In recent years energy use for household lighting in Australia has rapidly increased. This is due to the construction of larger homes and growing businesses,causing the demand for the installation of more light fittings.
Lighting consumes between 8 and 15 per cent of the average household electricity budget. Most households could reduce the amount of energy they use for lighting by 50 per cent or more by making smarter lighting choices and moving to more efficient technologies.
In Australia traditional but inefficient types of lighting (incandescent) are being phased out. There are other more efficient types of lighting available, including compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent lights. CFLs and good quality LEDs are the most energy efficient of these options.
In most cases, efficient lighting technologies like LED lighting will pay themselves off within a year. The more hours per day you use your lighting, the sooner your investment will be paid back and the sooner you can start making real savings on your bills and overhead expenses. The cost of LED lamps has dropped dramatically over the years. Similarly, the light quality, output and durability of LED lights has improved out of sight, thanks to heavy global investment in LED technology development.