Are you burning bulbs when there is no one to see the light?

Do you have lights blazing in every nook and cranny? We assure you that the energy company will survive without your charitable contributions every month. Turn off your lights. Save energy, save cash, save the planet.

If it’s simply too bothersome to turn off the lights when you leave the room, motion and photo sensors will relieve your taxed switch-flipping finger.

Motion sensors detect movement. Someone enters a room, the light goes on. The lights turn off if no movement is detected. Bathrooms, offices, walk-in refrigerators and storerooms are great places to install motion sensors for small cost and big savings. Look for the ones that have timmers when you install in the bathroom. It is good to set them for 10 minutes or so to give a guest enough time to finish their business.

Photo sensors detect light and do something about it. Sunny room = lights off. Dark room = lights on. Whether you use photo sensors or not, do use sunlight as much as possible.

Lighting timers are an inexpensive and easy to install control feature. They are, however, somewhat inflexible by offering only a simple “on” or “off” option. Timers can be used with incandescent and CFL bulbs.

Dimmers will help control the energy you pump into your light fixtures. Dim the lights, cut the energy, build the mood. Save the dimmers for your fancy fixtures that can’t use CFLs: CFLs, despite their brilliance, do not work with dimmer switches.