Almost everything has an inrush current - a higher current draw when you initially switch on something. But its only for a fractional second. So it would save energy to turn the lights off unless youre just sitting the garbage out in 15 seconds.

Most bulb life ratings are for something like 8 hours burn times. Then a cool down period. That inrush current and the spike in heat, & cool down cycles, takes a toll on bulb life slowly over time. More you switch em, the modestly shorter the life is of everything, wall switch too.

Have you switched to compact fluorescent lighbulbs? They are the sure fire and easiest way of putting a noticeable dent in your power bill. Since each CFL only uses about 1/4 of the electricity of a conventional 60 watt lightbulb it adds up quick. Put another way you can leave one CFL on for 4 hours and only use the same amount of power that your 60 watt bulb would have used in 1 hour. Yes they cost a bit more but if you buy them in packs of 6 or 8 the cost is less than 2 bucks a bulb. However I would suggest only buying one or two to start because some brands don't seem as bright as a 60 watt bulb or you might not like the "light" from that particular brand. I tried a few different brands and found the NOMA cool white CFL's the most pleasing to me. The only other negative is the don't work with dimmer switches unless you buy the much more expensive dimmer approved CFL's. Another positive is that they're supposed to last more than 5 years each
I love em. In the evening I love that I can have a light on in 4 or 5 rooms in the house and not feel too guilty that I'm wasting electricity but then I usually get up and turn them off anyways because it's still a waste in a way.. LOL guilt complex

Forgot to say;;
We have this big 6 bulb chandelier in our dining room that used to eat at me every time it was turned on or left on because I'd stew over it using 360 watts of electricity. Well I put 6 compact fluorescents in there, the light is just as bright if not brighter and nicer and now it only uses 78 watts of power instead of 360 watts. That's a huge savings.

I have a chandelier, too, in what used to be the dining room but now is computer place ... and it troubles me to use those (I think) 5 bulbs. But their base is smaller than standard and I haven't found a CFL with a base that size.

I have a table lamp by the computer that has a CFL in it, so it gets used quite a lot, but sometimes I need the different location offered by the chandelier.

Have what used to be a bed lamp in hutch over the desk, at back of chair when sitting at computer, which has an incandescent in it, but I don't use it much. However, when I'm using the desk, usually use the chandelier ... so guess it's time to put one of the CFLs I bought lately that are currently reposing in that tough plastic bubble pack, to use in the former bed lamp.

Drat that large packaging ... I live 2 miles from a landfill that a while ago was licensed for 9 million tons, recently had licence enlarged to 17 million tons.

Just before the City of Toronto bought it - for $220 million. None of which comes to me ...

... but, hey - anyone want to drink some of my water???

Some of the neighbours have those water dispensers with the big jug on top ...

... not me ...

... much of that water is municipal water, filtered, etc., but most municipal standards are higher than for bottled water.

They pay a high price for that water.

Not me - I just fill a jug at the church or my friend's house in the city.

I'm a relative to the birdies, I guess ...

... cheep, cheep, cheep.

Initial preparation of income tax return last night - I'll have some to pay, unfortunately.

Did some calculations on an issue of how much income a person could develop of one certain type and be tax free ...

... would you believe over $49,000??

It helps if you're rich!

Have a great day, everyone.

ole joyful

I've smiled ever since I installed CFLs. Must be nearly 10 years now, not totally sure. Had two die. Big deal. With what they save me I could replace them all annually and still come out ahead.

Don't forget the other electric drains. Refrigerators/Freezers. Clean coils on them regularly. Check door seals and adjust door if needed to keep the cold in. If you have occasional use wall-warts, unplug them until needed. The little transformers use a touch of 'trisity continually. And a biggie: Use fans instead of the a/c when you can and keep the a/c filters clean too. The less you use the a/c, the more you save. If you have central air, you often can get a saver switch installed to cut your rates without noticeable loss of cooling.

Look at where the electricity is going and see about saving. Everyones use will be different. Some have to have a light on outside overnight. Others don't. Could use a timer or just shut it off. Don't overlook the potential for CFLs outside.

I use CFL bulbs too. And i have an on-off switch for my security light. I live out in the woods and like to know what bears are up to when they're around.
Don't use AC unless really hot. My electric bill was $56.00 this month. I have a well insulated single wide mobile home. Also have hardwood trees all around my house thus sunny in winter and shady in summer.
vickie

we put a timer on the hot water, run it 4 hours a day (2 in the am and 2 at night). the wife and I shower in the morning and the tank heats up again before shutting off, keeping HW for washing hands and stuff, then back on in the eve for the kids to shower and run the dishwasher. we also wrapped the tank with insulation (its in the basement where in the winter the temp is usually 40-ish down there).

saved us an average of $20.00 a month!

we also wash clothes with cold water

plus 75% of our lights are cfl's.

We have recessed lighting throughout our house. I'd like to switch to CFLs but I've only seen the tube-shaped bulbs (don't know what they're called) that would look quite odd. Does anyone know if they're available in the more traditional flood shape that is generally used in recessed lighting? I'd love to reduce our energy consumption--thanks.

