You Can Stop Turning Your Lights Off to Save Money
Obsessively turning off household lights to save money is a habit most of us have, but it turns out it’s not really the money-saving power move we think it is. Here’s why you can stop.
Let us be perfectly clear right out of the gate: If you turn off a device in your home that uses electricity, no matter how big or small the device, you will, of course, save money. It doesn’t matter if the device is a giant power-hungry gaming PC or a tiny night light in the bathroom—if it isn’t using electricity, then naturally, you aren’t paying for that electricity.
When it comes to serious energy savings, however, LEDs completely changed the game. The efficiency of LED lighting compared to traditional incandescent lighting is staggering.
Back in the day, it made sense to turn the lights off when you left the room. Our parents weren’t out of line to tell us to turn the lights off and sigh when we didn’t. The total wattage of all the incandescent lights in a big room could easily exceed the wattage of a desktop computer under load, and there was an associated penalty on your electric bill and your wallet.
