Choosing the Best Green Lighting

As part of our ongoing series profiling the best green products to greenhab your home or investment property (check out our earlier posts on choosing the right flooring, insulation and appliances), this week we bring you our top tips for choosing the best green lighting.

Because they are so small or perhaps because they are so inexpensive, lighting fixtures are often the last component to be incorporated when we are remodeling our homes – an afterthought that can often be overlooked.

But your choice of lighting can have a significant impact on your home’s carbon footprint and your energy bill. So which should you choose?

Not all light sources are created equal, so we’ve listed the cleanest, greenest, easiest lighting options you can use in your home.

CFL is the way to go

Compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, use only a quarter as much energy as the traditional incandescent bulb and last ten times longer – up to 10,000 hours. They do cost a bit more but you can expect them to pay for themselves in energy savings after about 500 hours of use, saving you around $80 over their lifetimes.

Because they release less heat compared to a traditional bulb, they are safer and can contribute to a reduced cooling effort in the summer months. In fact, the old incandescent bulb wastes about 90 to 95 percent of its energy output on heat!

But don’t forget about LEDs

Because this technology is newer and is still making its way into the marketplace, LEDs (light emitting diodes) are a slightly more expensive green lighting option. These are even more energy-efficient than CFLs, capable of reducing electricity load by 80-90%, and last even longer, up to 100,000 hours.

As they become more popular, however, their price will come down.

More than just a bulb

When shopping around for lighting fixtures for your home, remember that the materials you choose can be earth-friendly as well. Today’s floor lamps, desk lights, and wall and ceiling fixtures can often be found in natural, recycled or reused materials.

Additionally, since LED bulbs last for so long, most sellers of LED lamps market these with the bulbs already built into them. Motion sensors, dimmers, and timers can also be a good way to control energy usage during times when lights aren’t being used.

Recycle!

Fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, which means they can’t be thrown away in the trash. Every locality has slightly differing policies on recycling bulbs, but a general guide to disposing of old bulbs can be found on the EPA’s website. LEDs, on the other hand, contain no mercury.

Be green

It may seem obvious, but natural light is still the cheapest, greenest, and often most pleasant way to light a home. Try to place windows in places where they can benefit most from the sun’s rays, and if you’re doing a remodel, consider adding skylights or light wells.

If possible, you might also consider switching to a sustainable energy supply. If a wind farm—or even solar panels—aren’t feasible for your home, many electric utilities offer customers a green power option for a few dollars extra a month.

So while they may be physically small, light bulbs do contribute a significant amount to a building’s energy consumption. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an EnergyStar-approved one, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars!

For more information on energy-efficient lighting and where to buy bulbs and fixtures, check out this post from TreeHugger and the Environmental Working Group’s bulb buying guide.

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