Learn how to reduce excess lighting and utilize natural light in building design whenever possible.
Welcome to Week 49 of 50 Ways to Reduce Your Waste Line. Last week, you were encouraged to walk, cycle or use public transit regularly. This week, we encourage you to reduce lights, disable bulbs which are not needed or in use and maximize natural light.
We can reduce lighting by reducing bulb wattage for overly lit rooms and choosing appropriate bulb wattage to suit the purpose and atmosphere of the room. Installing dimmers is another way to reduce light usage and increase the life of low-voltage lighting, i.e. halogen lights. When purchasing bulbs, check to see they are compatible with dimmers. We can also replace outdoor manual lamps with motion-censored lighting. Motion-sensitive switches are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution to accessing our porches and walkways after dark.
The best source of light is the sun and we can make the most of daylight hours by opening up our blinds, ensuring our windowsills are void of clutter and if renovating, adding in skylights and as many south-facing windows in the house as possible. Outside we can trim any hedges and trees blocking windows and we can (re)move any furniture that may be blocking windows from inside.
One Thing You Can Do:
An easy step to implement is to replace conventional high-energy, incandescent bulbs with efficient Compact Florescent Light (CFLs) and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs. We can remember to turn off lights when leaving rooms or offices for long periods of time. This will extend the life of the bulb and reduce our monthly bill and the power company’s carbon emissions.
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