My daughter has been uncomfortable in the dark since the first day of her life. I walked her back and forth all night in the hospital hallway, staring at the lights and content. As soon as I came into the dark room with her, she cried. By the time she got to school, she was terrified of dark rooms. Falling asleep was only possible with a light – and a night light was not enough. It had to be full enlightenment.
Why am I telling you this? Because today, more than 18 years later, we still feel the aftermath of it. She turns on the light as soon as she enters a room, regardless of the time of day. And I’ve been in her room many times and turned off the light after she fell asleep. Although nowadays she is actually not afraid of the dark anymore. My son, sitting in the dark for hours staring at his PlayStation screen, provides some relief. Even if that doesn’t really “overwhelm” in terms of energy technology.
In any case, I go through the house several times a day and turn off the lights if there is unnecessary light. Because so much is clear to me on this subject: Leaving the lights on when no one is in the room is just stupid. Furthermore, I have many question marks on the subject: how much energy does it take to turn on a lamp, or is it worth turning off the light if I leave a room for only a short time? I have a smaller lamp in my open kitchen and another small one in the corner of the living room, and a large one in the middle (under which I mainly sit and work in my home office). What makes more sense when I’m not working, two small or one large light source? And what about the size of the room – does it make a difference whether I light a large or a small room?
Then the LED thing. Unlike conventional light bulbs, they mainly produce light and little heat, which makes perfect sense, which is why I buy LED bulbs. What, on the other hand, are energy-saving lamps? Are they better than LED bulbs? The yield values are also a closed book for me: what is what? Does it make sense to just buy the top tier? You see, lighting wise, I could use some lighting. I hope, thanks to the expert, I can shed some light on…
Eva Geilinger, specialist for energy-efficient appliances and lighting at the Bundesamt für Energie:
“If you leave a 15-watt LED lamp on unnecessarily for an hour, you will use about as much energy in that time as working half an hour on a laptop. The light can also be switched off if you leave the room for a while. However, when lamps are switched on, a higher current flows for only milliseconds, which is negligible in normal households. It only plays a role in large LED installations, for example in industrial halls, where the inrush current could wear out the electrical equipment more quickly. In such cases, the inrush current is technically limited.
Whether one larger or several small light sources are used does not play such an energy-related role. How good the daylight supply is is more important than the size of a room. Large windows, as well as light walls and furniture, help to save artificial light. Dark colors absorb light.
LED bulbs are better than CFL bulbs not only because they are more energy efficient, but also because they don’t contain mercury. They require no start-up time and are at full brightness in no time. Incidentally, a new energy label for light sources was introduced at the end of 2021. The classification has been tightened considerably, because technical development has brought enormous progress in efficiency. As this development continues, Class A has been intentionally left blank for future products – the first Class A LED lamps have already been introduced, but are not yet commercially available. A class C is now considered good, which was an A++ product in the old class.”
How do you light up your sweet home? Honestly, do you consistently turn off the lights when you leave a room? Do you have any other tricks for saving energy? Share them in the comment columns.
