With the rising cost of energy, almost everybody is looking for tips to lower their electricity bills. Unfortunately, the high costs of oil translates into higher costs of other utilities, including electricity. Thankfully, there are a few steps that you can take around the house to help lower your electricity costs. One method you can use to reduce your electricity bills is replacing your existing incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs.

This is a significant money saver that you will notice on your next monthly electricity bill. You can even cut you lighting costs by over 2/3 by simply replacing your old lamps with florescent lamps. Take your savings and put it to good use, like a housekeeping service, a relaxing day out, or even a mini-vacation! Below are the benefits of fluorescent lamps over the traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Fluorescent lamps use just 14 watts compared to 60 watts used by standard incandescent bulbs. According to Energy Star, if every American replaced an incandescent light lamp with a florescent lamp, enough energy would be saved to light more than 3 million homes per year. This would save close to $700 million. This is equal to 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, or the annual emissions of 800,000 vehicles. Basically, fluorescent lamps save about $30 over their lifetime compared with the cost of incandescent bulbs.

Fluorescent bulbs use 75 % less energy and last 10 times longer than the normal incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs can last up to 25,000 hours while incandescent bulbs last between 750 -2500 hours.

Incandescent bulbs are inefficient; up to 95 % of energy used produces heat rather than light. On the other hand, fluorescent bulbs produce very little heat, making them not only very efficient, but also safe to handle.

Fluorescent light bulbs come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and types. The types include mini threaded sockets, bayonet sockets, Bi-pin sockets, standard threaded bulb sockets, and so much more. The bulbs come in different shapes; the first shape is the tube shaped bulb. These bulbs are long and narrow and commonly found in offices and warehouses. The other type is CFL or compact fluorescent lamp; they are mostly found in homes and other smaller light fixtures. Other shapes include Spiral, candle lamp and circular.

Keeping your home clutter free can also help reduce energy costs—change out your bulbs, check the seals on your windows, and call The Maids Great LeHigh Valley in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. You’ll be glad you did!