Energy Saving Lightbulbs and Lamps

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Changing out older incandescent bulbs for an energy saving fluorescent bulb is one of the most simple ways to start saving energy. The common name for these bulbs are compact fluorescents. Yes. they can be expensive, but only if you buy one at a time. Don’t buy single compact fluorescent bulbs, buying in bulk can save you as much as $2.00 to $3.00 per bulb.

Reducing Energy Costs for some my seem a little overwhelming. All this talk about Solar, Wind and Thermal can be confusing to the average person. Below you will see the benefits of using compact fluorescent’s as a simple way to start reducing your energy cost .

Replacing your existing incandescent bulbs with super efficient compact fluorescent bulbs is one of the easiest ways to start Reducing Energy Cost immediately and anyone can do it. The best way to purchase CFL bulbs is in bulk, they’ll average around $1.75 to $2.50 each in bulk. The cost will also depend on the brand you buy. GE, of course is one of the top rated brands and has a decent price in bulk.

Is the high cost worth the the trouble? I think it is, I’ve replaced all of mine. But, you can buy a 4 pack of incandescent bulbs for $2.00-$3.00. Well, keep in mind that each compact fluorescent bulb replaces the life of 8 incandescent bulbs. That’s a saving of $5.50 just on bulbs. A compact fluorescent will save you an average of $38.00 per bulb life span according to the folks at GE.

Let’s look at the five year average:
If each compact fluorescent can save you and average of $38.00 and the average household has around 20 bulbs. The yearly savings would be around $152.00 per year for just one Energy Reducing Idea.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy the life span of a compact fluorescent bulb can be affected by the number of times it is cycled, meaning turned on and off. So if you leave a room a plan to revisit that room within the next fifteen minutes, it’s best to leave the light on. You will still be reducing your energy costs using the compact over incandescent, even though you leave the light on longer. Just don’t leave the lights on for hours……

GE claims their 13 watt CFL bulbs are guaranteed to last 8,000 hours based on a 5 year consumer average of 4 hours per day. Nothing is mentioned by GE about the number of cycles affecting the life span of their bulb. Each manufacturer has different specifications, so make sure an read each life span claim on the product packaging before buying. Amazon is a excellent place for customer ratings before you purchase.

Benefits of Compact Fluorescent over Incandescent Bulbs:

1. Saves an average of $38.00 per bulb
2. Uses a quarter of the Energy of an Incandescent
3. Produces more light per watt than Incandescents.
4. Produces less heat, 80%-90% less.

Benefits of Incandescent Bulbs over Compact Fluorescent :

1. Produces heat for applications where heat is needed by light, ie; non insulated well houses.
2. Color rendition is far better than CFL, however CFL’s have made lot’s of improvements in this area.
3. They look better, I personally think CFL are ugly. So if you like decorative lighting, CFL’s are not for you.

Compact Fluorescents Can Only Do So Much, Learn How You Can Cut That Energy Bill In Half at www.reduce-energy.info

“Energy efficiency isn’t just low hanging fruit, it’s fruit lying on the ground.” – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, June 26, 2009

In December 2007, then-President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act into law. Among other things, this law opened the door for energy-efficient light bulbs to gain market share in the U.S. However, several commonly used lamp types were exempted under the Act. On June 26 of this year, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a new set of efficiency standards for General Service Fluorescent Lamps (GSFLs) and Incandescent Reflector Lamps (IRLs). The rules will go into effect in the second half of 2012.

Since these two lamp categories represent 45% of total lighting electricity consumption in the U.S., new energy-efficient light bulb rules are significant. Vast amounts of electricity, and the harmful emissions attributable to its production, will be saved over the decades ahead. This represents good news for the American wallet and the environment we all share. Green light bulbs are here to stay.

Green Light Bulbs for Downlight Fixtures

The rest of this article will focus on the opportunities to save energy with state-of-the-art incandescent reflector bulbs, even before the new efficiency standards go into effect.

The current minimum efficacy (in lumens per watt) standard for PAR20 and PAR30, 120 volt, 75 watt IRLs (established in 1975) is 12.5. The new rules that take effect in 2012 are applicable to the same lamps and increase the minimum efficacy to 16.0 and 18.9 lumens per watt, respectively. This increase in the standard represents a 28% and 51% increase in efficiency, respectively.

Eco-friendly light bulbs, which meet the newly announced 2012 standards, are already on the market (though they’re not easy to find). The savvy reader will suspect that a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) can easily surpass the new efficacy rules for IRLs. And they’d be correct…CFLs typically produce 40 or more lumens per watt, making them much more energy efficient than the more popular halogen variety. But there’s a catch: the light cast by CFLs and some other green light bulbs, while satisfactory in the home or office, is inferior to halogen light in terms of its ability to crisply render colors and fine details.

A Small Business Case Study: The Merits of Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs

A small, green, retail business owner wants to reduce electricity costs and carbon emissions without sacrificing the light quality needed to properly showcase merchandise. In terms of switching to the right energy-efficient light bulbs, what can the owner do now?

