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How Your Lighting Choices Affect Energy Saving

home lighting

There are quite a few ways that you can achieve more energy savings with lighting. Illuminating your home can add heat to it, however, which drives up the cost of cooling your home. However, several options are available for light bulbs that create less heat and use a fraction of the energy the old incandescent bulbs do.

There are three alternatives to energy-wasting incandescent bulbs that convert as much as 90 percent of the energy they use as heat. Adding that heat to a home in hot climates like ours should be avoided both for comfort and energy savings. Consider swapping out the old bulbs with:

LED (light emitting diode) bulbs. These bulbs throw off no heat, and their cost has dropped recently. They use 75 to 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 25 times longer. LEDs work well in light fixtures that are turned on and off frequently, since switching them off doesn’t adversely affect them. If you’re looking for lighting that promotes energy savings, these are the best alternative. Placing them near heat-sensitive devices like thermostats won’t make the area any warmer.
CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) bulbs. A CFL uses approximately 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb does and lasts longer, as well. Their lifetime is shorter if they’re turned on and off frequently.
Halogen (also known as energy-saving incandescent). These bulbs use approximately 25 percent less electricity than an equivalent incandescent bulb does. They have a capsule around the lighting filament that decreases their heat output. They’ll last three times longer than a standard bulb.
Other Considerations

How you light your home is also a consideration when HVAC contractors size a new cooling system for your home. Homes with many incandescent bulbs will have a higher cooling load, adding to the justification for a larger and more expensive A/C or heat pump.

For more information about energy savings, lighting and reducing the burden on your cooling system, please contact us at Climate Control. We provide comprehensive home performance assessments and exceptional HVAC services for homeowners in Kansas City and other area communities.

Image via Flickr by futurestreet