Sierra Club Green Home

NEW YORK — Even if your favorite bakery’s goodies are not “green,” one place shows that you still can feel good about going there. Located in a Brooklyn neighborhood, Mrs. Maxwell’s Bakery has switched to energy-efficient lighting to cut down its utility costs … thereby making its cakes look even better under the brighter lights.

Let there be light. It’s a necessity in our homes–and Americans typically spend 5% to 10% of their total energy budget on lighting, at a cost of $75 to $200 a year. Today, though, there are better ways to illuminate our lives.

Lighting stores offer a dizzying array of lamps–pendants, sconces, chandeliers, ceiling lamps, table lamps, desk lamps, floor lamps, recessed cans, track lights, and on and on. What makes a lamp green? For the most part, it’s the amount of energy it uses–and that primarily depends on the type of bulb and how much time the lamp is on. So pay attention to those factors, and while you’re at it, be thoughtful about the lamps you choose and where you use them.

LEDs, or light emitting diodes, are semiconductors that convert electricity to light. Most people are familiar with them as colored indicator lights on electronic equipment and more recently in flashlights, nightlights, pathway lights and holiday string lights. For most residential uses, LEDs aren’t quite ready for prime time. There’s little to choose from yet and [...]

Have you noticed all the hoopla lately about light bulbs? Calls for banning Edison’s ubiquitous incandescent bulb have definitely heated up. And at the same time, worries about mercury have caused some people to shy away from energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).

A few well-placed outdoor lights can make you feel more secure at night. They can help the pizza guy find your door and keep you from tripping over the cat when you’re taking out the garbage.

Poorly used lights, on the other hand, can rob your neighbors of a good night’s sleep, disrupt wildlife, and waste precious energy and hard-earned cash. They may even be harmful to human health.

Lighting controls, from basic dimmers to daylight-sensing photocells, can cut the amount of light you waste by lowering lighting levels and reducing the amount of time lights are on. Exert self-control. The best lighting control is turning off the light yourself, even if you’re just going to be out of the room for a few minutes. This is true of all lamp types: fluorescents, incandescents, halogens, and LEDs.

Chris Prelitz with New Leaf America take us through some extremely interesting and cost effective lights.