Facts:

Single location, green home-goods retailer in central New Hampshire occupying 300 square feet of space 36 recessed cans, mounted on 4 tracks, are used to light the store Fixtures accommodate 3.75″ wide reflector-type bulbs (PAR30, R30 etc.) 28 cans contain green light bulbs (R30 CFLs) using 15 watts each for general lighting 8 cans, mounted in a track which lights an alcove occupied by a paint-chip display for eco-friendly paints, contain PAR30 long neck halogen lamps of 75 watts each (note that these 8 lamps consume 59% of lighting electricity in the store).

Challenge: The owner wants to improve the energy efficiency of the alcove lamps without sacrificing the crisp, flattering light of the halogen lamps currently in use.

Recommendation: Replace 75 watt PAR30 long neck bulbs with 48 watt GE Long Life HIR(TM) PLUS PAR30 long neck lamps. These energy-efficient light bulbs yield output of 850 lumens, 90 lumens less than the existing lamp. The owner found this reduction to be acceptable after testing the new lamps for several days.

The new bulb produces 17.7 lumens per watt, making it 42% more energy-efficient than the old lamp. Furthermore, it is 5% more energy-efficient than Secretary Chu’s just-announced standards for a 48 watt, 120 volt, PAR30 (16.8 lumens per watt).

Finally, these lamps have a 40% longer life expectancy than the old, a redeeming merit due to the typical higher price tags of energy-efficient light bulbs. This advantage will reduce replacement costs and boost overall savings.

Savings Forecast Using Green Light Bulbs

New Hampshire is a high cost electricity state with a commercial rate of 15.6 cents per kilowatt hour as of March 2009 (citation: US Energy Information Administration). The store owner estimates 2,000 hours of annual use for these new energy-efficient light bulbs. At a retail price of $15.38 per lamp, she expects to virtually break even after one year. And over two years, during which time she would have had to replace the original 75 watt bulbs, she expects to save $155, or 30%, using green light bulbs to light her alcove with the eight fixture track.

The newly announced efficiency standards for GSFLs and IRLs are welcome news for those concerned with reducing harmful gas emissions stemming from electricity generation. And according to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, these green light bulbs will save U.S. consumers $1 to $4 billion per year starting in 2012.

Manufacturers of energy-efficient light bulbs and their forward-looking distributors are ahead of the curve however. It is therefore possible for home and business owners with downlight fixtures to immediately start phasing in green light bulbs, without sacrificing the great light quality they enjoy from IRLs.

The concept of saving money by making energy efficient improvements to your home or business is nothing new, but what is new is the magnitude of money you can save, now that energy prices have spiraled upwards. Combine this increased capacity for energy savings with an increase in tax credits and grants provided by federal and state governments that can be applied to many energy saving home improvements and you have the perfect storm to motivate almost anyone to make energy efficient improvements.

WHERE DO YOU START?

Any plan for saving energy should always start with the simplest and most basic improvements. This is necessary to ensure your money is spent in the most productive way since the whole point is to save money and not to throw it away by spending more money than necessary for any energy saving home improvement.

For example, if you have it in mind to add solar panels to make power for your home, but have done little or nothing to first reduce your homes electrical needs, you will require a much larger solar power system and will spends an excessive amount of money to compensate for not having taken care of the little things first.

START WITH LOW COST METHODS TO STOP WASTING ENERGY

Duh, but hey, this first step is often missed, and is generally the least expensive and most rewarding step as compared to obtaining the highest ROI (Return on Investment) or how much you spend versus how much you save and how quickly you recover your costs.

Before I list any energy saving ideas, let’s put things into perspective and create a clear motivation as to why the small steps are so important and can be so rewarding.

Let’s say you were sizing a solar power system and wanted to know how large the system should be for your home. You need to take many things into account, but for this example, let’s say we just wanted to look at your lighting needs.

Taking a quick walk through the home reveals there are 60 light bulbs in your home. In most cases only a portion of the lights are being used at any time, but to get the best example of your energy needs, we’ll calculate that one-third or twenty bulbs would be used in all your rooms on a typical afternoon, for a total power requirement of 1600 watts.

Since the average solar panel has an output level of 170 watts, you would need nine panels to provide 100% coverage for your lighting. At a cost of about $450 per solar panel, your total cost would be $4050 — not including installation.

Now, if you first reduce your power needs by updating your lights from incandescent bulbs to CFL’s (compact fluorescent lights), you will reduce the power needs of these twenty bulbs to one-third their previous level at a cost of $3 per bulb or a total of $60 dollars. Now that your lighting load has been reduced from 1600 watts to only 500 watts, you can now get by with three solar panels at $450 each for a total cost of $1350 plus installation.

As you can see, by spending $60 on simple CFL’s, you will have saved over $2700 on your solar power system… and that’s just one item, so let’s take a bold and fresh look at why we should be motivated and thankful to experience the benefits of saving energy by not wasting energy.

As you read the list of energy saving ideas below, look past any initial expense or labor involved and see only that the benefits will always exceed the initial cost and effort. When looking at these improvements in that light, the expenses and tasks can become enjoyable, plus you can always remind yourself that in the process of saving energy, you are being very green by helping to improve the planets environment.

Also, if you wanted even more information on the rewards of making energy saving improvements, search for my book, The Rewards of Making Energy Efficient Choices and you’ll obtain an even clearer idea of how to best go about saving energy in the most practical way.

