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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To insist that my family turn the lights off when they're not in the room?

39 replies

ThirdElephant · 13/02/2022 18:51

Just that, really. DH maintains that the lights are energy efficient/LED bulbs and as such use a negligible amount of electricity and are not worth turning off (he'll happily leave them all on overnight when we're in bed). My counter-argument is that even a tiny amount adds up to a significant amount over time, but he refutes this, saying it's such a small proportion of our overall usage it's not worth bothering with.

AIBU? Should I just let it go?

OP posts:

EngTech · 13/02/2022 18:54

Ask them to pay the bill when it thuds on your door mat 👍👍👍

WhatTheWhoTheWhatThe · 13/02/2022 18:56

Depends how insistent you are being DH gets shitty if someone leave a light on in the lounge whilst going to make a cup of tea or to the loo. I do eye roll and ignore to be honest

If someone is going back to the room shortly then I think YABU. If they’ve left it on for hours YANBU

Davros · 13/02/2022 19:02

I like the house to be warmly lit when it's dark so we do have some lamps on. I like going up to bed and there being a bedside lamp on already

Penvelopey · 13/02/2022 19:02

How insistent are you being?

BlusteryLake · 13/02/2022 19:05

In our house the rule is that if you're leaving the room and don't plan to return immediately then the light goes off. Hallway lights stay on all evening until we go to bed.

Thethreecs · 13/02/2022 19:07

Personally I found when I changed over to LED the bills didn't increase when lights were left on for longer. With 7 people in the house there's always a light on.

However dh as great as he his is quite old fashioned when it comes to utilities, he swears that the electric meter is spinning around when lights are on. He goes into rooms and turns them off, even if the person has just gone to the toilet.

One day I was emptying the washing machine and I came out with an armful of clothing, when I went back for more the light was off, I turn it back on and bend down to the machine and off goes the light! He actually turned it off while I was still in there, he insists that he didn't know I went back in🤔 there are times he does it when I'm in the bathroom, he says it's only because the kids keep leaving the lights on, it gets so annoying. I've seen his parents sit in the same room to "save the lights", even when they want to watch different programmes or have their friends over.

Original poster

ThirdElephant · 13/02/2022 19:08

@BlusteryLake

In our house the rule is that if you're leaving the room and don't plan to return immediately then the light goes off. Hallway lights stay on all evening until we go to bed.

I could live with this. Ours stay on all night unless I turn them off. I'm not being very insistent at present (and am being roundly ignored whenever I bring it up).

OP posts:

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 13/02/2022 19:15

Why not check the wattage of the lights and calculate how much power they're actually using? Even at 20-odd p per kWh a 9W bulb isn't going to be burning a huge amount of money, but if you have a whole load of them it might add up a bit. But still negligible compared to boiling your kettle.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 13/02/2022 19:20

We generally turn the lights off in rooms we aren’t in. Probably leave a light on in the living room, if we leave it to eat dinner, then come back.
Lamps are switched on upstairs when we go up to bed. We have a plug in thing on the landing that gives a low light and the same in the bathrooms for a night time toilet visit.

BobMortimersTrout · 13/02/2022 21:51

My husband is terrible for this - there's a trail of lights left on wherever he goes in the house. He's being an absolute ballbreaker about the heating at the moment, but he wonders why the bulbs go so quickly in his office

RoseMartha · 13/02/2022 22:10

As a child this was always a rule and I always tell my teens to turn them off if they are the last person leaving a room. This is one of the few things they are fairly good at doing.

VestaTilley · 13/02/2022 22:14

YANBU. I insist on switching off lights everywhere - it’s bad for the environment to leave them on and awful for energy bills.

cakeorwine · 13/02/2022 22:20

LED lights.

A 10 watt light run for 100 hours costs 1 unit (1 KWH) to run

Under the new price cap, that's 28p per 100 hours or 0.28p per hour.

LeroyJenkinssss · 13/02/2022 22:25

Nah I’m with your husband on this. Say you have a 12W bulb and your price per kWh is 35p/kWh (I’m going for the higher rate for worst case scenario) for every hour that an LED bulb is left on it costs you 0.42p. So even leaving it on for an extra six hours every day for the whole February is only going to cost you 71p extra.

Frazzled50yrold · 13/02/2022 23:54

I started using a remoska last year and my electricity bills have decreased significantly.
The oven used to be on several times a day often cooking 2 sausages or 2 fish fingers which was obviously so wasteful.

mytwocats · 14/02/2022 00:02

Leave every light on in our house will draw a total of less than 120w. I’m really not bothered, used to be when bulbs were bulbs, not now

mytwocats · 14/02/2022 00:08

The only thing that happens when led bulbs are constantly switched is the internal capacitors are weakens by initial surge stress but you wouldn’t motice

itwasntaparty · 14/02/2022 00:09

DH will eh turn the bathroom light off when he knows I'm going straight in after him, turn the hall / landing lights off as soon as he is downstairs even though we are up and down getting ready. Pisses me right off. We don't live in the dark ages, I want to where I'm going.

mytwocats · 14/02/2022 00:14

If it worries you then you could always fit a small P I R in the say bathroom ceiling. Goes on when entering off when you leave Cheap & simple

saraclara · 14/02/2022 00:19

He's right. LED lights barely use any energy at all. There's no need to be paranoid about leaving lights on any more.

I'm relieved because I have a great need for light. If I'm in the living room with the door to the hall open, the hall light needs to be on. I live alone now, but at any point at night, it's likely that living room, hall and kitchen lights will be on. Possibly the stair lights too.

saraclara · 14/02/2022 00:20

@VestaTilley

YANBU. I insist on switching off lights everywhere - it’s bad for the environment to leave them on and awful for energy bills.

It really isn't any more. You've obviously not kept up with new technology.

Lou98 · 14/02/2022 00:22

My Partner is the same, lamps are left on in livingroom and hallway all night (although the hall is because we get up for the baby so it's so we're not going through to his room in the dark), kitchen LEDs are always on and his bedside LEDs are also always on (unless I'm sleeping).

He pays the electricity bill though so I just leave him to it

KitKattaktik · 14/02/2022 00:41

@cakeorwine

LED lights.

A 10 watt light run for 100 hours costs 1 unit (1 KWH) to run

Under the new price cap, that's 28p per 100 hours or 0.28p per hour.

You might want to check your sums there.

toomuchlaundry · 14/02/2022 00:47

Do you have a smart meter?

Pedalpushers · 14/02/2022 01:01

My understanding was always that light bulbs are such a negligible part of usage that it makes virtually no difference. I don't know about LED bulbs but I remember for energy saving bulbs it was actually worse to turn them off because they use less energy continually than being switched on/off.

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