Lighting your way to energy efficiency

Replace your standard incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFL) or light emitting diodes (LEDs). Not only will this significantly reduce your household greenhouse gas emissions, but it will save you some serious cash. When used for 4 hours a day for 10 years, an incandescent bulb will cost you $179 compared to $53 for a CFL. LEDs are more expensive to buy outright, but pay for themselves by saving you more on running costs than any other light technology on the market. They are getting cheaper and more effective all the time, plus they last up to 10 times longer than a standard incandescent bulb.

It’s simple, but it’s one of the most effective ways to reduce your energy consumption – turn off your lights when you leave the room.

Extra star for the week!

Halogen downlights are expensive to run as most often they operate in groups. Four 50W halogen downlights used for 4 hours a day for 10 years will cost $569. If you can not replace your downlights try decreasing the wattage of the bulbs bought. Watts are directly related to cost, so the less watts you have in your lighting, the less you are spending. Or don’t use your downlights at all and switch on a lamp using a CFL instead!

Use our Carbon Calculator to uncover your household’s carbon footprint. Write your result in your passbook and earn a star!