- Replace all incandescent bulbs with CFL’s or LED’s

- Replace conventional dryer vent with a dryer vent seal

- Replace bathroom exhaust wall switches with 30 to 60 minute timer switches

- Clean the coils in your refrigerators and freezers twice a year

- Install water saving shower heads

- Don’t run your clothes dryer on very cold nights or on extremely hot and humid afternoons

- Replace computer power strips with Energy Saving Smart Power Strips

- Replace weather stripping on older doors and windows

- Caulk any cracks around windows, doors, siding, etc.

- Wrap your water heater and/or boiler with an insulation blanket

- Install programmable thermostats with winter settings no greater than 68 degrees and summer settings no less than 74 degrees

- Insulate hot water and heating pipes in your basement or any unconditioned space

- Replace filters twice annually in your forced air heating and air conditioning systems

- Turn off televisions when not being viewed

- Seal off unused windows and wall cavities in basements and attics

- In hotter climates, install curtains or shades on southern and western facing windows and close them during the afternoon until the sun sets

- In cooler climates, be sure to open southern and western facing shades or curtains during the day to allow the suns free energy in. Close them once the sun sets.

Most of these improvements cost less than $100 each to perform and yet they can provide significant savings throughout the year. Some of the suggestions cost absolutely nothing and simply require a change in habit. Overall, you can significantly reduce your energy use, significantly reduce your carbon footprint and enjoy a greener home and lifestyle by making these low cost energy saving changes.

If you don’t know where to get your products or aren’t sure exactly what to look for, simply search online for the ‘best energy saving products’ and start there, but do start. Don’t put it off a moment longer and just make it so. As i already demonstrated, you’ll be happy you did.

After you have taken care of all the minor energy saving improvements, you can opt to move onto more aggressive and more expensive items such as increasing your homes level of insulation, replacing doors and windows, upgrading your heating and cooling system and more. Since these items can take much longer to recover their costs, it would be best to have an experienced weatherization inspection performed by a Weatherize America representative so that you can determine your best options.

What energy saving tips or ideas for going green work? Which energy conservation ideas are virtually guaranteed to save money while still being affordable for most people to do? Here’s my Top Ten.

1. HOME LIGHTING

To get the most from your lighting:

a. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFL’s ( Compact Fluorescent Lights )

b. Reduce outdoor lighting loads by using solar powered path lighting and super bright solar lamps.

c. Install solar skylights to allow natural light into normally darkened areas of the home.

Using CFL’s and more natural lighting methods is guaranteed to save energy.

2. DOORS AND WINDOWS

You can improve the efficiency of the doors and windows in your home or apartment whether you own or rent:

a. For drafts blowing under an exterior door: – on modern doors, adjust the threshold to reduce the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold. – on older doors, install weather stripping that seals the crack at the bottom of the door when the door is shut.

b. Install weather stripping around the sides and top of all exterior doors.

c. To improve the efficiency of windows:

1. Install any available storm windows. – If storm windows are not available, but removable screens are installed, remove the screens and then wrap them with plastic and replace the screens.

2. Caulk all exterior cracks around the window frame and home siding.

3. Install heat shrinkable plastic on the inside of the window.

By sealing your doors and windows better, you are guaranteed to save energy.

3. ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRYERS

The clothes dryer is a primary sources of wasted energy. The energy fix for the dryer includes:

a. Install a dryer vent seal. This eliminates any back drafts from entering the home when the dryer is not in use and could reduce your homes heating and cooling costs by up to 10%.

b. Don’t run the dryer on frigid winter nights or on hot summer afternoons because whenever you run the dryer and exhaust the air outdoors, the same amount of air is being sucked into your home.

By installing the dryer vent seal and by not running the dryer when outdoor temperatures are at extreme levels, your energy savings are guaranteed.

4. BATHROOM EXHAUST FANS

Exhaust fans are very helpful in removing moisture and foul odors from your home, but they are also a primary source of energy waste. To improve their performance:

a. Install a timer for each exhaust fan switch to ensure the fan is not running longer than necessary.

Exhaust fans pull unconditioned outside air into your home while also exhausting out air you paid to heat or cool. This process is wasteful and unecessary. By performing these simple steps, you are guaranteed to save energy.

5. COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES

Your computer, printer, sound system, backup drives, etc, use your homes energy 24 hours a day, forever. To resolve these issues or to at least reduce their impact:

a. Install an energy saving smart strip for your computer and supporting devices. The smart strip device senses when you have shut down your computer and then shuts down all your other peripheral devices automatically.

b. Work on improving your habit to turn your computer off more often.

By forming a habit of turning the computer off while using a smart strip, you’ll save about $25 in energy costs per year.00 and you are guaranteed to save energy.

6. REFRIGERATORS AND FREEZERS

Your refrigerator and freezer runs twenty-four hours a day, forever, so even a little improvement makes a difference. The energy saving fix for these items is two-fold:

a. Clean out all the dust and dirt from the refrigerator coils.

b. Keep the refrigerator and freezer as full as possible. Using a combination of zip-lock bags or Tupperware bowls, store extra ice, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, etc, so there is less empty air space.

