A Guide to Eco-Friendly Indoor Lighting Ideas

Having an eco friendly home is the goal of many a homeowner. It helps the environment and the homeowner saves money, a win win situation. Implementing eco-friendly indoor lighting ideas plays a big roll in creating an eco-friendly home. Using solar powered lights, energy saving light bulbs and even lighting fixtures that are made from recycled materials all come together to make every light in your home eco-friendly. Energy costs are rising faster than ever. Implementing eco-friendly lighting ideas is not longer just something to experiment with, it is becoming a necessity and as sooner you get started, the sooner you start to reap the benefits. Take a look at these suggestions for eco-friendly lighting ideas and see if they don't give you some ideas that you can use.

The easiest way to make your indoor lighting eco-friendly is to replace your old fashioned light bulbs with energy saving light bulbs. The prices may seem high, around $15.00 and more a bulb or so, but they have a life of around 10,000 hours and will considerably lower your electric bill. So by the time you have to replace them, they will have paid for themselves many times over. There is one that is very economical, the Phillips Mini Twister which costs $3.95, is small enough to fit under most light shades - ceiling fans can be a problem with the larger bulbs. The glass dome will not fit over them- and has a life of about 3 years.

Fluorescent Lighting is much more efficient than the regular incandescent bulbs and has been used to save energy for many years. But they have not actually been designed with fashion in mind. Now there are florescent lights that are so well designed, no one will guess they are fluorescent. The LBL Lighting HS298 - Mango Nuage Coax Mini Pendant Lamp can be used as a drop light like in the picture, but it is also fusion track adaptable. The glass globe comes in your choice of mocha, opal or red and the base in a satin nickel or bronze finish. It costs about $108.00.

The ultimate indoor eco friendly lighting idea is to put one of the energy efficient bulbs into a lamp made from recycled material. Some of them, like the 8" Yielding Yellow Stoplight Pendant Lamp look just as elegant as any lamp made from new materials. This one is made from recycled glass, comes with a low voltage 35 watt MR11bulb and sells for $240.00.

You can light your bathroom with eco friendly lighting that is classy as well as money saving. For instance, the Brandywine Energy Star Four-Light Bath Fixture is designed in a classical style, is Energy Star rated and uses Four - 13 watt, energy saving PLS13 Fluorescent bulbs. The globes are champagne colored marble glass and the base is antique bronze. This one sells for about $280.00.