Do You Turn Lights on When You're Home Alone?

If I need something I use it. Lights on if it's gloomy or darkish, off if sunny day and bright. I set the AC on but as high as I can stand it and then it clicks on when it reaches that high or stays off if comfortable. I think if it's not constantly running it's not costing as much. I don't leave lights on day or night if I'm not using them or in the room but I'm not as hyper about it as my husband is. But he works to pay for it too so I can accept that.

OMG!!!! I am the queen of turning everything off, while my husband, the King of Ambiance, feels the need for every lamp, sconce, Christmas string and mood light to be on at all times EVEN in the rooms he is not IN. It's like entertainment party lighting on both floors 365 days a year. He's usually not home because he travels a lot, so I'm able to keep things shut off, but he was home for a month, and our last bill was almost $200 higher than normal. With no heaters running! And we dont' have AC! Just from lights! DOH! You'd think he'd care if it hit him in the pocket book, but no. He still does it.

I think it's a fabulous idea to conserve energy and keep the lights off. I do that too when I'm home. I was brought up in a family with not much money so boy would we get into trouble when we left a light on unnecessarily- guess that's why I'm so inclined to turn them off now!

I'm Page W. and your husband and my husband is Page W's husband and you.

I'm your husband, my husband is you.

I hate dingyness. I love light. I figure I'm worth a few cents of electricity. (Sorry if that's not green.) Though I only use the AC in dire emergency, because that really is a drain on the electric bill.

Yes, I try to conserve energy, but no, I don't walk around turning off lights behind people.

Yes, it drives my DH crazy that I'll walk into a room when there's no one in it and turn off the lights and the TV. When he asks why I did it, I say "No one was in there - so why leave everything on???" He says, "I was going back in there after I was done with _______."

I turn off the "extras", but I don't forgo AC when it's hot in the house.

I usually don't have them on during the day unless it is cloudy/dark. I do run the AC though! I couldn't live without that!!

Um yes! Lights are off! My electric bill sucks! No air isn't a option in texas! Its toooo hot!

I only turn lights on during the day if it's really gloomy or, like you, I'm in the bathroom, basement, cooking in the kitchen, etc. Otherwise, we've got enough windows & I just open up the curtains. Now, I do leave the AC on during the day when I'm home if it's about 78 or higher without a breeze. I don't want to sit in my own home sweating while I read a book. On days like today where it's supposed to be 88 degrees here & everyone is either at school or work the majority of the day I kept the AC on when I left the house this morning, but turned it up to 80 so the cat doesn't have a heat stroke & it doesn't take 6 hours to get back to a liveable temperature once we are all back home.

This depends on where you live. My home is brick on the outside. When we first bought the house I would leave off the A/C while working but it took five hours to cool down the house so it stays on on a timer to keep it an even temp.

As for lights I love the natural light during the day. When it gets dark I put them on. We have changed from regular lights to the new curly ones and that has reduced our electrical output. I also leave lights on at night and when we are out along with the radio.

My husband is home during the day (retired) and uses some electric but not like we did when we had the old lights.

So I use what I feel I need and enjoy my house.

Good luck in what you feel you need to do. I hope you two come to an understanding of lights on/off.

The other S.

We have plenty of natural light in our house so I don't turn any on til night time. I do tend to leave lights on at night because I don't like walking into a dark room. It's my own weirdness. However, if it's hot, I keep the lights off because the incandescents give off so much heat. So if you want to save energy andkeep the house cool, replace your regular bulbs with compact fluorscents.

I work from home most of the time and don't have any lights on either. But I do need to see! So on a darker day I will have the light on next to me where I'm working. I hated going to my ex MIL house because she would have us over to eat and NEVER had a light on! I hated it! Literally it was dark in there . So I would turn on the lights and then she would come in and turn them off, we just went back and forth...lol!!! Our electric bill will get up to $400 this summer so although I leave the A/C on, I do try to keep everything else off unless I'm actually in that room. Hubby and the kids have been around me enough to be very good about shutting off the lights when they are last to leave a room. So I'm lucky that everyone in my house is kind of on the same page! :o)

I like light, and my house not only has few windows, and they are small, but is quite shaded - so I turn on and leave on lights. My ex MIL always had her house dark and it made me feel tired and gloomy. Now if I'm home alone, I'll turn my A/C way up so it doesn't run until it gets hot. DH likes it cooler, so when he walks in, he usually kicks it down a few degrees. I get cold VERY easily.