By following these suggestions, the unit will run even less, emit less heat into your kitchen and even lower your air conditioning load on the house. The energy savings are guaranteed.

7. HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

To reduce the amount of energy being wasted by your heating and cooling systems:

a. Seal the Leaks

- 1. Forced Air Systems – while the system is running, follow the main duct line and use either the back of your hand or a smoke stick to locate areas where air is escaping from the duct system and seal those leaks with foil duct tape.

- 2. Hot Water or Steam Systems – Insulate the pipes with foam insulation, being especially diligent where piping crosses near basement window and door areas.

b. Perform yearly cleanings.

- 1. It is vital that your oil or coal boiler be cleaned yearly and the chimney cleaned every other year. By removing the soot from the boiler, you improve the boilers capacity to absorb the heat and by keeping the chimney clean, you allow the fuel to burn hotter and cleaner.

- 2. Air conditioning systems, as well as air source heat pumps require yearly maintenance. Coils need to be cleaned, refrigerant charges need to be adjusted and routine maintenance needs to be performed.

Being diligent about performing preventive maintenance on your heating and air conditioning systems will not only lengthen the systems life time, but your energy savings will be guaranteed.

8. WATER

All the energy saving benefits of reducing water usage are even greater for those who have wells and use a pump to extract their water in the first place.

a. Replace your shower head with an energy saving shower head that uses less than the standard 2. 5 to 3. 5 gallons of water per minute. Many models are available that use 1. 5 to 1. 75 gallons per minute . By reducing the amount of water used while showing, the energy you use to heat your water can be dramatically reduced.

b. Locate the sink closest to your water heating source and use that sink whenever you need to wash your hands. This will leave less heated water standing in the pipes.

By becoming more aware of how you may have been wasting your heated water, you can easily change a few habits that are guaranteed to help you save energy.

9. CEILING FANS

Fans can be defined as devices that help move air from one place to another. This works for both cool or hot air.

a. During the winter, set your fan reversing switch in the upwards position and keep the speed setting on low to gently push any heated air off the ceiling and force it back down along the walls to the floor where you want it. You wont feel any breeze or draft during this process.

b. During the summer, set your fan reversing switch in the downwards position and use the low or medium speed setting to keep the room from becoming stagnant and prevent hot air from building up near the ceiling. Meanwhile, you will feel this breeze and you will feel cooler as the wind from the fan helps your perspiration evaporate from your skin.

When we take advantage of using ceiling fans to better distribute our heated or cooled air, our overall comfort level increases while the amount of energy we use decreases. This more comfortable situation is guaranteed to save energy.

10. CLOTHING AND ATTIRE

By learning how to better dress ourselves, we could learn to live more comfortably in our homes while using less energy to condition the air within our homes.

a. During colder weather conditions, be sure to wear socks, full length pants and long sleeve shirts in your home. By simply ensuring you are protecting your exposed skin from “drafts”, you will feel more comfortable at a lower temperature setting. Then, by lowering your thermostat by 5 to 10 degrees, you can save from 10% to 20% more energy.

b. During the summer, dress lighter and remove your socks if possible. Doing so will allow you to maintain a warmer temperature in the home and reduce your air conditioning costs.

Bottom line, if you are walking around your home in the winter in your shorts, you are going to be cooler and you will either raise the thermostat setting or put on more clothing. One choice will waste energy and the other is guaranteed to save energy.

We effectively give ourselves a raise in salary the moment we stop being wasteful. That’s great motivation, so whether you agree with the reports on global warming or believe we should keep drilling or not, most of us already agree that we’d like to have more money, so by reducing what we waste, we will all have more money left to enjoy on things that matter to us.

The world seems to be all about efficiency and ways to protect the environment. You want to conserve energy, but sometimes it is hard to know if products are more hype than anything or if they are really worth the investment. You hear about energy efficient lights all the time, you see them in the store right next to the cheap light bulbs that you always buy. The light bulbs that claim to be energy efficient are more expensive so you pass them by but this is actually costing you money!!

Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulbs do help the environment, conserve energy and save money in the long run. These energy efficient bulbs use an incredible sixty five to eighty percent LESS energy than the incandescent bulbs you usually buy. This means that switching to CFL bulbs instead of the less efficient bulbs that many of us use, you can actually save up to 7% off your energy bill each month. These bulbs also last much longer than a regular bulb and so while you pay more for one initially you save money because they can last longer than regular bulbs which you would have to replace two or three times (or more).

Compact Fluorescent Lamp bulbs work differently than regular light bulbs. Regular bulbs use most of the electricity to heat up the filament inside of them which in turn lights up. Only about 2% of the electricity used by these light bulbs is actually used to produce light, the rest is used to create heat. A Compact Fluorescent bulb passes the electrical current through a mercury vapour which in turn creates an ultraviolet light. The light created is then absorbed by the phosphorescent coating that is on the light bulb which produces a glowing effect.

CFL bulbs turn over 20% of the energy they use into light so they require much less energy to produce the same brightness as a regular bulb. These bulbs can be used in your existing light fixtures and lamps so there is no extra cost to convert to them above the initial cost of the bulbs, which as stated above is made up for in energy savings and longer lasting bulbs.

