Tips On How To
Lower Your Utility Bills

The cost of utility bills has jumped astronomically within the pass few years. The price of electricity and gas are anticipated to grow even more in the immediate future as our sources of energy, such as oil and coal, are being depleted. All of us who aware of these changes should start to lower our energy consumption not only to help bring down our utility bills, but it's also our social duty to help conserve the earth's resources for the coming generation.

Since almost 15 to 20 pct of the electrical energy expenditure of a common home is used on lights, embracing changes in our illumination systems and position will drastically bring down our energy bills. If you would like to lower your energy bills, then you have to do something about your lighting system.

Here are some tips on how you could start saving electricity.

Turn off lights when not in use.

The first rule in saving electricity is by turning off the lights that aren't in use. You should teach your children at an early age to have a habit of turning off the light as they go. This simple conscious effort is crucial in helping you save energy.

Change to energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL).

Another important way to save on electricity is by replacing incandescent bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent lights. Energy consumption of incandescent lights is much higher than regular fluorescent lights because they need to heat up a filament inside the bulb in order to produce light. In fact, 90% of energy consumed by incandescent lights is geared into heating up this filament. Just by merely replacing your incandescent bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, you are saving about 66%.

Energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, particularly the compact fluorescent lights, aside from using only 25% of the energy consumption of traditional incandescent light bulbs, are also longer lasting. In fact, they are estimated to last as much as ten times more than traditional bulbs. Although they are much more expensive than traditional light bulbs, you will end up saving more in the future.

You can still keep incandescent light bulbs for ambient lighting, but be sure to use fluorescent bulbs in areas where lights are used at least two hours a day.

Aside from replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, you should also be mindful of the wattage of your bulbs. Make sure that your overhead fixtures use lights with a lower wattage. Since there are many energy lamps available, it would also be more energy efficient to use desk or floor lamps if you are reading or doing close-up jobs.

Be mindful of light fixtures.

Unclean light fixtures increase their energy consumption by 25%. Thus, even if you put energy-saving lights, but don't clean the fixtures regularly, you will end up consuming more energy.

Aside from replacing traditional light bulbs with new energy-saving lights, you should also replace outdated or old light fixtures because the effectiveness of your light bulbs are greatly affected by your lighting fixtures. When you buy new lighting fixtures, be sure to look for the ones that have the highest ratings in energy efficiency. Retail shop personnel will be able to help you with this, if you aren't familiar with such ratings. Manufacturers of the fixtures always publish their fixtures' efficiency rating so you won't find it difficult to get this data from retail shops.
Install lighting controls

You can maximize saving by installing light controls that will turn off the lights when not in use. Many light controls work by turning lights on and off automatically, thereby, conserving a lot of electricity.

Some of the popular types of lighting controls are dimmers, timers, motion sensors, photosensors and occupancy sensors. However, before you install such lighting controls, you need to have some knowledge of basic lighting terms and principles. If you are unsure, it may be wise to consult experts to help you decide and install such devices.

Solar lights can help.

Another way to save on electricity is by replacing your outdoor lighting with solar lighting. Since solar lights aren't as bright as regular electric lights, you need to shop around for solar lights that will satisfy your lighting requirements. There are many manufacturers of solar lights already so you wouldn't have any problems in finding one that will suit your needs.

Follow these tips and you will not only lower utility bills, but help conserve energy as well.