Save Energy – Dim the Lights!

It’s that time of year again – Earth Day is right around the corner, and all over the globe people are looking for ways to save energy. If you are looking for a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, try turning the lights down with a light dimmer.

If residential and commercial sectors join force on this, the energy savings could potentially be huge. Michael W. Pessina, president of the Office of Product Development at Lutron Electronics, a light control manufacturer, says, “We estimate that installed Lutron dimmers save over 9 billion kilowatt hours of energy per year, and that prevents 17 billion pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.  That’s a savings of over $1 billion in energy costs each year.”

According to the US Department of Energy, commercial buildings consume 38% of their total energy usage in lighting – more than heating, cooling, ventilation, computers, and equipment combined.  By using Lutron dimmers (see photo), electricity usage can be reduced by 20%.  Combine that with a Lutron Radio Powr Savr wireless occupancy sensor and you can cut lighting electricity an additional 35%!

Bottom line:  Pessina says “If better light control can help people work more effectively for five minutes – which is equal to 1% of the work day – the investment in light controls will pay for itself in less than a year.”

Want to know how much work and home energy savings you’ll see just by dimming the lights?  Take a minute and look at Lutron’s energy savings calculator.