Lighting

Lighting Tips

The money you spend on light bulbs is only 5 to 10 percent of the total cost of lighting; the other 90 to 95 percent is the cost of electricity.

Try motion sensors that turn lights off automatically when everyone leaves a room. Timers that automatically turn lights on and off can reduce your energy use increase safety by making a house appear occupied even when people are away.
Keep fixtures and bulbs clean. Dirt can absorb as much as 50 percent of a bulb's light output.
Use one bulb instead of multiple bulbs whenever possible. A single 100-watt incandescent bulb produces the same amount of light as two 60-watt bulbs and it uses 20 percent less energy.
Long-life incandescent bulbs last two to three times longer than a standard bulb. Compact fluorescent lamps last up to ten times longer. Light colored walls and surfaces reflect light while dark colors absorb light. The same light fixture in two different rooms will provide different levels of light on a reading surface.
Translucent lampshades provide more light than solid colored shades. Use dimmers or three-way incandescent bulbs to control the amount of light you need in a room. Dimming the lights to half the illumination cuts energy consumption almost in half.
Turn off lights when nobody is home. Use a timer to ensure you don't forget.
Use daylight whenever possible, rather than turning on redundant overhead lighting.

CFL

Lamp manufacturers have applied the latest technology to make compact fluorescent light bulbs more attractive, reliable, versatile and affordable than ever. The excitement spurred by today's breed of compact fluorescents is well-founded. These new bulbs are:

Convenient. Regardless of how often they are switched on and off, compact fluorescents enjoy a long life, with one bulb able to outlast six to ten incandescent bulbs. You spend less time on the ladder switching bulbs -- and less money replacing burned-out bulbs.
Appealing. Compact fluorescents now have rapid or instant start, no flicker and are available with a comforting, soft-white quality of light.
Versatile. Compact fluorescents are available to fit most any fixture, from reading lamps to table lamps or floor lamps. There are also compact fluorescent vanity bulbs, floodlights or outdoor bulbs.
Efficient. Most incandescent and halogen bulbs waste 90 percent of their energy generating heat. No so with the compact fluorescent, which uses 75 percent less energy to produce the same amount of light. You can save on energy costs by using a lower-wattage compact fluorescent and still enjoy the same, or even more, light.
Economical. The compact fluorescent costs more up front, but the savings add up in the long run. Incandescent bulbs typically last 1,000 hours, while halogens last 2,000 hours. A compact fluorescent bulb will give you 6,000 to 8,000 hours of light.

Battle of the Bulbs

A 18 watt compact fluorescent = a 60 watt incandescent, saving $16.80 in energy costs.
A 22 watt compact fluorescent = a 75 watt incandescent, saving $21.20 in energy costs.
A 27 watt compact fluorescent = a 100 watt incandescent, saving $29.20 in energy costs.
A 30 watt compact fluorescent = a 150 watt incandescent, saving $48.00 in energy costs.

For more information, contact Sharon, Klickitat PUD's Energy Services Specialist. You can call her at 509-773-7622 or toll-free at 800-548-8357.

Fire Danger In Your Home?

If you own a halogen torchiere floor lamp, you may be getting more than you bargained for. More than 50 million halogen torchieres have been sold in the U.S. since the late 1980s. Their standard light source is a high-wattage halogen lamp, which produces a clean white light that many people find attractive. These lamps are popular, inexpensive and dimmable -- but they are also highly inefficient and extremely dangerous.

Halogen torchieres are a serious fire hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They estimate that the lamps have been linked to more than 350 fires, 30 deaths, and 114 injuries in the U.S. in recent years.

The halogen torchiere heats up to 1100°F, which can ignite nearby flammable objects within minutes. Demonstrations have shown that when a frying pan was placed on the torchiere fixture, it cooked an egg within three to five minutes.

Another serious problem with halogen torchiere lamps is their extreme inefficiency. Amazingly, a halogen torchiere lamp costs more money in one year to operate than its original purchase price. That's because these lamps consume as much energy as a typical refrigerator and 95 percent of this energy is wasted electricity.

Halogen torchiere lamps yield one watt of visible light and nine watts of heat for every ten watts of power consumed. Put another way, you get one kilowatt hour worth of light for every ten kilowatt hours that show up on your PUD bill. Dimming the torchiere may reduce light output, but it also reduces the lamp's efficiency.

The safe alternative to a halogen torchiere is a cool-burning, energy-efficient compact fluorescent torchiere. While energy efficient lights may cost a bit more up front, they pay for themselves quickly because they use less energy. A compact fluorescent torchiere uses up to 85 percent less energy than the comparable halogen fixture and is six to eight times cooler, a difference of up to 900° F.

Battle of the Bulbs

Halogen torchiere: