Green Your Living with Energy Efficient Lighting
Today’s consumers have embraced green living as a long-term way of life not as a trend. Research information recently has found half of all U.S. consumers consider “green living” when selecting consumer products, so it appears green living is taking root in people’s thinking.
This increased demand means companies are finding and supplying new green innovations for the home every day, giving consumers more and more green solutions to choose. It doesn’t mater whether they are motivated by the long-term cost savings or the environmental benefits the homeowners demand for green products is at an all-time high. In the sea of green products, one of the easiest places to start and make a real impact is with home lighting.
The home lighting industry has made huge strides related to energy efficiency, so much so that today’s green lighting options are growing all the time. Compact fluorescent lighting (CFL’s) solutions have been with us now for several years and many of us have made the switch around the house from incandescent to them. Now a new type of lights, Light emitting diodes or (LED’s) are gaining in popularity as a viable home lighting source.
Up until recently, this energy-efficient, semi-conducting light source was used only in electronic equipment displays, outdoor signage, and commercial lighting applications. The LED lighting of the past also had an unattractive blue hue and an expensive price tag which limiting its use in our homes. However recent improvements have made it possible for the LED lights to have the same bright white color range as incandescent lighting and have become affordable.
Other benefits of this pleasing light source are big Energy/Cost Savings. LED’s not only preserve energy resources and help reduce global warming they also save money on your electricity bill. LED lighting uses 75 percent less electricity than incandescent light sources. Think of the savings for your electricity bill over time. They withstand shocks, vibrations, frequent switching and temperature extremes that rapidly incapacitate fragile incandescent lamps.
LED products also have longer life with an average lifespan of 20 years or 50,000 hours of use. A typical incandescent bulb lasts just 750 hours. That means more than 50 regular light bulbs would be needed to equal the service life offered by a single LED source. Another big benefit is they produce little to no heat and are cool to the touch, so they are safer then traditional lighting products
One use of this new line of LED lights is the under cabinet lighting. This new lighting solution has been applauded for its energy savings, its slim half-inch profile and its ease of installation. In addition to under-cabinet lighting, there are also several LED products for spot lights, to replace incandescent bulbs and for the outdoors, including LED deck, step and accent lights.
Although LED lighting is in the spotlight, compact fluorescent lighting (CFL’s) continues to make important improvements as well. There are now hundreds of energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures in a variety of finishes and designs for every area of the home.
Making efforts to go green and make energy efficient home improvements doesn’t have to mean sweeping changes. We can start with simple changes such as saving time and money with energy efficient lighting and help the environment at the same time. Next time you go to buy bulbs make a greener choice and look for CFL’s or LED’s.
Your Home is a Solar Home
Most people think of solar panel systems on roofs when you mention the word solar in relation to their home. In truth, any home with windows is using solar energy and it’s easy, free energy to boot. Now most are not using it well and that is why I’m writing this article.
So even though you may not realize it, you live in a solar home. In fact, every home you’ve lived in was powered with solar in one form or another. This whole idea is known as passive solar and it can be used to save you a lot of money on your utilities bills.
Every home has a room or rooms that get warmed by the sun during the day. Sometimes they get a lot hotter then we are comfortable with. These hot rooms, of course, are usually on the south and west sides of the house at least here in North America, and are in the sun all day. This energy from the sun is essentially a nuclear reactor and the power it produces is immense. When the sun hits a room it can heat up significantly within 30 minutes. With some thought and effort you can use this power to heat your home in what is called a passive way. Many people just don’t know how they can tap this energy, in order to save themselves a ton of money on their energy bills.
But the sunlight really is very easy to put to work in your home. When you want heat, let it in. When you don’t, block it out. When sun energy enters an area through a window, that area will heat up and that area is called an isolated gain location. For instance, if you have light shinning through the window of any room and if you close the door to that room it will heat up and that will make that room an isolated gain area.
There are two excellent ways to put this to your use.
1: By tracking the path of the sun you can use the sunlight to passively heat your home by adding isolated gain areas that follow the suns path. The heat will even itself out through your home as the heat rises and circulates. In this way if a home has isolated access areas that track the path of the sun, you can gain free heat throughout the day. Most homes have windows along the side walls of the house, but miss out on one of the best ways of letting the sun into their home and that is through the roof. Skylights are one of the best ways to add heating to your home and they are not that expensive to install either.
2: A second method for turning the sunlight into heat involves collecting the heat through different materials. Certain materials like brick, concrete and stone take longer to heat up in the sun, but also will generate heat longer once the sun has set. This is known as using thermal mass to heat your home. Masonry materials universally collect and hold energy from the sun and can be used for flooring materials below a window, or walls or fireplaces etc. These materials will heat up throughout the day and once the sun sets, the materials will continue to heat your home for hours. Just think about to how long your fireplace continues to radiate heat after the fire has gone out.
Passively heating your home using the sun’s energy will never replace the need for utilities. However, minor home improvements can help create heat during the day and not only make your home more comfortable but save you money as well.