Saved by the Lights

With electricity and energy bill prices still elevated, many have been looking for ways to save energy. One of the easiest and effective ways to save money and lower your energy bill is by turning off your lights when you aren’t using them. 

Using your lights less is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and save money. Maintaining less energy usage in your home not only helps the environment, but it also benefits your wallet when you turn off your lights. It is also beneficial to turn off lights when not in use because it reduces your electric bill and extends the life of your light bulbs, which will ultimately save you money.

The amount of savings on your electricity bill depends on the type of light bulb you use. You can figure out the potential investment by using the light bulb’s wattage.

Let’s say you have a light bulb that’s 40 watts, meaning that in one hour, the bulb will use 0.04 kiloWatts per hour. Then, you can use the electricity price — which can be found on the most recent utility bill — to figure out how much you’ll save for that hour. In the case of the 40-watt bulb, if you pay an electricity rate of 10 cents per kWh, your savings by turning that bulb off for one hour would be 0.4 cents. 

Some may see that number and think it’s not worth it. What difference does 0.4 cents make? But remember, that estimate is for a 40-watt bulb. If you have a higher-wattage bulb, then the savings will be greater. Also, that estimate uses an energy price of 10 cents per kWh, but in many areas, the price may be higher. Finally, the estimate looked at the savings of turning off one bulb for one hour. You probably have more light bulbs in your house, and there’s more than one hour in a month. In the end, when you go to calculate the savings of turning off your light bulbs, your investment will increase ten-fold.

Turning off your lights when you aren’t using them is one of the most basic steps to reduce energy usage and save money on electricity bills. Even a small change can add up to big energy savings.

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