The Bite:
Want the Keys to saving on your energy bill? Soak up some rays - inside. Daylight saving time ends Nov. 1 (Sunday), so consider daylighting your home (aka maximizing natural light) for a brighter outlook.
Natural Light
Sunshine State
10.30.2009
Submitted by tmeronek on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 11:00pm.
The Benefits:
- No messing with your biorhythms - just like jet lag, a lack of light can make you feel outta sync with the rest of the world, even depressed.
- Artificial lighting adds up to 11% of your home's electricity use; lower your energy intake by letting in more natural light.
- The less artificial light you pay for, the more money you have for that trip to Miami Beach.
Personally Speaking:
Toshio gets up with the sun whether he likes it or not, since he's (still) too lazy to hang curtains on his southeast-facing bedroom windows.
Wanna Try:
- Open your curtains and shades during sunny hours, then close them at night for better heat insulation.
- Making upgrades to your place? North- and south-facing windows are your best daylighting bet, since they let in lots of even, natural light. East- and west-facing windows provide more daylight mornings and evenings, but cause more glare and don't help with temperature regulation during the hot and cold months. Skylights and solar tubes are great too.
- Daylighting Collaborative - go deeper to find out how windows can lower your lighting bills.
- Google SketchUp - Google's cool new design tool helps amateur architects (as well as pros) draft and figure out the best placement of your windows, based on where the sun actually shines - and it's free.
Cocktail Fact
FL is the state with the most lightning.
Bang For The Bite
If 10,000 Biters cut their lighting bills by 10%, we'll save a collective $131,604 per year.
Tips Like This
09.04.2008- 06.01.2007
Other Related Content
- 05.06.2009
- 04.01.2009
Sign Up
Sign up for free, bite-size ideas for healthy, light green living, delivered to your inbox each weekday.
Post new comment