Energy Saving Lighting [INFOGRAPHIC]

Whether we’re talking about a furnace, A/C, an appliance, or a car, we all benefit from energy efficiency.
But when it comes to saving energy and lowering utility bills, lighting sometimes gets overlooked.
This is a shame because a few quick, easy, and inexpensive changes can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
And we’re not only talking about switching to energy-saving light bulbs. It’s also important to consider the type of fixtures, how many you have, and how you take care of them.
To help you out, our lighting pros have assembled our top tips.

Clean Your Light fixtures

If your light fixtures are dusty, they’ll put out less light. In turn, this may cause you to turn on more lights when you enter a room and/or use a higher dimmer setting. Either way, you’re needlessly wasting electricity.

Periodic cleaning will help ensure your fixtures are delivering maximum lumens at minimum energy.

Use Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Many people still purchase incandescent bulbs because they are the cheapest option to buy. But when you consider energy consumption, they wind up costing you much more in the long run.

For example, a compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb typically needs only 60% of the electricity to produce the same amount of light. In other words, a 60W CFL will light up a room as well as a 100W incandescent.

And the best energy-efficient light bulbs? LED all the way! A typical LED bulb will only require 12W to produce the same amount of light as a 100W incandescent bulb. Best of all,  LEDs typically last 50 times longer.

When you multiply these savings across the dozens of bulbs found in a typical home or office, you’ll see a noticeable decrease in your monthly electric bill.

Take Advantage of Natural Light Sources

As they often say, the best things in life are free. And one of those things is sunlight.

A few extra moments each morning opening curtains and shades can translate to hundreds of dollars saved in electricity over the course of a year. In addition, natural light can help improve your mood.

Install Timers

As hard as we try, we don’t always remember to turn off lights when we leave a room. By installing timers, you can prevent wasted energy during the long blocks of time rooms are unoccupied.

Timers are particularly useful in an office setting, where if you forget to flip the switches when you leave at 5 pm, you wind up you lighting a bunch of empty rooms for 16 hours straight.

At home, conversely, timers are great for turning lights ON when you’re not around. Specifically, you can use them to create the illusion your home is occupied in the evenings, but without having to keep lights on for the entire duration of your trip.

Install Occupancy Sensors

Timers aren’t the best choice for rooms that constantly see people coming and going. In these instances, occupancy sensors are the way to go.

As the name implies, an occupancy sensor automatically turns on the lights when someone enters the room and turns them off after everyone leaves.

At home, they’re great for the laundry room, garage, or basement. At work, they’re nice for storage rooms, conference rooms, and more.

But no matter where you install them, you can rest easy knowing you’re not paying to illuminate an empty space.

Install the Appropriate Lighting for the Space

Our large commercial customers (think distribution centers and factories) put a lot of thought into planning their lighting installations.

Why? Too little lighting is a safety hazard and too much lighting translates to tens of thousands of wasted energy dollars.

The stakes aren’t as high in a home or a small office, but choosing the right lighting can make a meaningful impact on your electric bills.

What does this mean? Think about the wattage of your bulbs, the spacing of the light fixtures, the type of light fixtures you have, and where they’re located.

Need some assistance? The lighting pros at Warehouse Lighting have the knowledge and experience to help you select the perfect lighting solution for your home or commercial space’s unique needs. Give us a call at 88