I'm sitting in a dark living room. Although it is midnight and I should be sleeping, but I posted a question so I'm hoping to get answers.

Did you know that you can install motion sensor switches in almost every room? Particularly in the bathrooms? You can buy them for under $20 each and install them yourself. Just make sure you turn the circuit breaker off for that switch (the area of the house should be labeled on your breaker box - and once you flip the breaker off, go back and check the light switch).
The one I put in the kid's bathroom has an off, auto, and on switch as well as an adjustable off delay so you can control how long it takes before the light goes off with no motion present. The directions on the package should be easy enough for you to understand, but if you have any questions you can PM me.

When I'm home during the day, I only turn on lights if I need them. We have oversized picture windows, so it's not usually an issue, but on rainy days I will turn on a light if I need to do some work or am in the kitchen... I guess you would call it "task lighting". Otherwise, my father's voice "Who left the light on in the back room????" is constantly in my head so if there's no one in a room- no need for a light on!

As for the AC... well, I lived in RVA and grew-up in South Floriday so the AC is set so that it doesn't go on unless it's needed. I grew up and lived in heat and humidity, so it really doesn't bother me. In fact, I'm not a huge fan of "cold" rooms!

I knew it - opposites attract.....I turn lights on at night all the time and my husband goes behind me and turns them OFF....and I turn them ON and tell him to stop, but he doesn't.....I hate walking around in dark places. It freaks me out and I could care less what it costs.

During the day, we have lots of natural light, so no lights on then.

I turn off lights if I go in the kitchen after my mom. she's notorious for leaving lights on and then my dad complains about the bill lol. So I turn off lights after them if I go past there. I use them and keep a hall light on at night for my little one but turn em off if no one is in the room.

I have to go behind my hubby and 2 boys (4 and 5) and turn lights off. At night they have night lights in thier rooms and the bathroom, if they have to go potty. They aren't the bright white ones, but the blue ones that give a soft glow. Downstairs, I do leave on the over head light in the kitchen, just in case, also.

I work from home and I use my lights. I will go upstairs to turn out lights that my daughter left on before she left for school.

We have the AC or heat, whatever season always going. We keep the house cool. It actually wastes energy to keep turning the system on and off.

I am not much of a conserver of my energy, honestly. I run aobut 2 loads of laundry a day, 1 dishwasher run, use lights, oven, etc as I want.

I hate a dark, gloomy house. I have a lot of windows and I keep the blinds open pretty much 24/7

We have Champion Energy with a great plan and our bill rarely hits $400 in the worst part of the summer and we AC the entire house (4000 SF).

I do this!

~My sister hates it...always makes fun of me for it...to her my house is too dark although I have a wall of windows in my living room?

~My husband kills me...he walks into any room/hall and turns on the light even if he doesn't need it? It seriously drives me insane...it could be middle of summer all the windows open and super sunny in the kitchen and he will still hit the light on when he walks in, I swear it is just a habit for him but he will argue with me over it 'I need to see'...so I don't even bother anymore!

I dont turn on the lights or the TV if I am the only one home, I will turn on the heat but not the air .

i'm totally with you. the only lights on in the house right now are a night light in the bathroom and the glow from my monitor as i type away on mamapedia.
that reminds me. i should go feed the mares. damn you, mamapedia!
i don't turn on the outside light when i go the barn either. i know the path out to it like the back of my hand.
i'm a night wanderer. i love ambient light, my eyes adjust well to it and i don't like to ruin it with flashlights, and it makes me nuckin' FUTS that both my vile neighbors use dusk-to-dawn lights that interfere with my stargazing. i have lots of screening trees but need more.
i was also raised by frugal parents who were deathly serious about keeping the electric bills down, so i only turn on lights that i absolutely need at night, and turn them off as i leave the room.
my sons are butt lazy about this. they are good boys but they make me crazy with the lights. obviously i should have beat them a lot more.
;) khairete
S.