Turn off the lights

Want to reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions? Here’s a simple trick. Turn off a light! And while that may seem insignificant, imagine if everybody in the United States thought twice about flipping the switch on?

A light turned off represents zero electrical use, zero dollars spent, zero CO2 gas emissions, and even the reduced need for air conditioning. There’s a lot happening – or not happening – depending on how you flick that switch.

Think about how much light you need and where you need it. Do you really need to light an entire room as if it were an office? Or will simple task lighting in your work area do. Ceiling lights can be of less wattage when used together, reducing the total amount of electricity consumed. Open the curtains on a sunny day and let the light shine in. Move a chair closer to the window while you read a book. If you need to turn on a reading light, is it really necessary to turn all the other lights on in the room? And finally, you can save a lot of energy by remembering to turn TURN OFF THE LIGHTS WHEN YOU ARE LEAVING A ROOM.

A U.S. Department of Energy Web site provides guidelines for when to turn the lights off and on. Don’t laugh. Traditional Incandescent bulbs are cheap but inefficient. Only 10 to 15 percent of the energy used by an incandescent bulb results in light. So simply put, shut the light off when you aren’t using it or if you leave a room.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) should be turned off if you are not going to turn them back on in 15 minutes. Constantly turning them off and on reduces the life of a CFL bulb.

The Web site also tells how to calculate the exact value of energy savings by turning a light off.

Check it out.