Turn off the lights

Discussion in Gas & Electricity started by Peninha • Mar 14, 2014.

  1. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    Do you have your lights at home always on or do you turn them off when they are not really necessary? With the "new" lamps that almost don't consume anything do you think it makes any difference to have this care with the lights on and off?
     
  2. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I think it is all one big scam about those lights that apparently don't consume much electricity. Turn your lights off when you are not at home or at night time. If you are worried about intruders, install a burglar alarm. Sometimes, when I am still out on the streets late, I can't believe how many houses I see still fully illuminated at about 3 o'clock in the morning. Are they awake or are they scared of the dark?
     
  3. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    That's my question either, don't those people work or what are they doing in the middle of the night with the lights on? I don't have a question that those lights consume less than the others, but I always turn everything off when I am not using them, everything is consuming when turned on!
     
  4. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I take photos of auction items and do my eBay listings late at night, so I'm one of those crazy people with the lights on at 3AM. I don't think I'm the only person online late at night with my desk lamp on. There are a lot of people who have online jobs or side hustles at night to make extra money.
     
  5. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    LOL, so you actually work during the night and during the day? When do you rest ACSAPA?

    I think that turning off the lights when not necessary is just a small example of what we can do to save money, for example, put on a blanket instead of turning on the heating...
     
  6. ChanellG

    ChanellGActive Member

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    This is my favorite time of year because it stays light until much later in the day. I always find it best to use natural light during the day, but when it's cloudy, raining, etc., if the window doesn't face the right direction, you may not have enough light to see to do certain things. I don't know about new fangled lamps, but I hate those new swirly shaped light bulbs. They just don't give off much light - though something seems to be going on with the wiring when we use certain bulbs in the house.
     
  7. tinyfang

    tinyfangMember

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    In the day time, the three small halogen lights above the sink in the kitchen are almost always on. In my computer room, the two desk lamps are almost always on at the same time, to create a soft-sunrise feeling. This helps keeps me relatively calm in an otherwise hectic stressful work load.

    Otherwise, I try to keep the lights off around the house as much as I can, besides the four night lights around the house which auto-powers off when it's bright enough.
     
  8. LindaKay

    LindaKayActive Member

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    We aren't as good about turning lights off as we should be. I usually leave one light on in the kitchen and one in the hallway by the back door.
     
  9. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    Why do you leave them on Linda? Just as presence lights, but not all night long right?

    Sometimes my wife says to me, turn off the lights, are you working for the electric company? LOL! If we had the cents we are spending near the switches we would be more careful!
     
  10. JoJoYorkshire

    JoJoYorkshireNew Member

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    I'm another one who can quite happily leave all the lights on at 3am whilst I get some work done, it's much easier when there are no interruptions! I'm more of a night person anyway though lol, but I only have lights on if I need them, if there's no reason for them to be on then off they go, I don't like to waste anything, and the fact electricity is so expensive here at the moment only adds to it!
     
  11. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    I used to be one of those people, too. I still am from time to time, but they're usually off by 1 or 2am these days since I have to get up super early as well.

    In general, though, if I'm not using a light, I turn it off. I had an ex who would walk through the house, absent-mindedly turning on the lights as he moved from room to room, and then wouldn't turn them off! Every single light in the place would be turned on without a matter of minutes and he wouldn't even notice. I would go back through behind him and turn the majority of them, ha.
     
  12. JoanMcWench

    JoanMcWenchActive Member

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    Even if the lights you are using ARE using less electricity do you really want to pay unnecessarily for the electricity? I sure don't. Regardless of how little it may be I have no interest in paying for something I do not and should not have to. I turn my lights off and I even unplug things from the wall on a constant basis. Because of this I love to get my electric bill. It helps reinforce what I'm doing when I see the total.
     
  13. marvelz

    marvelzActive Member

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    Even when using those 'energy-saving' bulbs, I don't think there's much difference in the bill either. I use candles sometimes which I think helps more with saving.

    Solar panels are a good option to save on energy bills, and some companies will install them for free. You can still earn money from them, but the feed-in-tariff will no longer continue after the 1st April. If you're thinking about getting them, now is the best time.

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  14. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    I think there is a big difference between energy saving bulbs and the other ones marvelz, I think they consume 80% less! Nothing can beat candles though lol, but they don't give the same light. I can't install a solar panel because I live in a flat, but maybe for the building it might work out, I'll check it out thanks!
     
  15. Hedonologist

    HedonologistActive Member

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    Well with the news lamps it only costs 10p to leave each one on for 24 hours. So I'm not overly concerned, but I'm certainly not wasteful. Sometimes I will leave a hall light on overnight, and even when I leave others on I don't worry about it.
     
  16. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    Are you sure, 10p for 24 hours? That is really cheap indeed, I had no clue they consumed so little. I am making a bigger effort recently, whenever I am not in a room I shut down the light, I know I won't notice the difference at the end of the month, but I am making it a matter of principle.
     
  17. micah13

    micah13Member

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    I try to keep lights I'm not using off. Then again, my laptop keyboard is dark, and I although I type without really looking at the keyboard at all, in fact, I only look at the keyboard when I need to type the numbers, I still prefer a light while I'm working, even if it's dim, just so the glare from the screen doesn't block out everything else around me. I'm not sure why I care, exactly. Then there are those who leave their computers on all the time, thinking that turning off and on and off and on causes the metal components to weaken from the temperature transition every day, but I'm not entirely sure about that scenario either. Laptop adapters only use 70 to 100 watts anyway, so it's like having a light bulb going 24/7.
     
  18. apple1989

    apple1989Member

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    Electricity charges are relatively "smaller" at night than during the day. We keep our lights on in the kitchen until someone wakes up the following morning and turns it off.
     
  19. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    What? You leave the light in the kitchen on all night? For what reason? Electric charges are cheaper at nights for someone who has a dual phase paying mode, because at my place I pay the same during the day and night and I'd never leave a light on for no reason...
     
  20. Hedonologist

    HedonologistActive Member

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    40p/kwh

    12W lightbulb * 24h = just over 0.25 kwh so yeah, maybe 12-13 pence but certainly not as much as you might have thought. I only have them on for 3 or so hours a day so lighting is very cheap for me.

    slightly off-topic but this thread reminded me of this

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