Lighting Your Home

Don’t forget to turn off lights when you aren’t using them! Of all the energy it takes to light up one old-fashioned (incandescent) light bulb, 95% is lost as heat, while only 5% of the energy creates light. In the summer, this not only wastes energy and money, it also creates heat inside your home, causing you to use more air conditioning, and increasing your energy bill even more. The good news is that it’s easy to fix. New compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) use much less energy to create the same amount of light.

CFLs cost more up front, but they last for about 7 years and save you money throughout those years. The EPA ENERGY STAR® program estimates that by changing the five most-used lights in your home, you’ll save more than $60 every year in energy costs.

How to Dispose of Compact Fluorescent Lamps: CFLs and Mercury (71 KB PDF)