Tip 12 - Lights Out |
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Americans buy an estimated 2.7 million light bulbs a year just to illuminate porches and backyards. |
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ENERGY FACTS- Most home owners use 60-watt incandescent bulbs for their porches or backyards. But incandescents are one of the least-efficient ways to illuminate and they burn out after only 750 to 1,000 hours.
- Reflectorized floodlights also are common. They're as inefficient as incandescents and consume as much as 150 watts each.
- Both can easily be replaced by bulbs that do the same job but use one-quarter the energy.
- Buyers beware: Most of the outdoor lighting in hardware store ads are quartz fixtures which typically sell for $10 to $30. These usually require 300 to 500 watts each. It's a low initial price but you pay continually high electrical costs.
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SIMPLE WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY- Use a compact fluorescent light (CFL) in your fixtures. It uses about one-fourth the energy of an incandescent and lasts ten times as long.
- High-pressure sodium and metal halide bulbs provide up to seven times the light of an incandescent for half the energy cost. The initial cost is high and a special fixture is required. But these bulbs will last up to 24,000 hours.
- Connect outdoor lights to a timer or photo cell control. This way they operate only when needed.
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