Another choice for energy efficient lighting is to use LED ((Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. Light emitting diode bulbs are by far the most energy efficient bulbs available. These bulbs do not generate heat and do not have a filament. They very rarely need replacing and last longer than any other option. They are one of the safest choices as well because they do not generate heat there is not a concern of being burned or a fire occurring because of the bulb. Light Emitting Diode bulbs do require the initial investment and you may need to change the fixtures.

The return on your investment by the immense saving on energy bills and almost never needing to replace the bulbs is above and beyond any amount that you spend at first. You also have the knowledge that you are saving tonnes of greenhouse gases from harming the environment. LED lighting is becoming more affordable every day with the growing demand for energy efficient lighting and is most definitely the way of lighting the future for years to come.Energy efficient lighting is not only smart but is one way to cut down on your carbon footprint, save the environment and keep money in your pocket rather than the electric company’s.

There is a lot of talk about going green, saving energy and being environmentally friendly and such, but what really works? Really – what energy saving tips or ideas for going green work? Which energy conservation ideas work fast and are virtually guaranteed to save money while also being affordable for most people to do?

Here’s my list of what I call the Top 10 Energy Saving Guarantees that have been proven to save energy and save money while also being affordable enough for almost anyone to handle. I provide these guarantees because I know that many people want to be green, but have a hard time finding a place that is affordable to get started.

1. HOME LIGHTING

Recent increases in electric utility costs have us either cutting back or changing how and what we light. To get the most from your lighting:

a. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFL’s ( Compact Fluorescent Lights )

b. Reduce outdoor lighting loads by using solar powered path lighting and super bright solar lamps

c. Install solar skylights to allow natural light into normally darkened areas of the home.

Changing your lighting to use CFL’s and allowing more natural light to enter the home is guaranteed to save energy.

2. DOORS AND WINDOWS

To improve the efficiency of the doors and windows in your home or apartment, the following suggestions are affordable enough to consider, whether you own or rent:

a. For drafts blowing under an exterior door:
- on modern doors, adjust the threshold to reduce the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold.
- on older doors, install weather stripping that seals the crack at the bottom of the door when the door is shut.

b. Install weather stripping around the sides and top of all exterior doors.

c. To improve the efficiency of windows:

1. Install any available storm windows.
- If storm windows are not available, but removable screens are installed, remove the screens and then wrap them with plastic and replace the screens.

2. Caulk all exterior cracks around the window frame and home siding.

3. Install heat shrinkable plastic on the inside of the window.

If you follow the guidelines provided for better sealing your doors and windows, you are guaranteed to save energy.

3. ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRYERS

As much as a clothes dryer is essential, it is also one of the primary sources of wasted energy. The energy fix for the dryer includes:

a. Install a dryer vent seal. This eliminates any back drafts from entering the home when the dryer is not in use and could easily reduce your homes heating and cooling costs by up to 10%.

b. Don’t run the dryer on frigid winter nights or on hot summer afternoons because whenever you run the dryer and exhaust the air outdoors, the same amount of air is being sucked into your home.

By installing the dryer vent seal and by not running the dryer when outdoor temperatures are at extreme odds with your indoor temperature, your energy savings are guaranteed.

4. BATHROOM EXHAUST FANS

Exhaust fans are very helpful in removing moisture and foul odors from your home, but they are also a primary source of energy waste. To improve their performance:

a. Install an Intermatic, thirty to sixty minute timer for each exhaust fan switch. This will guarantee an exhaust fan is not running longer than necessary.

Exhaust fans are pulling in unconditioned outside air into your home while also exhausting air you paid to heat or cool. This process is necessary, but the focus is to reduce the amount of time to only what is necessary.

By performing these simple steps, you are guaranteed to save energy.

5. COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES

Computer may be able to shut down or hibernate when it detects it has not been used for a while, but your printer, sound system, backup drives, etc, keep chugging away at your homes energy, 24 hours a day, forever. To resolve these issues or to at least reduce their impact:

a. Install an energy saving smart strip for your computer and supporting devices. The smart strip device senses when you have shut down your computer and then shuts down all your other peripheral devices automatically.

b. If you have the habit of leaving your computer on when it is not being used, you could work on improving your awareness of your habit and turn your computer off more often or set your computer to hibernate or sleep after two hours or so.

Tests I ran have shown that the simple habit of turning off the computer more often while also using a smart strip, will reduce yearly energy costs by at least $25.00. Install a smart strip for your computer and you are guaranteed to save energy.

6. REFRIGERATORS AND FREEZERS

Your refrigerator and freezer runs twenty-four hours a day, forever, so even a little improvement makes a difference due to how often these items run. The energy saving fix for these items is two-fold:

a. Remove the vent cover at the bottom of the unit and clean out all the dust and dirt from the refrigerator coils.

b. Keep the refrigerator and freezer as full as possible. Using a combination of zip-lock bags or Tupperware bowls, store extra ice, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, bread, pitchers of water, etc, so that there is less empty air space.

By cleaning the coils, the unit will run slightly less, and by filling empty air space with solid objects, the unit will run even less. When these two ideas are used together, the unit runs less, emits less heat into your kitchen and even lowers your air conditioning load on the house. The energy savings are guaranteed.

7. HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

To reduce the amount of energy being wasted by your heating and cooling systems:

a. Seal the Leaks

- 1. Forced Air Systems – while the system is running, follow the main duct line and use either the back of your hand or a smoke stick to locate areas where air is escaping from the duct system and seal those leaks with foil duct tape…not that sticky gray tape.

- 2. Hot Water or Steam Systems – Insulate the pipes with foam insulation, being especially diligent where piping crosses near basement window and door areas.

b. Perform yearly cleanings.

- 1. Oil and coal heating systems have the capacity to create a lot of soot. It is vital that your boiler be cleaned yearly and the chimney cleaned every other year. By removing the soot from the boiler, you improve the boilers capacity to absorb the heat and by keeping the chimney clean, you improve air flow which allows the fuel to burn hotter and cleaner.

- 2. Air conditioning systems, as well as air source heat pumps require yearly maintenance. Coils need to be cleaned, refrigerant charges need to be adjusted and routine maintenance needs to be performed.

Being diligent about performing preventive maintenance on your heating and air conditioning systems will not only lengthen the systems life time, but your energy savings will be guaranteed.

8. WATER

Your savings can really grow by learning how to better conserve your water. All the energy saving benefits of reducing water usage are even greater for those who have wells and use a pump to extract their water in the first place.

a. Replace your shower head with an energy saving shower head that uses less than the standard 2. 5 to 3. 5 gallons of water per minute. Many models are available that use 1. 5 to 1. 75 gallons per minute while still providing full body coverage and pressure while showering.

By reducing the amount of water used while showing, the energy you use to heat your water can be dramatically reduced, plus it will help eliminate your water heater or furnace from running out of enough heated water so that another person could shower right after you.

b. Locate the sink closest to your water heating source and use that sink whenever you need to wash your hands. You’ll have hot water quicker and will leave less heated water standing in the pipes.

By becoming more aware of how you may have been wasting your heated water by using too much during showering or by leaving much of it to just cool down in your pipes, you can easily change a few habits that are guaranteed to help you save energy.

9. CEILING FANS

Fans are often only associated with cooling things, but they can better be defined as devices that help move air from one place to another. This works for both cool or hot air.

a. During the winter, set your fan reversing switch in the upwards position and keep the speed setting on low. What this will do is to gently push any heated air off the ceiling and force it back down along the walls to the floor where you want it. Since the fan is pushing the air around the perimeter of the room, you wont feel any breeze or draft during this process.

b. During the summer, set your fan reversing switch in the downwards position and use the low or medium speed setting. This will help keep the room from becoming stagnant and will prevent hot air from building up near the ceiling and will allow the air to mix better and cool more naturally. Meanwhile, since the fan is blowing air down directly, you will feel this breeze and you will feel cooler as the wind from the fan helps your perspiration evaporate from your skin.

When we take advantage of using ceiling fans to better distribute our heated or cooled air, our overall comfort level increases while the amount of energy we use decreases. This more comfortable situation is guaranteed to save energy.

10. CLOTHING AND ATTIRE

By learning how to better dress ourselves, we could learn to live more comfortably in our homes while using less energy to condition the air within our homes.

a. During colder weather conditions, be sure to wear socks, full length pants and long sleeve shirts in your home. It’s not necessary to add multiple layers (unless you want to), but by simply ensuring you are protecting your exposed skin from “drafts”, you will feel more comfortable at a lower temperature setting. Then, by lowering your thermostat by 5 to 10 degrees, you can save from 10% to 20% more energy.

b. During hotter weather conditions, and especially at night, remove your socks, wear shorts and short sleeve shirts. If you exercise in the home or come home hot and sweaty, give yourself a few minutes to cool down a little and then change your shirt or pants with something fresh and lighter. Doing so will allow you to maintain a warmer temperature in the home and reduce your air conditioning costs.

There is often too great a tendency to up the thermostat during winter months instead of dressing more efficiently. If you are walking around your home in the winter in your shorts, you are going to be cooler and you will either raise the thermostat setting or put on more clothing. One choice will waste energy and the other is guaranteed to save energy.

The overall message is no different than what our grandparents used to say in that ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’. As we learn to stop wasting, we are effectively giving ourselves a raise in salary. That’s great motivation, so whether you agree with the reports on global warming or believe we should keep drilling or not, most of us already agree that we’d like to have more money, so by reducing what we waste, we will all have more money left to enjoy on things that matter to us.

Blind Coverings are the best way to conserve energy when it seems impossible in the hot Arizona summer months; however, blinds make a difference. Blind Chalet has created an energy calculator to give customers an idea of the impact.

Window treatments are an efficient and cost effective way to conserve energy. During the summer months the sunlight that enters into the home through the windows and doors loses about 20 to 50 percent of the total energy. More energy enters in one square foot of clear glass than an entire insulated wall. This increases the workload of the air conditioner by 50 percent. In hot, arid environments such as Arizona it is important to have effective window coverings for energy conservation. Blinds reduce energy consumption, lower energy bills, prevent the sun from fading the interior, and maintain a comfortable and consistent temperature within the home.