This is a little off subject, but if you live in a state with deregulated utility service then you may want to contact your elected leaders to help control prices.

A recent article in USA Today showed that customers with deregulated utility providers paid on average 30% MORE per kWh for their electricity than those in regulated markets.

Utility deregulation is one of those dumb ideas that only benefits the utility and their investors and costs the consumer a lot more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Electric Deregulation Failure

I've just started to install CFL bulbs myself. Of the two brands I've tried, I've found the GE 'daylight' type to be better than the Phillips. It is amazing how much more light they cast than the old incandescents. The quality of the light is better too. I haven't had enough time to calculate the effects on electric usage, but there are other positives that probably aren't mentioned enough.

- Since a 100 watt incandescent equivalent CFL bulb is only using 20 something watts, if you add that up over all the lights on any particular circuit, that is a lot less amperage, which means less chance of tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse - more helpful in older homes which may have too many things on one circuit.

- An incandescent bulb gets too hot to touch in under a minute - creating a fire hazard with anything that comes into contact with it. Ceiling fixtures often have warnings on them about using bulbs rated over a certain wattage (like 60) because of the danger of excessive heat build-up. I left one of the CFL bulbs on for hours and I had no problem holding on too it - while warm it was not uncomfortably hot. I can now put them in ceiling fixtures and get far higher light output with no danger of overheating. Likewise in summer I won't be adding to the heat burden by using incandescents which generate a lot of waste heat.

One possible downside of the CFL bulbs is that they are a little longer than the incandescents, which means you may not be able to fit them in all of your old fixtures. The 60 watt equiv CFL's were shorter than the 100 watt equiv ones though.

collage - yes, they do make CFL's for use in recessed fixtures.

And supposedly they make some shorter CFL's now as well. I don't like the longer ones peeking out from my pendant lights - they hit my eyes wrong.

If you have old appliances you may want to look at replacing some of them. A BIG electric sucker is the ice box..... The new ones are far better on power consumption. If you have 2 boxs, get rid of one. Some times people keep an old one in the garage or basement for beer and pop. Get rid of it.

Scott my bill went down when I got a new box.

we have a chest freezer that was given to us by my mom. she bought it around 1985-89 and we only noticed our bill up by about +/-$10.

we did notice a HUGE drop when we got a new fridge and oven.

Just a really quick search came up with several different shapes of CF bulbs -- even dimmable.

Here is a link that might be useful: CF Floods, Globes, Torpedo, etc.

A few other things -- Use programmable set-back thermostats. Don't buy the cheapies that the DIY stores have, get a contractor-grade one. I usually use the Honeywell FocusPro or VisionPro thermostats. These automatically watch the temperature rise/fall and will make sure that if you tell it to be 76F at 6pm, it'll be 76F at 6pm.

Despite what anyone might think, there is NO savings in running the AC/heat all the time. If you're not there, let it shut off.

Also, for those willing to get a bit more advanced with this, in the summertime, lower humidity = more comfort at higher temperatures and a wider range of temperatures. Some people might notice this effect in a negative way if they've had a new air conditioner installed recently. The new ones don't remove humidity as well as the old ones did (unless you're going with a variable-speed system with humidity control). Because of this, you might find yourself turning the thermostat lower to feel more comfortable and probably with a similar electrical bill as before, despite the new system being "more efficient."

While I'm on the heating/cooling area, get out that caulk gun and start sealing up your house. Seal around the windows, the baseboards, around the doors, around electrical outlets. Also don't forget to seal around recessed lights and ceiling electrical boxes (even better, replace those recessed lights with air-tight fixtures.) Also make sure weatherstripping on doors and windows is in good shape, especially at the bottom of exterior doors. Maybe even consider adding more insulation. If you've got some money to spend, replace the windows. Up to 50-65% of your heat loss/gain comes from the windows.

In some areas, such as garages, consider installing motion-activated timer switches for lighting. Then when you walk/pull into the garage, the lights will go on and will shut off shortly after there's no activity there.

One last one, unplug electronic devices you're not using. My cable box draws 60 watts regardless of whether I'm using it or not. Even if it's "off," it still draws 60 watts. Go around the house and these things add up. For example, when powered "off", a standard VCR draws 10 watts, DVD player draws 5 watts, clock-radio draws 8 watts, standard power brick "wall wart" draws 5-10 watts at idle. Add those up and then realize it's running 24/7/365, that's 8760 hrs. Let's assume I have 100 watts of these phantom loads in my house and that's $88/year, not including the 12% energy tax here.

excellent points by sean_m and all .. and I would shout from the roof tops and extol the amazing energy saving and comfort giving ability of the humble ceiling fan when employed in the right manner and in conjunction with aircon .. but only with a smart thermostat with a PIR occupancy sensor .. in this case a ION Tx PIR .. so far we have reduced our electrical bill by 22% in less than 3 months and should be on schedule to payback cost including ceiling fans in about 2 years.

We can easily save our electric bill by using in right way..if we move out from our room we should turn of my light ..we should not left lights on..then we can easily save our money:)