Do Dimmers and Motion Lights Really Save You Money?

The mantra “save energy” may seem like a simple concept to conceive and achieve. You can find numerous tips, advice and useful information on ways to save energy by cutting down on your light usage. Two ways the experts says help you to cut down on the energy use in your home is to use light dimmers and motion sensor lights, but do dimmers save money? In addition, do motion sensor lights save money?

Dimmers Do Save Money

The answer to the question, do dimmers save money is yes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 15 percent of the average American light bill is from light usage in the home. While you cannot walk around in the dark all of the time, there may be ways to cut down this percentage. According to Good Housekeeping, one of the primary ways to decrease your light usage, which subsequently saves you money is to install dimmer switches on certain lights in your home.
It is common sense that the lower or dimmer the lights are, the less electricity the light uses. If you set your dimmer switch at 75 percent of usage, it can shave off about 20 percent usage. This not only helps to lengthen the life of the light bulb, but also cuts down on your energy bill each month.

Motion Sensor Lights Do Save Money

The answer to the question, do motion sensor lights save money is yes too. A similar concept relates to installing and using motion sensor lights. While a light outside of your garage and front door are great safety features, when you live them on all night, night after night because you forget they are on, then this runs up your energy usage and your electric bill. When you install motion sensor lights, however and it too can shave money off of your energy bill. Lighting and energy experts also suggest installing motion senor lighting in other areas of the home, such as stairways and hallways (those places in the home where unforgotten lights are often left on). Since the lights turn on when you enter the hall or stairs and turn off after a set period of time, it ensures that lights are not left burning for hours at a time, which also burns up the energy bill.

Using energy savers such as dimmers and motion sensor lights can make your light usage more energy efficient. More efficient energy usage in your home definitely leads to savings on your energy bill. So, do dimmers save money? Yes. And, do motion sensor lights save money? Yes. While you may only be able to install these types of lights in certain areas of your home, every little bit helps. Over time, each little bit you can cut back on your energy use is greener for the environment and keeps your green in your pocket rather than as a form of payment to the energy company.

Interested in Making Your Own Electricity?

Maybe you can learn something from the ancient Egyptians who used wind to sail the River Nile or ancestors that used windmills to grind wheat and other grains.If they could harness the power of the wind to achieve their goal then what's stopping you from harnessing the power of the wind to make your own electricity?

California produces more than twice the amount of wind energy than any other state, but with an even greater push to save the environment by using renewable energy sources, using the windmill to produce wind energy may just make a comeback like never before.


U.S. Department of Energy Chimes in

In 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 26.6 billion kWh per year of electricity was generated by wind energy. This is enough energy to generate electricity for a city larger than Los Angeles, which is equivalent to 2.4 million households. There are government programs in place to support wind energy and as of 2006, 28 states use windmills to generate energy.

For more information on the Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program, visit the U.S. Department of Energy website.