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[H975]How To Conserve Energy

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Making improvements to your lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bills. An average household dedicates 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Using new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in your home by 50% to 75%. Advances in lighting controls offer further energy savings by reducing the amount of time lights are on but not being used.

Indoor Lighting

Use tube fluorescent and energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in fixtures throughout your home to provide high-quality and high-efficiency lighting. Fluorescent lamps are much more efficient than incandescent (standard) bulbs and last about 4 to 10 times longer.

Today's CFLs offer brightness and color rendition that is comparable to incandescent lights. Although fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps cost a bit more than incandescent bulbs, they pay for themselves by saving energy over their lifetime. Now available are dimmable fluorescent light bulbs, which operate much like incandescent fixtures.

Indoor Lighting Tips

*Look for the ENERGY STAR label when purchasing these products.

*Turn off the lights in any room you're not using, or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.

*Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.

*Consider three-way lamps; they make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not necessary.

*Use 4-foot fluorescent fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for your workroom, garage, and laundry areas.

*Consider using 4-watt mini-fluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights. Both lights are much more efficient than their incandescent counterparts. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.

*Use CFLs in all the portable table and floor lamps in your home. Consider carefully the size and fit of these systems when you select them. Some home fixtures may not accommodate some of the larger CFLs.

*Recessed downlights (also called recessed cans) are now available that are rated for contact with insulation (IC rated), are designed specifically for pin-based CFLs, and can be used in retrofits or new construction.

*Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight.

*If you have torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps, consider replacing them with compact fluorescent torchieres. Compact fluorescent torchieres use 60% to 80% less energy, can produce more light (lumens), and do not get as hot as the halogen torchieres. Halogen torchieres are a fire risk because of the high temperature of the halogen bulb.

Outdoor Lighting

Many homeowners use outdoor lighting for decoration and security. When shopping for outdoor lights, you will find a variety of products, from low-voltage pathway lighting to fluorescent motion-detector floodlights. Some stores also carry lights powered by small photovoltaic (PV) modules that convert sunlight directly into electricity; consider PV-powered lights for areas that are not close to an existing power supply line.

Outdoor Lighting Tips

*Use outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a motion sensor so they will turn on only at night or when someone is present. A combined photocell and motion sensor will increase your energy savings even more.

*Turn off decorative outdoor natural gas lamps; just eight such lamps burning year-round use as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home during an entire winter.

*Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs because of their long life. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with a cold weather ballast since standard CFLs may not work well below 40 degrees F.

*Also consider high-intensity discharge (also called HID) or low-pressure sodium lights.

By implementing some of these tips and strategies, you will save both energy and money. In many cases your home will also be safer due to the decreased fire hazards.

Sick of replacing light bulbs and paying high energy bills? Switch to compact fluorescent lighting and you won't ever go back.

Blinds of many different kinds are a great way to conserve energy, especially in the winter, and it is during this time that Blinds Chalet would like the general public to know that they are doing everything they can to make the world a more energy-efficient place. There are many types of blinds that help to keep energy inside a specific room, not to mention an entire dwelling, so it is in cooperation with these materials that Blinds Chalet hopes to conserve energy during the winter months.

Many of the more environmentally-conscious blinds conserve the overall energy output in a house, and are known to help decrease energy bills during the colder months of the year. The ability to perform such an action can usually be altered due to most blinds ability to open or close in order to allow more or less sunlight into a room, or dwelling. Blinds can also help keep sunlight out of structures during the summer. This is another way of conserving energy, especially when air conditioning costs can be astronomical during the heat waves of summer.

There are special types of blinds made specifically for the entrapment of warmth, and on the contrary, are also made to keep energy out of dwellings in the hotter seasons. The most prevalent of these blind-types are known as Duette blinds. Duette blinds are made with very sensitive fabrics that are specifically installed to control temperatures of the areas they are installed in. They are effective in blocking sunlight that approaches the exterior of the window, creating a cool atmosphere, but are just as effective in keeping light controlled in a space, which keeps heat in. Blinds are instrumental in keeping light out of rooms and spaces, but it can be very beneficial to a homeowner to purchase blinds that are also effective in conserving energy and saving money.

Blinds Chalet, has more than 25 years of experience in dealing with many different types of . Blinds Chalet offers consumers the best in attractive blind options, while also offering high quality blinds that are made from some of the most durable materials available. Blinds Chalet has a variety of blinds that are available for any home, any style of d'cor, and any budget. For information on what types on blinds, blind accessories, and any other home decorating needs, please go to www.blindschalet.com.

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