these techniques, drawn from the experience of commercial daylighting experts: Turning off lights that aren't being used is a big one. Another is converting standard incandescent light bulbs to highly efficient compact fluorescents.

Compact fluorescents use from about one quarter to one third as much energy to produce the same amount of light as a standard incandescent bulb (a 20-watt compact fluorescent will give you about the same light as a 60-watt incandescent). Though most cost considerably more than conventional bulbs, they last up to thirteen times longer which, combined with the energy savings, makes them a long-term good buy.

If you want to get more natural light into areas that are away from windows, clerestories, atria or skylights, there are a few daylighting techniques that can help. First, try to bounce natural light off the ceiling. To do this, a window located close to the ceiling works well. Louvers or operable blinds can direct light, too.

You can also install a "light shelf" horizontally across a window to ricochet light off the ceiling and back into the room.. This shelf, normally located about 12 inches from the top of the window for a standard 8-foot ceiling (lower for a high ceiling), may be mounted inside, outside or in both locations. It's usually painted with high-reflectance, glossy paint. Actually, any light-toned surfaces, including walls, ceilings and floors, will reflect light. If you want more light in rooms and glare isn't a problem, look for wall paints that have high reflectance values (ask your paint dealer for them) and floor coverings that are light in color.

The bottom line is this: If you'd like to get more natural light into your home, consider some of the basic daylighting materials and techniques available. Thoughtful, controlled use of glazing combined with a few simple light-enhancing techniques can make nearly any home sparkle with natural light.