Pinch Like You Mean It! 101 Ways to Spend Less Money Now by Dr. Penny Pincher - HTML preview

Tip 18: Use energy efficient lighting

I have recently gotten excited about LED lighting.  I needed to find some light bulbs to use in a closet that were cool to the touch.  I tried compact fluorescent, but actually burned my hand on a compact fluorescent bulb and dropped it.  LED bulbs are cool to the touch and use very little electricity.  I have started gradually replacing my incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

Another benefit of LED bulbs is that I use my lights more.  With incandescent bulbs, I would hesitate to turn on lights and would turn them off right away when leaving a room since they use so much electricity.  A number of times, I accidently turned off lights when someone was still in the room in my efforts to avoid wasting energy.  LED bulbs are much more efficient and I am more relaxed about using lights occasionally.

I often use a flashlight at night to avoid turning on lights.  When it is dark and your eyes are adjusted, a little light goes a long way.  I use an LED flashlight that I got from my kids for Christmas.  LED lighting is very efficient, and batteries last a long time in an LED flashlight.  Using a flashlight at night instead of turning on lights can save money on your electric bill.

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