Every time you flip your light switch in your home, you’re contributing to your energy consumption and ultimately your energy bill. Maybe you think that there really isn’t anything that you can do other than sit in the darkness or let all of your employees leave work right before the sun goes down. The truth is that there are some other ways that you can reduce the amount of energy that you use when you flip that light switch. Lighting consultants can help you to find ways for you to save energy when it comes to your Colorado home or business lighting so you can trim your energy bills.
Real Impact of Lighting Your Home
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that about 7 percent of the total energy consumption used in the United States is for lighting. Considering Americans used about 279 billion kilowatt-hours in 2016 for both commercial and residential properties, that’s a pretty significant percentage of energy.
Flipping the Switch
Keep in mind, that’s just the percentage of energy for the lights in our homes and businesses which is something that most people never think about when considering their energy consumption. You may tell your child about leaving the light on in an empty room, but often, you’re really not that worried about it. Right now in your own home, you may think twice about flipping that switch on both of your side table lamps. You could think that you can get along with just the one. You may also consider ways to keep the lights off at work to help save money. Before you go the route of telling people that they can’t turn on any lights at night, consider some ways that a lighting consultant can help reduce your energy consumption.
Bulbs
One of the simplest things that you can do to save electricity on your lighting is changing out your bulbs. The light bulbs that you use are part of the equation in figuring out how much electricity your lighting consumes.
Energy-Efficient Options
There are many energy-efficient light bulbs available on the market today for when you replace your bulbs. There are LED bulbs, CFL bulbs, and halogen bulbs. It can be a bit confusing, though, when presented with all of the different options on the shelf at your local store. A lighting consultant can help you to find the perfect bulb for your lighting needs that will reduce your energy use.
Lighting System Update
You might discover that changing bulbs helps but not enough. You could experience more energy loss than you should be, and the good thing here is that you can go a step further with a lighting system update. Your lighting fixtures and components in your system may be older, meaning that someone installed these components before energy conservation was very important.
Streamlined Energy Use
Overhauling your entire lighting system improves the amount of energy that your lights draw when you turn on a light. These lighting systems work well in conjunction with the energy-efficient bulbs available today to create a more streamlined energy use for your home or business.
Harness Technological Advances
Technology is changing the way that we use energy, and not just by all of the gadgets people use. There are things like occupancy sensors, timers and other technological advancements that can help reduce the amount of energy that you use in your home and office. Knowing the perfect system for your home or office can be tough if you don’t use an expert who knows what technology is best to use for your particular situation.
Lighting Consultant Services
The services offered by a lighting consultant are as simple as helping you to find the perfect lamps for your home. Newer lamps help save the amount of electricity you’re using compared to previous ones. This type of change isn’t as technical as setting up an update to your current lighting system.
Schedule an Energy Audit
Consider an energy audit as an additional service to find ways to reduce your energy consumption. An audit helps you to pinpoint the areas where you could be doing better with how much energy your home or business consumes. Addressing just your lighting if larger issues at play could be seen as just putting a band-aid on your energy issues.
Each of these strategies is simple ways that you can change how you use electricity in your home and business. It’s pretty amazing to see how effective a simple fix can be. If you don’t know where to start, even the simplest thing can seem complicated. These lighting tips are just the beginning of how a lighting consultant can improve the way that your home or business utilizes electricity.
Thank you for reading our blog! How can we help you? Contact us today.
