Around my home, it has become like a snowball gathering speed. Every day is getting a little easier to remember to turn out the lights. We are reaching for a sweater before we touch the thermostat, and we think before plugging something in.
Today I chose to work on making the outdoor lights a little less expensive. Yeah, yeah, I know. Electricity is cheap in Virginia--only 6.22 cents per kWh. But does that give me a licence to use with reckless abandon? Probably, but I won't.
The Dept. of Energy has a wealth of data and guidance. I found information on daylighting devices (dim the lights in proportion to the available light) and dusk-to-dawn sensors (on at night, off in day) and found exactly what I needed.
I have started to use screw-in type sensors that I found at Lowes Home Improvement. You can check sites like nextag to compare prices and availability for the different types of sensors.
I usually forget to turn the outdoor post lights off in the am. I'm hoping this will help keep the bill in check. By my rough calculations I should use roughly half the electricity on these items that I had previously used.
Don't forget to register for the monthly newsletter. The button is to the right. At the end of December I am giving away a Kill-A-Watt meter and 2 microwave pizza trays. More goodies to come. All you have to do is register for the newsletter during the month of December to be eligible for the fishbowl style drawing.
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