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When times are difficult, like they have become lately, it is time to cut costs. This is not a popular move, but to be honest, it need not be such a problem as you might envisage. The biggest single cost for most households is the energy bill and in especially the electric bill. If you do not use electricity to cook or heat your house, then the next greatest contributor to your bill is probably lighting.

Anyway, here are six tips for reducing your household expenditure.

1] Plan your menu before you go shopping. If you are able to, plan your meals for the entire week so that you can use bits and pieces from one day’s meals in the next day’s. It is also easier and cheaper to buy in bulk, which will also save you travelling costs. Use coupons were you can. It is an obvious idea, but one that a lot of people overlook as they read their magazines.

2] Replace all your traditional, incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). These bulbs use a low quantity of energy, but still put out a high amount of light. It is a good idea to check for the ‘Energy Star’ rating before you buy in order to make certain that you are getting a high quality product.

3] Instead of using all the lighting in a room, try to illuminate only what you have to. If you are working at your desk, switch off all the other lighting except a desk top lamp and possibly a standard floor lamp. It is astounding how far light travels in a dak room. The light from two lamps such as these will be plenty to see your way around too.

4] Buy stocks of light bulbs by the dozen. They will last a long time, but the CFL bulbs will not deteriorate, so as the price increases with inflation, you will have a stock at the old price. If you can, buy them online, because an online retailer has fewer overheads, which can convert into savings of as much as 70%. Online auctions are also a great idea, you may be able to pick up bankrupt stock.

5] Cook your own meals and make your own food for work. Take homemade sandwiches or salads. A flask of tea or coffee will provide up to $25 of Starbucks’ alternative coffee drinks

6] Put as many of your lights and appliances on timers or photosensitive switches. If you use passive infra red sensors to activate lights to deter intruders in your garden, you could be burning more electricity than you have to during the day. If you buy flood lights with photosensitive switches, then they will deactivate the lights during daylight when they are pretty ineffective anyway.

If you have a pond and pond lights, you can also use similar devices to turn your pond lights and pond fountain off during the night..

None of these measures should have a negative effect on your lifestyle, although they will save you money.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is at present involved with researching wrought iron floor lamps. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Wrought Iron Light

There is no doubt that lighting has the greatest influence on atmosphere and. Soft lighting in a bedroom or at an intimate dinner results in a romantic ambiance; bright, purposeful lighting in the office or kitchen shows that you mean business; dimmed lighting in the living room creates a relaxing atmosphere in which to watch a film or read a book.

Understated, back lighting behind flowers or a waterfall leads to a magical atmosphere, whereas severe floodlights turned on by a motion sensor would freeze most intruders in their tracks.

Getting the lighting wrong can have a gravely adverse effect on any room or occasion. Imagine a romantic dinner for two by candlelight and then imagine it by a naked 100 watt bulb hanging from the ceiling or a fluorescent tube.

It is said that the average household can save at least twenty-five percent on its electricity bills by using lighting more effectively and therefore more efficiently. More notably, you could save more than sixty percent, if you switch from the normal incandescent light bulbs to high-output compact fluorescent lights. Sixty percent is a massive saving for you, your country and your planet.

Here are some of the ways that you can achieve savings on the energy you currently expend on lighting.

Make the addition of dimmers wherever you use lighting. You can put a touch lamp dimmer into the wiring of any lamp, so that when you touch it, it changes from low, to medium, to high, to off. You will be surprised how often you will lower the light once you are able to, particularly in the case of desk or table lamps and standard floor lamps.

In a similar vein is the touch switch that you can utilize to control lighting that traditionally hangs from the ceiling. You will be able to dim the lights in any room and on the patio or deck too.

Photosensitive devices turn whatever they control off or on when the sun comes up. This is handy if you have motion-activated anti-intruder lighting. There is absolutely no need for it in the daytime, but you do not want to have to remember to switch it off in the mornings and reactivate it every night either.

Another use could be to turn the fishpond fountain off when it gets dark. All of these photosensitive switches can have over-ride switches too. These photosensitive devices will virtually half the cost of running the systems to which they are attached.

It is very easy to make fairly substantial savings if you put your mind to it. Just rearranging your furniture to take maximum advantage of natural light can help a lot too. Sitting near a window or in the garden to read the newspaper is far better than having to switch the kitchen light on to read it in there.

In the evening it is better to switch off all the main lights in the living room if you are watching television or reading a book and place one standard floor lamp just to one side behind you. It is plenty to read by or to save your eyes from the strain of watching TV in the dark.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is at present concerned with researching wrought iron floor lamps. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Wrought Iron Light