Window coverings can control the amount of energy that enters into the home and the style determines the efficiency of the blinds. The shading coefficient measures the window treatments ability to block solar energy from entering into the home. Customers should keep in mind the lower the shading coefficient the more the blinds keep the home insulated.

Blinds Chalet has created an energy calculator so customers can calculate the most energy efficient window treatments for their home. The tool is easy to use; the customer simply enters the square footage of their home, then Blinds Chalet lists several styles of blinds and lists their estimated energy savings. The calculator displays a savings from $200 to $400 dollar savings on average sized homes. Windows that face east and west need more protection from sunlight than windows positioned on the north and south sides of the house.

The most efficient blinds are honeycomb cell shades and wood or faux wood blinds. It is important to know the color of the blinds makes a difference because various colors respond to light differently. Dark colors tend to absorb more heat than lighter colors and shiny surfaces reflect the light.

Blinds Chalet, has more than 25 years of experience in dealing with many different types of window coverings. Blinds Chalet offers consumers the best in attractive blind options, while also offering high quality blinds that are made from some of the most durable materials available. Blinds Chalet has a variety of blinds that are available for any home, any style of décor, and any budget. For information on what types on blinds, blind accessories, and any other home decorating needs, please visit www.blindschalet.com.

Lighting is a necessary and powerful part of any environment. A new homes lighting should be versatile and energy efficient. With the dimmers and fixtures of today it is possible to have optimal lighting and save energy at the same time. In this article I plan to hit on some of the best suited places to put today’s energy efficient lighting.

Lighting can be broken down in to three major types, ambient, task, and accent. Ambient lighting can be provided by many sources but for this article we will touch on two of the most common sources of general lighting in todays homes, the table lamp and the ceiling mount fixture. This is probably the easiest type of lighting to provide using energy efficient sources as the common retro-type fluorescent bulb can go in most any table lamp and flush mount fixture. In the past several years Verilux and Ottlite have created a niche market by offering lamps that take dedicated fluorescent bulbs that closely match daylight. While this can sometimes offer good general illumination in a room remember that these types of fixtures usually have a very white light that does not look good in most living areas.

The second type of lighting used to light a space is task lighting. Task lighting is needed anywhere tasks will be performed, the most common areas in a home being the kitchen, the office, and the laundry room. In the kitchen the way to be energy conscious is with fluorescent or LED under cabinet lighting. Many companies offer both types including Lithonia, Kichler, and National Specialty Lighting. It is important to mention that regardless of the type of energy efficient lighting you decide to use under cabinets for task lighting be sure that the Kelvin Temperature is close to that of the other fixtures in the room.

Finally accent lighting can also be achieved with energy efficient lighting. Flourescent bulbs and fixtures are not well suited to accent lighting due the large source of light from fluorescent tubes. Today’s energy efficient accent lighting is provided with LED. There are now very good retro fit LED bulbs available in MR16 and PAR types but they can still be expensive. Putting dimmers on Halogen accent lighting is also can also be an energy conscious choice when designed properly.

This is just a quick overview of ways to remember the environment when designing and specifying the lighting for today’s homes. Any space can be lit wisely and efficiently with the tools available today. For further questions or a consultation for the next space you will be lighting come by Village Lighting at 1616 North State Street inBellingham, WA. Village Lighting is a fully stocked showroom with knowledgeable staff that’s now available online at www.villagelightinginc.com

The European Union is imposing a ban on conventional light bulbs, replacing them with energy-saving bulbs. That ban would fully be in effect within two years, forcing all 490 million citizens of the EU’s member states to switch from the current conventional lights they now have.

However, some problems of this plan have been raised considering that the supposed energy-efficient light bulbs have to be left on all the time, they’re made from banned toxins and they won’t work in half your household fittings. Yet Europe (and Gordon Brown) says ‘green’ lightbulbs must replace all our old ones. They also are up to 20 times more expensive than conventional light bulbs. They also give off a much harsher light and do not produce a steady stream of light but rather just flicker 50 times a second.

These special ‘efficient’ light bulbs also need more ventilation than conventional bulbs, which means that they cannot be in an enclosed light fitting. I’m sure that this won’t inconvenience any of the 490 million who are being forced to switch. In Canada, talk is taking place of having a ban on conventional light bulbs being included in Ross Tawdrey’s clean air act. This discussion was recently brought about by the act of Australia taking moves to ban conventional light bulbs by the year 2010.

As well as that, a lawmaker in California has introduced a bill to ban the selling of conventional bulbs by 2012, with a similar bill also being introduced in New Jersey. Royal Phillips Electronics, one of the leading corporations in producing light fixtures announced that they would stop selling conventional bulbs by 2016. This will result in a massive cost to the consumer, who is losing their free will in where they spend their money and how they choose to help the environment.

Hoping to get by without buying new bulbs and sneak it by the government? Good luck. As a recent report pointed out in the UK, the government has very intrusive plans to make the UK the world’s first green economy. Part of this plan is that every home in the UK is to be ‘carbon neutral’ within 10 years, making every house updated to ‘green’ standards. The government said they would provide the renovators, which has led many to fear that it is a method of spying on homeowners to make sure they go green.

