Long gone are the days where you would choose brightness by the number of watts marked on the front of your light bulb packaging. Energy-efficient lighting is the new way to light your home, so it’s time to stop thinking watts and start thinking lumens.
Choosing Energy Efficient Bulbs
Once you’ve made the intelligent decision of using energy-efficient bulbs, you’ll need to decide which bulb will best fit your lighting fixtures. There are a variety of options so finding the right fit for the lighting scenario you are looking to create shouldn’t be too difficult. When you become concerned about energy waste for your home or business, there are several questions you can ask a professional to get help with making energy-efficient lighting decisions. Let’s review some of the common questions to ask.
Which Bulb Will Work Best for Me?
As people become more aware of energy usage and its effect on their budget, they’re finding better ways to save money on utilities by swapping their incandescent bulbs for energy-efficient LED or CFLs bulbs. LED bulbs are more efficient than the CFLs, and the lifetime of the bulb is two to 10 times longer than that of CFLs, depending on the model. Ultimately, you will save more money using LEDs.
What is the Kelvin Scale?
Color temperature, or light color, is measured by using what’s called “the Kelvin scale.” LEDs and CFLs are designed in warm colors (low k) in order to match the yellowish tone in the light of incandescent bulbs. However, you can also buy cooler colors (high k) with bluer or whiter light.
How Do I Choose the Brightness?
The amount of light produced from a bulb is measured using lumens. More specifically, lumens represent the precise amount of ambient light coming from your light source. In order to decide how to choose which bulbs will work best for you, you’ll have to know how bright you would like the room or rooms to be. Knowing the square footage of each room you plan to install lighting in will help you decide how many lumens you need. For example, you would need more lumens for a dining room that is 500 sq. ft. vs. a dining room that is 250 sq. ft. if you’re looking to have the room brightly lit.
How Do I Know How Many Lumens to Choose?
Lumens signify the actual amount of ambient light that’s coming from a light source. The greater the lumen value, the brighter or more “lit up” the room will be. Remember, there is no direct translation from watts to lumens. Wattage-comparable values are more of an approximation and may differ from one manufacturer to another. So, if you happen to have a 60-watt light bulb that you’re looking to replace, you can still end up with the incorrect bulb if you buy a 60-watt identical LED. To choose the absolute best or closest replacement, you should try to match the lumens of your previous incandescent light bulb to the lumens of a new LED.
How Much Will I Save By Switching to Energy-Efficient Lighting?
Lighting your home or business will take up about 15 percent of your energy bills. Typically, it takes about $200 each year to light your home, depending on where you live and the size of the home you’re lighting. That approximation does not apply to the cost of lighting a business since there are too many variables when lighting a business to give an appropriate estimate.
Minimal Effort for Maximum Return
While $200 may not seem like a lot, you should consider that you can cut this expense in half with very little cost and nearly no effort on your part. All you have to do is replace your incandescent light bulbs with LEDs or CFLs. The switch can considerably lower your home’s energy expenses.
More Ways to Save Money on Lighting
Want even more savings? You can install dimmers on the switches around your home to make your new light bulbs last even longer, which will extend your savings. If you or anyone in your family is the type of person that often forgets to turn off the lights, you can add motion sensors or timers to the inside and outside of your home to make sure that you’re only using energy when needed.
Making a few simple, cost-effective adjustments to your lighting can help you save money while illuminating your home in a more efficient way. Schedule a home or commercial energy audit to discover more ways to save energy and lower your utility bills.
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