Lighting is one of the easy to do things around the house that would reduce your energy consmption and cut down your bill while maintaning good light quality and quantity.

Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). Compact fluorescents use four times less energy, and last eight times longer (8,000h instead of 1,000h) than incandescent light bulbs. The compact fluorescent will be more expensive to buy, but you will need to replace it 8 times less often and it will use less electricity, which often makes it the biggest electricity saver in your house. At a minimum, we recommend replacing the bulbs in all lamps that are used for 30 minutes a day or more.

Fluorescent tubes are even more efficient than compact fluorescent lamps, and last even longer (10,000-20,000h). Only use tubes with a modern ballast starter that avoids flickering and lights immediately - good ones add another 20 percent efficiency. Another option is a CFL with a dedicated fixture. The electronic ballast which is part of the fixture lasts 40,000 hours and bulbs can be replaced separately at lower cost. Both CFLs and fluorescent tubes are also available in dimmable fixtures. This can increase comfort, save even more energy and extend the lifetime of the bulb.

Indoor Lighting

• Pay attention to the light fixtures. Clever use of reflectors, and directional lamps to get the light where you need it can save you another 50 percent energy cost and improve your comfort! Well thought out use of efficient lights can reduce electricity needs up to 8 times.
• 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.

Outdoor Lighting

• 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.
• 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.

Additional Resources

1. Depatement of Energy: Lighting Saving Tips
2. EERE Lighting