BJs Gives Me Another Bright Idea...

Despite my earlier rantings, I do appreciate a bit of night time lighting around my home for the purposes of security-- and entertainment. After all, its rather interesting to see what sorts of amazing insects naturally gravitate to the light (like the occasional sphinx moth!) and the nocturnal predators that show up for the evening buffet.

Two fixtures currently illuminate the outside of my home: one street lamp and an outdoor porch light. I have long since switched out the incandescent bulbs in each in favor of compact fluorescents. At the moment, there are three13-watt bulbs over the porch, and two 15-watt flood lights powering the street lamp. Last year, on average, I would say the lights burned a total of perhaps three hours every night. Thus,

13 watts + 13watts +13 watts + 15 watts +15 watts = 69 watts
69 watts ÷ 1,000 = 0.069 kWh
0.069 kWh × 3 hours = 0.207 kWh/day
0.138 kWh/day × 365 days = 75.55 kWh/year

Not a lot of juice, really, since the fixtures already use efficient bulbs. But a recent trip to BJs made me think there might be a better way...

Where, o Where, is the Great Bear These Days?

Let me be clear... I ABHOR nighttime lighting. I do understand (and appreciate!) the importance of some lighting for safety and security. But my previous post should have made clear how excessive and redundant much of our nighttime illumination really is.

Anyone who has tried to escape the evening glow that emanates constantly from the Miami skyline can attest to its intrusive nature. Whether you are on a vessel in the middle of Biscayne Bay, camping overnight at the remote outpost of Flamingo, or hunkered down in the Florida Keys, Miami is always discernible-- manifesting itself as a semi-circular orb of conspicuous light erupting off the horizon. Thanks to such pollution, the south Florida night sky is typically dominated by only the brightest first and second-magnitude stars. A few familiar asterisms still appear (i.e., the big dipper), but the larger constellations they help form have long since disappeared from view. Think about it-- we, and our children, can no longer view the same stars that have been seen by our collective ancestors since the dawn of human history. Our generation has successfully conquered the moon while simultaneously extinguishing the stars around it.

I myself have often been complicit. I've been known to enjoy some holiday lighting around the home, and have often left the porch light on to welcome visitors. Time to investigate new strategies for cutting my electrical use and dimming my own light output.