Home lighting is an area where we can really make a difference as far as energy conservation goes. A few simple technological advances that are really neither all that technological, nor advanced have given us options to make our lighting more energy efficient & thus, more cost-effective as well. These have been around for years now, but are not as widely used as perhaps they should be. Let us take a look, shall we.

We’ll start with dimmer switches. Now these handy guys have been around for a while, I am guessing since the sixties or seventies. I remember the early ones as round knobs you pushed to turn the light on or off & then simply twisted the knob to attain your desired brightitude. Newer incarnations of the dimmer include the slide dimmer, where a sliding knob is next to a standard light switch, & the touch dimmer, which gives three or four brightness settings adjustable by simply tapping or touching the base of the lamp.

Next, we will look at motion sensors & timers. Like dimmer switches, these have been around for a while as well, & are a wonderfully simple way to reduce energy consumption. Plain & simply, sensors & timers limit the amount of time your lights are on, thus saving energy & money… Timers are ideal for outdoor use, as they can be set to turn on lights after sunset & turn them off later at night or at sunrise. Motion sensors have been long been a staple for porch & patio lights, both to welcome visitors & to dissuade would-be burglars. Recently, they have been popping up in more & more office buildings & public restrooms as an easy way to limit the amount of time empty rooms stay lit.

Another way to achieve more energy efficient lighting is to replace older & outdated light fixtures with Energy Star qualified lights & to replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. An Energy Star light fixture used in conjunction with a compact fluorescent can be as much as seventy percent more energy efficient than an older fixture with a standard incandescent bulb. The incandescent light bulb is one of the biggest energy wasters we have in this country, & it’s also one of the easiest to change.

Check out the Eco-Lights website for a great selection of contemporary floor lamps, table lamps, & outdoor lighting.