Americans buy an estimated 2.7 million light bulbs a year just to illuminate porches and backyards.
ENERGY FACTS
Most home owners use 60-watt incandescent bulbs for their porches or backyards. But incandescents are one of the least-efficient ways to illuminate and they burn out after only 750 to 1,000 hours.
Reflectorized floodlights also are common. They're as inefficient as incandescents and consume as much as 150 watts each.
Both can easily be replaced by bulbs that do the same job but use one-quarter the energy.
Buyers beware: Most of the outdoor lighting in hardware store ads are quartz fixtures which typically sell for $10 to $30. These usually require 300 to 500 watts each. It's a low initial price but you pay continually high electrical costs.
SIMPLE WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY
Use a compact fluorescent light (CFL) in your fixtures. It uses about one-fourth the energy of an incandescent and lasts ten times as long.
High-pressure sodium and metal halide bulbs provide up to seven times the light of an incandescent for half the energy cost. The initial cost is high and a special fixture is required. But these bulbs will last up to 24,000 hours.
Connect outdoor lights to a timer or photo cell control. This way they operate only when needed.
