As a result, total average utility bills can drop up to 15 percent. You can test the seal on your refrigerator door by closing a dollar bill in the seal. For another efficiency improvement of up to 30 percent, vacuum the coils on the back of your refrigerator at least once a year, or the coils on the bottom three to four times a year. Lighting Only 13 percent of home lighting is currently achieved with fluorescent bulbs. If each home in the U.S. used energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs in place of standard incandescent bulbs for four hours a day, we would save 33 percent of the energy used for lighting homes.
Fluorescent lamps use ballasts to start the lamp and regulate the current flow to the lamp.
They offer less glare and eye strain. The light they give off is more like natural daylight. Fluorescent lights using electronic ballasts start instantly without flickering, operate quietly and are lightweight. By using less energy, they save natural resources and generate less pollution. They shouldn't be used with dimmer switches.