Lighting

I installed a dimmer switch for my bathroom vanity lights. There are six bulbs. Sometimes I need all the light, but most of the time I use less light. I bought the dimmer switch to conserve electricity, but an electrician told me there is no energy savings when I dim the lights. He said the same amount of electrical current is consumed and is merely dissipated at the dimmer switch. Is this true?
The older style dimmer switches operated on a mechanical "rheostat" principle and did not save much electricity. Most new style switches use electronics to dim the light, and they do save electricity. You probably don't use the bathroom lights for several hours a day, so the savings would be small. For example, if you use 60 watt bulbs for one hour each day at full power, the cost for 30 days is less than $1.00. If you cut that in half with the dimmer, you save around 50 cents a month.

When you leave a room that you are planning to return to shortly, is it better to leave the light on or should you turn the light off and then back on when you return?
A good rule of thumb is to turn them off if you will be out of the room for 10-15 minutes.

How can I reduce lighting costs?
Turn the lights off when no one is in the room and replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. Get more information on efficient lighting technologies and CFLs.

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