Your lighting and appliances

Did you know that 90% of the energy used by a conventional incandescent light bulb is lost as heat? Or that some appliances use electricity even when they're not turned on? This is the kind of energy inefficiency you can change in a few small, easy steps.

Here's what you can do!

Get in touch with your circadian rhythm

Cut back on your energy use by optimizing daylight! Start and end your day earlier. Choose to work outside. Open curtains. You might even consider installing skylights or even light piping.

Turn off lights and unplug appliances when not in use

• Join the Flick off Movement
• Kill the phantom load. The surest way to stop the energy drains is to use a power bar or simply pull the plug. That means when you're done with an appliance, disconnect it from the power source. Next to the TV - which draws 12 watts even after you turn it off - the biggest standby energy hog is the home computer. Your printer can draw 11.5 watts when idling and a subwoofer or similar speaker hardware, 10.8 watts

Automate your lighting

Automoted controls are an effective and low-cost means to save energy. Choose the easy way by using timers, photocells and motion sensors. The best part is you don't even have to do anything once they are set up!

Switch to energy-efficient lighting

• Replace your five most-used standard bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They use one-sixth of the energy of conventional bulbs and can last up to ten times longer. (Make sure you recycle your CFLs since they contain small amounts of mercury, find out where.)
• Light emitting diodes (LEDs) consume even less energy than CFLs. The drawbacks, they are even more expensive and are not readily available yet. That said, while LED lighting fixtures are costly, LED holiday lights are competitively priced with conventional light strings.
• Replace halogen torchiere lamps with CFLs as the energy-hungry halogens typically use ten times more energy than the compact fluorescent ones.
• Fluorescent lights, although more common in commerical buildings, are sometimes found in homes too. The more efficient T8 lamps with electronic ballasts are becoming the norm, replacing the older T12 lamps with magnetic ballasts.
• Make your next light fixture an ENERGY STAR.

Use appliances efficiently

• When buying new appliances, look for the Energy Star label to ensure you're purchasing energy efficient ones
• Only run your dishwasher and laundry appliances with full loads
• Clothes dryers use a lot of energy so try hanging your laundry out to dry instead - nothing smells better than clean sheets off the line
• Get rid of your old, inefficient fridge. If you have one of these energy hogs burning through the electricity at your home, BC Hydro will pick it up for free, recycle it and give you $30 for it!

Switch off computers and enable monitor sleep mode

• Computers, especially older desktop ones, can use as much as 200 watts while standing idle. Switch them off when not in use!
• If you need to leave your computer on because you use it sporadically throughout the day, be sure you enable the sleep mode on your monitor. For PCs, go to the Start menu, select Settings, then choose Control Panel, click on Display, and then set the Energy Star settings under the Screen Saver tab (NOTE: A screen saver does not save your screen or energy - so put it to sleep)