Buy and fit energy-efficient lightbulbs at home and cut your energy wastage by over 75%. Set yourself a target: say, six in 2009?

It has been calculated that if every house in the UK fitted three energy saving bulbs the energy saved could light all our cities at night. Plus you get lower bills.

Most of us use light bulbs designed about 100 years ago, producing nearly as much heat as light. And with the heat comes the carbon dioxide, further raising the global temperature.

In most homes, lighting accounts for 10 – 15% of the electricity bill. UK households use £1.2 billion worth of electricity on lighting every year. Electricity consumption by domestic lights and appliances has nearly doubled since 1970. And it’s set to increase by 12 per cent by the end of the decade.

You could save around £7 a year on the average energy bill for each energy-efficient bulb you fit – that’s £65 over the bulb’s lifetime. Look out for special offers in the supermarket and, increasingly, from energy providers.

And, if you’ve already done this at home, what about at church? Or what about encouraging a friend to make the change.

Lots of people still think energy-saving light bulbs don’t give out enough light. But this is not true. It’s that they give out a different sort of light – a warmer glow, rather than a cold glare. There’s lots more about this on the Energy Saving Trust’s weblink below. Incluyding all the sorts of energy saving bulbs you can get these days.

Related links
energysavingtrust.org.uk