Reducing Energy Costs

Reducing Energy Costs - Lighting | FAQs | Site Map | Bookmark this site!

Energy Efficient Lighting

Using energy-efficient lighting allows you to save on your energy bills all year round. You can save on energy efficient lighting in two ways. The first involves maximizing natural light by installing energy-efficient windows and skylights. This is known as day lighting. The second way to save on energy-efficient lighting is to purchase efficient electric light bulbs and lamps.

By maximizing the amount of daylight that enters your windows, a skylight can reduce your use of electrical lighting. Your climate and your home's design will determine how you should incorporate day lighting in your house. Rather than thinking about how the windows will look from the street, you want to place your windows based on the directions they point in.

Windows that face north allow natural light to enter evenly. Little glare will be produced and you will find that almost no unwanted heat will accumulate during the summer from these windows.

South facing windows are even better for energy-efficient lighting. Windows that face south let winter sunlight enter your home. However, during the summer, very little direct sunlight will enter so that you do not have to cool your home unnecessarily. This is particularly true if you use appropriate shades.

Windows that face east and west allow for good daylight in the evenings and mornings, but are not as good for all around energy efficient lighting purposes. East and west facing windows can produce unwanted glare, let in significant heat during the summer, and do little to help heat your home during the cold winter months.

If you're building a new house from scratch, you're in an ideal position to use day lighting for the design of your whole home. You can strategically placed windows wherever you like and also add skylights that are energy-efficient.
When you shop for skylights, you need to consider what type will be best for your home.

The federal government's Energy Star program has created performance ratings that help you match a skylight to your climate. Unfortunately, you still need to take into account your home's design.

Your skylight's position must be taken into consideration if you want to maximize the amount of light and solar heat possible. If your skylight faces north, it will give fairly constant but cool light. The skylight on an eastern facing roof will provide solar heat during the morning hours. Eastern facing skylights give off the maximum light and heat in the morning. Skylights that face west will give you afternoon sunlight and heat gain while south facing skylights have the most potential for winter solar heat. Unfortunately south facing skylights can allow excess heat gain in the summer.

After you have considered which cardinal direction you want your skylight to point in for the best natural lighting, it is time to pick the right type of skylight for your home. The energy efficiency of your skylight is determined by the skylight's glazing, its shape, and how you use it.

There are two common types of glazing: glass and plastic. Plastic glazing is less expensive than glass glazing and is less liable to break. On the downside, plastic glazing can scratch easily and is prone to discoloration. Unless your plastic glazing has a high-tech coating it will likely allow in most of the ultraviolet rays and that increases the possibility of causing your furnishings to fade.

Glass glazing can put a larger dent in your bank account, but it has its advantages. Unlike plastic glazing, glass glazing is not prone to discoloration. The glass used to let lighting in for skylights is made up of tempered or laminated glass and is impact resistant.

Skylights are wonderful for allowing beautiful natural lighting into your home, but because they are on rooftops there is the potential for unwanted solar heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. However, manufacturers use heat absorbing materials, insulated glazing, and low-emissivity coatings to reduce these problems. You can even find skylights with translucent insulation material housed in between many layers of glazing.

Skylights are more difficult to install than windows and proper installation is necessary to maximize energy performance. Therefore, the Department of Energy recommends that you have a professional install your skylight. Work with professionals to pick the best skylight for you and help you consider if adding trees to your yard will prevent excess solar heat gain.

Also, you will want to go over slope and moisture control with your installer. It is important not to have a low slope. A low slope skylight will not allow more solar heat in the summer and less solar heat in the winter. Your goal is to have a slope equal to your geographical latitude plus approximately 5° to 15°. In other words, if you have a south facing skylight at 40° north latitude you would want to have your slope at 45° to 55°. Some skylight manufacturers make a tilted base that allows you to increase the angle of your skylight above your roof.

In order to avoid a water leak with your skylight you can take some precautions. First, have your installer thoroughly seal all joints and make sure the skylight is mounted above the roof surface. Also, install a water tight lip that deflects water away from the skylight. This lip is called the curb.

Stay away from items like roof crickets or diverter strips which the Department of Energy suggests are ineffective. Instead, consider adding a layer of sheet waterproofing on top of the flanges and flashing of the skylight. This protects against ice dams.

Even if you are unable to afford day lighting techniques, you can still take advantage of energy-efficient lighting by using energy-efficient light bulbs.

For your indoor lighting needs there are some principles and methods to follow. Remember that you do not always need to purchase the most powerful light bulbs because performance is dependent upon light quality. Also, consider where you will be doing your work and match the amount and quality of light needed for you to perform optimally. This requires installing task lights such as reading lights where they are necessary and allows you to reduce the amount of ambient light elsewhere in your home.

Even if you are on a small budget you can make some changes to maximize energy efficient lighting. Change from translucent lights to fluorescent lights for any fixtures that will be on for two hours or more every day. Take a look at such places such as the kitchen, bathrooms, hallways, the living room, and other high use places in your home.

You can also use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in smaller lamps that will be on for more than two hours a day.

There has been some resistance to fluorescent light fixtures. Some magazines recommend that bachelors light their homes with translucent bulbs for the ambience. In addition, on a National Public Radio interview an energy expert testified that although he strongly recommends fluorescent light bulbs for lighting efficiency, he still has trouble convincing his wife to make the switch because there is a brief moment between when the light is turned on and when the bulb actually lights up. However, he noted that consumers who want to lower their energy bills and go green must simply ignore minor inconveniences. Even Oprah Winfrey endorsed fluorescent light bulbs on her TV show.

For your outdoor lighting needs you want to consider safety and utility. To achieve energy-efficient lighting remember that you do not have to have bright light for your utility lights to function well. Think about reducing energy costs by using photo sensors and motion detectors. If you use decorative lighting, purchase timers so that lights are not used when they are not needed. Finally, look into solar lighting.

Turning off lights when they are not in use is one of the first rules of saving money on lighting. However, doing this efficiently is not as easy as was in your parents' day. There are rules for turning off incandescent light bulbs that differ from turning off fluorescent light bulbs.

When it comes to incandescent lighting, light fixtures should be turned off whenever you are not using them. Turning off fluorescent lighting will save you energy if you plan to be out of the room for 15 or more minutes. If you are only leaving the room briefly it is better to leave the light on in most cases. Because fluorescent light bulbs are expensive and their lifetime is affected by the amount they are turned on and off, there is a trade-off between turning a fluorescent light off all the time and then needing to replace the bulbs more often. Although it seems counterintuitive, you will reduce the lamp's life by frequently turning it on and off. The benefit of extending the life of the bulb is that it will save you more money and also save energy in terms of raw materials for production.

eBook Home