Every morning as I’m getting ready for my day, I putter from room to room, gathering what I’m going to need for the day, making coffee and getting my office ready.
But it’s still winter, which means it’s still dark during these early morning hours. I find myself leaving lights on throughout the house.
According to Avista, lighting can account for 20% of your monthly electricity bill. Luckily, lighting is also one of the items you can control to make sure you are using less electricity.
First, and one I need to remember, is to turn off the lights when you aren’t using them. Even during the dark hours of the early morning and evening. Good thing the days are starting to slowly get longer, too.
Use lights just for your task and turn off the lights you don’t need in the room. You can use three-way fluorescent bulbs to provide a variation of light for different tasks, use timers when you are on vacation and use light colored lamp shades to enhance the output of the light.
Finally, you can choose solar-powered or daylight sensors for security lighting. I have one of those that illuminates the outside of my garage.
One thing I have that reminds me to turn off the lights when I’m not using them are these little stickers that came with the house. Someone helpfully put them on all my light switches. Maybe you could make something similar to remind yourself, too.
Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday.