It’s easy to reduce your energy consumption significantly and boost the eco-friendliness of your home. The key to saving energy is proper lighting. However, choosing the right lighting fixture can be confusing for many homeowners. There are must so many options to choose from. So, in order to alleviate your own confusion, here are a few tips on how to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
Replace Incandescent Bulbs with Compact Fluorescents (CFLs)
You should also consider replacing your dimmable incandescent bulbs with dimmable CFLs. In truth, it is better to start replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs since the Australian Government has started its concerted effort to phase out wasteful incandescent bulbs. This move will help create considerable savings for the economy and the environment.
This collaborative effort by all sectors of the government is expected to save about 30 terawatt hours of electricity. It is also expected to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 28 million tonnes. This is actually a significant number. You can liken this to taking 500,000 cars off the road for good. The government is expected to save around $380 million every year by 2020. You can also expect to save more than $50 every year when you choose to replace inefficient light bulbs with efficient ones.
The first stage of the phase out process was introduced in February of 2009 when the government imposed import restrictions on incandescent bulbs. For further information on restricted import, you can visit Australian Customs Service website
CFLs come in various colours which include warm white, cool white and daylight. Warm white offers a soft warm light which is quite similar to the light that incandescent light bulbs create. Cool white creates a white neutral colour which is similar to typical office lighting. Daylight mimics a midday lighting condition. You can choose the best colours to match your home décor.
Buy Name Brands
It is frustrating to invest in a longer-lasting bulb only to have it burn out quickly. To avoid that, buy recognizable brands for improved quality and colour.
Revamp Outdoor Fixtures
Your outdoor lighting fixture may be beautiful, but it may be an energy guzzler too. Start with outdoor lights as you replace lighting fixtures with more energy efficient versions. Look for those that use either CFLs or light-emitting diodes (LEDs), or those that activate using a motion sensor or photocell.
Buy Energy-Efficient Brands
When you buy bulbs and lighting, you should check for the energy rating level. This will give you an idea whether the product you are buying is energy efficient or not. This will give you a fairly good idea which product to buy and which ones to avoid.
Retrofit Recessed Lighting with Led Fixtures
Recessed fixtures can be easily replaced with super energy-efficient LED versions – without need for renovation or construction. You can certainly avoid all the mess. You just need to take off part of the existing fixture and replace it with the replacement fixture. LED fixtures have a high initial cost, but they could last a long, long time.
Replace Your Under-Cabinet Lighting
With long life and super high energy efficiency, LED lighting is also a great lighting option as well. It is also considerably easy to install. It is perfect for under-cabinet lighting. Unlike incandescent lights, LED lights do not produce undesirable heat.
Have Realistic Expectations
While upgrading some or all of your lighting is a good way to improve your energy efficiency, it is not your one-stop solution. You need to have realistic expectations. You can’t save energy if you continue to waste it. Lighting accounts for about 10 percent of your electric consumption, the amount saved will be relative to that.
