 Jeff Smith of Georgia Power has joined us once again this morning to talk to us about energy savings around our homes and today we're going to talk specifically about lighting Jeff. We have a lot of additional lights with the holiday season. Now I'm always going behind my kids trying to get them to turn their lights off. Is it really important to do that? I mean how much does an average light actually use? Well Susie it depends on the type of light you're using and how long do you leave it on but it does matter. On an average home 10% of your overall energy cost could be made up of lighting so if you're not in a room it definitely makes sense to turn them off when you leave. Additionally there are reasons though that you may want to keep lights on for safety and security reasons but there's ways to save energy with those as well. Putting them on timers, making sure they're not on during the daylight hours. You can also put those lights on motion sensors and putting in high efficiency lights is another way to save energy with those types. That's really interesting Jeff and what other tips can you actually give us? Well a simple tip we can all do is to put in Energystar certified compact fluorescent lights or CFLs as you'll hear them call. CFLs use 75% less energy in most cases. They last up to 10 times as long as a typical incandescent light bulb and they also put off significantly less heat. That helps us save more money in the summer season by having to cool us. Also Energystar certified lighting products are offered in a variety of colors from warm to cool light so when replacing your bulbs consider the purpose of the room and the mood or task you want from these lights. Okay so the kind of bulb we use is important. Also the amount of time that we leave lights on is important. You also mentioned fixtures. What do we need to know about fixtures? Well one thing that we can do easily with fixtures is remember if we're only using a task use task lighting. Don't illuminate an entire room if you just want to highlight a desk or a piece of paper that you're working with. That's another way to save money with fixtures. Well Jeff that's all great information. Thank you so much for sharing your tips and we're all going to be more energy efficient. Now thanks to you. For more tips on energy efficiency visit georgiapower.com slash save. And of course if you're looking for a new home talk to your real estate professional about Georgia Power's EarthSense new homes. They are built for comfort and energy savings.