Looking for ways to make your home more energy efficient? You may want to take a look at your home’s lighting. The average homeowner spends about 5% of their energy bill on lighting their home. While that may not sound like a lot, cutting back on lighting costs helps save the average household between $30-$40 a month. Read on to learn how these lighting choices can promote an energy-efficient household.
CFLs: The First Generation of Efficient Illumination
Compact Fluorescent Lamps, also known as CFLs, are bulbs that use mercury to radiate light. These bulbs have a characteristic shape where one or more of the tubes is folded or curved. Most CFLs fit into sockets designed for incandescent bulbs, meaning you should have no trouble replacing them with traditional incandescent lights if you choose to later.
CFLs use only a fraction of the energy that incandescent lights require to produce a given amount of light. For example, a 15-watt CFL will produce roughly the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent. This means you will only use a quarter of the energy to illuminate your home. If you kept a single CFL light on for 2 hours daily for a year, you will only add $1.20 to your energy bill. An incandescent light would cost $4.80 to keep on for 2 hours every day for a year.
LEDs: The Highest Standard of Outdoor Lighting Efficiency
LEDs, also known as Light-Emitting Diodes, are light bulbs that use semiconductors to emit light. This process saves homeowners about 20% of energy compared to incandescent light bulbs. If you were to illuminate a 12-watt LED bulb for 2 hours every day of the year, you would only spend a dollar on your annual electricity bill. Compared to the $4.80 of the incandescent light bulb and the $1.20 from the CFL light, you can see why Creative Nightscapes trusts LED lights.
Not only are LED lights incredibly energy efficient, but they also have an amazing lifespan as well. A 12-watt LED bulb can burn for 25,000 hours before it needs to be replaced. Here is how CFL bulbs and incandescent bulbs measure up:
- CFL bulbs can run for 10,000 hours
- Incandescent bulbs can run for 1,000 hours
When it comes to LED lighting, they are perfect for both indoor and outdoor lighting. When it comes to creating a beautiful outdoor environment that is both safe and functional for events, Creative Nightscapes has the answers. We use only the best LED lighting on the market to ensure that our projects are built to last and are geared towards saving our clients money. If you are ready to create the perfect outdoor lighting design for your home, contact our team!