John Sinclair, a member of the Taxpayer’s Alliance and critic of the plan stated, It’s bad enough that politicians want to take so much of our money away in tax. For them also to intrude into our homes in order to have the ability to penalise us even further is simply unacceptable.

I am not saying that it isn’t a good idea to take action to help the environment, but I ask you to consider this: if the majority of scientific data points to the fact that global warming is caused by the Sun, then how will a tax on carbon emissions help to stop it? How does us driving cars cause climate change on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune and Triton?

Can Al Gore please fill me in on this? If CO2 increases as a RESULT of temperature increases, then how can we hope to accomplish anything by taxing emissions? That’s like saying we will prevent the process of humans ageing by dying their grey hairs. It’s not grey hair that causes people to age; it’s ageing that causes grey hair. And nothing that you do to your hair will have any affect on how long you live. Especially since ageing is a natural process that cannot be stopped and has always occurred and will always occur. Just like climate change.

It seems worrisome that politicians are all too eager to grab onto this man-made myth of global warming in order to make us afraid and guilty. Guilty enough to want to change it, and afraid enough to give up our freedoms and undergo massive financial expenses in order to do so. So this lie, being pushed by big money and big governments, is a convenient lie for those who want to exert control and collect money. However, it’s inconvenient for the mass amount of people who are already experiencing the problems of a widening wage-gap and fading middle class.

If the problems we are being presented are based on lies, then how do we expect to find any true solution to helping the environment? A Global Tax won’t clean up the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, which is still polluting waters in Alaska nearly 18 years after the spill occurred. A Global Tax won’t stop Shell from making the Niger Delta the most endangered Delta in the whole world. No, we have to first be realistic, mature, and have debate about the problems we are facing, and then, and only then, can we even hope to achieve any sort of solution.

As the public sector becomes much more concerned about the cost and sustainability of energy in general, energy efficient lighting has a major point of focus in our industry. Since much of this technology is still very new and continually evolving (as in the case with LED and Induction), explaining the technical dynamics of new luminaires to your clients may not be the best way to sell them on the idea of an upgrade. Since engineers are constantly coming up with new ways to conserve power and extend lamp life, and since new ways of producing light itself are still emerging, it is best to talk about the general benefits that an upgrade will bring to organizations regardless of the actual fixtures and lamps ultimately chosen for the new system. The following summary represents the top five benefits that clients can expect from energy efficient lighting.

Energy efficient lighting uses less electricity.

This is probably the first benefit that comes to everyone’s mind when they consider upgrading to energy efficient lighting. Rising fuel costs have had an effect on the cost of power in general, and reducing expenditures even by a marginal amount helps buffer any organization against the problematics of an unstable economy. Now is the best time to take stock of all indoor and outdoor luminaires and make a qualitative assessment of their long term value. If more energy efficient lights can be substituted in their place, then savings on power bills will pay for the fixtures in a few short years.

Energy efficient lighting minimizes replacement costs.

Light fixtures eventually wear out because of thermal stress on the components. The less electricity a fixture uses, the less heat it will generate during use. This works to prolong the life of the bulb and minimize replacement costs. When you encounter clients that know they need to upgrade to energy efficient lights, but fear the budgetary hit the expenditure may cause, remind them that this is not something they will need to do again for a considerable amount of time. The money saved on continual maintenance and/or replacement is yet another revenue stream that brings ROI on the equipment investment.

Energy efficient light fixtures are more environmentally friendly.

It has been estimated that buildings with inefficient lighting systems contribute 40% of the world’s greenhouse gases. A great deal of this pollution is the result of outdated incandescent technology that has already been banned in some places like California. Replacing all incandescent luminaires with energy efficient equivalents significantly contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Imagine the positive impact that a nationwide retrofit would have on the global environment. Companies should consider the many advantages that a more sustainable and environmentally friendly public image will bring to their branding and marketing efforts.

Energy efficient lighting is essential to LEED certification.

Companies are starting to take LEED certification very seriously. Power conservation is becoming a top priority for new building construction, and is much easier to accomplish when designing the building with LEED certification in mind. Companies in existing buildings, however, may be facing more of a challenge. Older architectural styles, wiring systems, and incandescent lighting were intended for today’s power management demands. Remodeling such a facility can represent an enormous expense. Energy efficient lights may not provide all the necessary points for a LEED certificate in such places, but they will greatly improve the organizations budget and possibly help pay for further remodeling down the line.

Energy efficient lighting helps avoid conflict with lighting regulatory codes.

Lighting regulations vary from city to city throughout the United States. Currently, most codes are focused on dark sky conditions and light pollution reduction. The safety hazards caused by excessive glare are also something that lighting codes often address. In some parts of the country, energy efficient lighting is required under regulatory codes as part of a more comprehensive community push toward sustainability. In other places such as California, state legislation has now stepped in to make power conservation and environmental sustainability a top priority.

While there is currently no nationwide standard for regulating energy efficient lighting, we have reason to believe one may be created in the near future with increasing public demand for a comprehensive, national energy policy.

When that day comes, your client will already be equipped with the best possible technology for conservation of resources and funding.

We offer consultative lighting design services to clients and photometric analysis of any facility you wish to have scientifically analyzed prior to drafting your proposal.