Recently while visiting a relative I noticed that at night she'd switch on all lights in The House and leave some on till morning. That's probably one of the best ways to get yourself a huge energy bill. Why waste energy thusly? In my home, I normally have only the light I'm using on. If I'm in the kitchen, only the light bulb in the kitchen will be on. When I'm in the living room I might not have the lights on at all since all I ever do there is watch movies. Saves me a lot of money. Question: how many lights do you have on in your home at any given time? Only the ones you are using? All of them?
We like to keep our lights pretty much off during the day. The kitchen light and lights in the bedroom would be off unless we are currently in that room. I usually have the light on near my computer because I need light other than just the monitor.
I typically only have one light on during the day, and it stays on for 12 hours. I live underground and have to provide some light for my animals so it doesn't throw off their entire sleep schedule. Other than that I practically never turn on the lights. The only time I really turn the lights on is when I need to pull something out of the oven and check if it's done, or if I need to cook something after 8:30 when the light goes off. Sometimes I turn the lights on if I'm having trouble finding my keys though. I'm pretty accustomed to it being dark so it works out well.
I only have the light on in the room I am using too. I try and reduce my electricity consumption all the time and see no point in paying for power which you are not even getting the benefit of. Besides saving money, reducing your electricity consumption is better for the environment. In the past, I have had people comment ask why am I bothering, just to save a couple of pennies. They don't realise that these pennies quickly build up and turn into pounds. In the UK we have a saying that goes "Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"!
My mom would always tell me to only have the light on when I am using it so I don't run up the bill. I took that with me into adulthood because I still to tend to only use the light when I am in a room as well. If I know that I am going to sit and watch something on my laptop, I tend to turn off the light as well. I think that that is the best way to keep the electricity bill low. Just be mindful of how much electricity you use at all times. It's actually a lot easier than it sounds.
I know that there are some countries in the Middle East that live by this philosophy. After a certain time of day the power is cut off. I found this out from a close family friend who went to Jerusalem on vacation. He and his wife saw candles in the bathroom of their hotel room but didn't understand what they were for because apparently no one bother to tell them. Anyway, they found out later that evening when they got up at night to go to the bathroom and found that the lights wouldn't come on. Too bad the hotel didn't bother to tell them when they checked in that this would happen, well I guess they learned the hard way.
It might depend on how many people are living with you. My mother was a widow with five kids. She insisted that our living room and kitchen light stay on all night. It was a security issue, as she wanted outsiders to think there was someone in both the rooms that housed the doors. I on the other hand live in almost complete darkness as I am a night worker and hate lights during the day while I'm trying to sleep. I have seriously had bills that were only $16 for the month.
I have a couple of Eternalite LED night lights that cost pennies to operate. I use them to light the way to the bathroom at night and to light the bathroom itself at night. I read about one student who saves money on electricity by having LED night lights in every room, whether it's to get a glass of water in the kitchen at night or have a romantic dinner. Night lights are underrated. People who want to save on energy should consider using them. Showering by the blue glow of an LED nightlight is kind of relaxing.
I only turn on lights when I need them, that is how I was grown. However, some persons don't care to do what is considered "conserving", or, some can afford it, whilst others really just do it [turn on lights without using them] because it is a habit. There are also others ways to save on electricity bills, which several others have highlighted in previous posts and that is to use energy saving bulbs. Another way is also to plug out all appliances that are not in use.
Denis Hard, you don't know how annoying I find those individuals....grrrr!!! I find many people here do that a lot. But I'm very much like you, I like to conserve electricity and water at every chance. I'm very conscious of the world running out of natural resources, but apparently everybody else around me doesn't care. At any given time I usually have the front room light on and also the one for wherever I am at the time, so it's usually two lights
Oh, sheesh, my flat mate always leaves the light on in his room. Either the light bulb or the lamp. During the day time!!! I always have to switch it off and I constantly nag him about it, but he always forgets. Sometimes he says he leaves it on for the dog, but the dog stays in my room while he's away. He just won't understand how much it costs.
I only turn on the light in the house when I need it. During bed time, we turn off all the lights, except for a night light in the kitchen and in the bathroom. In the winter we rarely use the heater and if we used it would be for an hour or two at the most. We don't also use the heater when we go to sleep. We have a good layers of blanket in our bed and it is enough for us to keep warm all through the night.
I do not turn on lights during the daytime. In the evening and when I am not home there is only a few lights that are on, I have a small hall light, a bathroom night light and a light for the fish aquarium. I think it is a bit dangerous to walk into a totally dark house at night. Once in though, I will use candles as soft light in some areas they have these great LED ones now that run on batteries. When I go to sleep all the lights go off. I also found there are many electronic devices that are energy suckers. I make sure that I do not have a million things plugged in. I leave the clock radio in the bedroom and the clock in the kitchen plugged, otherwise I unplug stuff or shut off the surge protector till I need the appliance. I was shocked how they add up in cost.
There are 2 lights that are mostly on at home, the light in the living room and the light in my room. Both use the energy saving bulb anyway, so our electric bill isn't really that huge.
Only seven, I guess. There are two LED lights out of the seven we're using, however, so we're spared from spending more energy than necessary. We don't turn on our lights simultaneously but we do make sure to put them off whenever they're not in use. We also refrain from installing lights with high wattage.
Another way to save energy is to plug out items that are not in use, example chargers. You will be surprise to see how your electricity bill reduce. In this harsh economic crisis we should try our best to reduce in areas where we can, also the use of LED Bulb energy saving appliances is a big plus.
Actually I remember doing the calculations once, and the cost of buying LED lamps was about roughly as much as the electricity bill for fluorescent tubes. So I stuck with fluorescent tubes because at least those provided a more even spread of lighting. Maybe the cost of electricity is low here, but I think people should definitely not just blindly follow the hype surrounding LED lighting and do some calculations for themselves. LED isn't always better. Especially when the lighting is uneven.
I suppose that if you know you can afford the bills in your home, there is no reason that you shouldn't have your lights on as much as you like. However, I am trying to save money at the moment, so I always turn everything off. One thing that you should be aware of is leaving things on standby as well, as even the little light on the television takes some electricity to power, even if it is only a little bit that you might not think matters all that much. You should also make sure that your television isn't on if you're not even watching it, because I know that a lot of people fall into that trap, and of course that can waste electricity. And when your phone or laptop is fully charged, make sure you unplug it and turn off the plug!
I don't think a single night light will do much damage, probably about pence per night, although admittedly that can build up over time. I try to turn everything off at night, but my appliances now are so efficient in standby mode that it doesn't bother me that much.
I, too, only turn lights on when necessary. But keep in mind that lights aren't the only things that waste electricity. Most of our modern technology uses electricity, even when they aren't "turned on". Things like your TV, stereo and satellite box use power when turned off. Your stove and microwave probably have a clock on them which uses power. They even have a name for it - "vampire loads". If you want to save on electricity, plug your electronics into a power strip, and then turn the power strip off when they aren't in use. Another great way to save on power is to lower your water heater temperature - your water heater is one of the biggest consumers of power in your home. Most people keep it turned on 140 degrees, when it only needs to be about 120. Also, look for "power saver" settings on things like your dishwasher and washer/dryer. Also, remember to keep your thermostat at a lower setting - in the winter shoot for around 65-69 degrees, in the summer 75-80 degrees.