#GELighting Energy Efficient Lighting For The Home Creates A Whole New Look

Energy Efficient Lighting For The Home

When I took the challenge to replace my current lighting with #GeLighting which is energy efficient lighting for the home, I headed to my local Walmart. I love living in southwest Florida where we have palm trees everywhere including at Walmart! You can follow along my shopping journey for my energy efficient light bulbs in my Google Plus album. Now not only did I want to make over the lighting, but I wanted to make over the actual light fixture. As you can see below, my chandelier had some broken panes. This happened when my husband was passing underneath and merely lifted up his hand. I had turned the formal dining room into my quasi office so there was not a table underneath to protect a person from doing just what happened. I was not very fond of the low hanging fixture in the first placed so I was thrilled at the excuse to go shopping for a new lighting fixture!

The lighting in this room was always sub par and considering this is where I spend the bulk of my day, it was the first room I wanted to tackle.  After moseying around the store, I found the actual light fixtures right next to the light bulbs. Pretty smart place to put them don’t you think. I should have asked an associate or used some common sense and I would have not been in the store as long. Good thing Jakobi was sleeping in the cart. I finally decided on a  semi-flush ceiling mount that would be decorative yet stay out of passerbys flailing arms. Below is the finished product after my husband replaced the old chandelier. I love the soft glow it gives off -with plenty of light to illuminate the dining room/office and the adjoining family room.

However, when it came time to select light bulbs for the light above, I really had no idea about what light bulbs I needed or what would work . I was thrilled to see some guidance on the back of the box!

It showed me a comparison in what I had already in my home, what the comparable wattage for a CFL bulb was and helped me gauge  the lighting ambiance I wanted to create in the room. I also noticed the significant amount of savings I was going to have by purchasing new light bulbs. I wanted a comfortable inviting light for the dining room, so I learned from the back of the package I would want to buy a 13 W. I also learned that by replacing the six 60 Watt bulbs that were there, I would be saving $246 a year on one lighting fixture.

Of course I was not going to just stop at one room! My husband said since I am there, I might as well get a light for his office (family room) as well. We had never purchased a light for that room while relying on the kitchen to illuminate the area. I wanted a floor lamp and hoped that there would be an appropriate selection. I was so pleased with the way my new lamp looked.

With this light I wanted to use Reveal lighting to resemble daylight. I was pleased to see they carried Reveal lighting in the energy efficient CFL bulbs. A CFL bulb that replaces a 100 Watt only uses 26 Watts.

Finally I wanted to work on the chandelier hanging above our dining room table. It uses the 60 watt candelabra bulbs and a standard 75 watt bulb. That is a lot of energy. Here is what the chandelier looked like before I replaced the bulbs.

This is the light with six 13 watt CFL bulbs (which replaces six 60 watt bulbs) and one 26 watt CFL bulb replacing the 100 watt one that was there. I wanted a comfortable inviting light for the dining room, so I learned from the back of the package I would want to buy a 13 W. I also learned that by replacing six 60 Watt bulbs that were there, I would be saving $50.22 a year on one lighting fixture and $275 over the life of one bulb.

I love the way the lighting is. It just looks brighter and without the yellow glow which used to drive me crazy when I took food pictures. Look how dark the picture looks before I changed the lights. Isn’t it amazing how the room looks lighter when I just cahnged the bulbs. Now that my lighting has changed, I can start taking beautiful pictures without hours of editing! Walmart even has a selection of outdoor lighting including bug, post and patio lights. This means you can save money inside and out of your home.

Some other great money and energy saving tips besides using energy efficient lighting include:

• Turning off the lights when you leave a room.
• Have your outdoor lights on timers.
• Wash & Dry full loads of clothes.
• Turn off fans when not in the room.
• Let your dishes air dry instead of heat dry.

You can learn more about GeLighting by following them on their social media accounts at Twitter and Facebook. Make sure that you grab a coupon from my side bar! They will go fast, so get yours today. Make sure you check out my Pinterest GELighting board as well to follow along how other bloggers have changed their lighting and saved.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions and savings are my own!