Many of us look at our day to day bills and see the vast increase being handed to the Utilities Companies from our hard earned money. One such Utility in Ontario is the Hydro.

We are subjected to higher prices per kilowatt and paying down a debt based on the stupidity of  over paid bureaucrats that make constant mistakes. Don’t you think you should benefit some how?

One major impact on hydro consumption is lighting. I decided to take a walk around my home and check the wattage on all the bulbs. This takes about 15 mininutes and believe me is well worth the effort.

Here is my list:

4 – Outdoor lights @ 60 watts                           240 watts
1 – Laundry room light @ 100 watts             100 watts
3 – Bathrooms @ 100 watts                               300 watts
3 – Bedrooms @ 100 watts (2 bulbs)             600 watts
6 – Reading lamps @ 100 watts                        600watts
2 – Reading lamps @ 60 watts                           120watts
2 – Furnace room lights @ 60 watts               120 watts
4 – Hallway lights @ 100 watts                        400 watts

                                     Total                                    2400 watts

With kids in the house we all know lights get left on  for no reason and definitely don’t get turned off. The 2400 watts in the above total is for each hour of being left on. Lwt see what the changes are.

After reading some boxes at the local hardware store to find equivalents for the above bulb ratings, I came up with the following:

4 – Outdoor lights @ 13 watts                                   52 watts
1 – Laundry room light @ 23 watts                         23 watts
3 – Bathrooms @ 23 watts                                         69 watts
3 – Bedrooms @ 23 watts (2 bulbs)                     138 watts
6 – Reading lamps @ 23 watts                               138watts
2 – Reading lamps @ 13 watts                                  26watts
2 – Furnace room lights @ 13 watts                      26 watts
4 – Hallway lights @ 23 watts                                  92 watts

                                             Total                                    564 watts

What a difference! The project has reduced the wattage use by about 80% per hour of usage. The bulbs I chose were Sylvania instant on Micro minis. Light is rated in lumens. Here are the close equivalents:

60    watt incandescent = 13 watt Energy saver 825 Lumens
100 watt incandescent = 23 watt Energy saver 1600 lumens

  Here is a link to help you decide what lighting you can install. After you make all your changes, check your bills and see the difference.