Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

Original poster

AIBU to want DH to switch the lights off?

19 replies

Smallholder · 17/02/2009 23:22

Thank heavens he is at work all day. I spend the 2 hours between DH getting up and going to work and the 6 hours between DH coming home from work and going to bed - turning out the lights! - OMG - does he think we have unlimited money to burn illuminating the whole farking house and trashing the planet? When he is at home - every stupid light is on. I turn them off - then 10 mins later, the same useless light is on. I give him "the look" and flick the switch in a "meaningful" manner, but it makes no difference. We have talked about the waste and he says something like "yes, dear" - FFS - he has read the Al Gore book and he knows how important it is to save energy, but he still leaves all the lights on. Why, why, why?

OP posts:

TequilaMockinBird · 17/02/2009 23:25

I used to have a DD like this.....until I started removing the bulbs from the useless lights

Original poster

Smallholder · 17/02/2009 23:30

When I said "useless" lights - I meant the ones that didn't need to be on - DH puts ALL the lights on, and leaves them on, all the time. It makes me more than mad.

OP posts:

PuddingChops · 17/02/2009 23:38

Yanbu - and if you keep reminding him do you get accused of nagging?

Original poster

Smallholder · 17/02/2009 23:40

Oh yesssss

OP posts:

overthehill · 17/02/2009 23:44

Smallholder, I know exactly what you mean as we have this same pantomime too - and my dh considers himself green!! It's drives me to distraction, especially as he installs multiple lights everywhere. For example, at present - and I jest not - there are 5 on in the front room (out of 7), 5 out of 5 on in the kitchen, 3 out of 3 on in the hall, one on outside and one on the landing upstairs. I am in the back room (with one light on) and he is asleep in bed, having left all the other 14 lights on!!! Does that beat your dh's problem???

TheYearOfTheCat · 17/02/2009 23:47

If you use low energy bulbs, it will improve matters.

My DBIL, who is a professional in the field, claims that if you intend to return to a room and switch the light back on within 15 minutes, it is actually cheaper to leave the light on, as there is an increased cost when you switch on, as opposed to staying on, IYSWIM.

I second Teqillia's approach - we live on a fairly busy road, and my DH would insist on switching our bedroom lights on, and leaving them on, without closing our curtains - making our bedroom into a viewing gallery. After having a row discussing it, he refused to see my point of view, so I removed all the light bulbs.

What exactly are the lights he is leaving on? Which rooms? Overhead lights, or lamps?

Original poster

Smallholder · 17/02/2009 23:55

overthehill - yes, your Dh beats mine by a mile. It shouldn't make me glad, but oddly, it does. My eldest DD (who has a light-leaving-on DH as well) and I considered starting a blog for women who are driven to distraction by men who do this. We may do this when we both have more time.

OP posts:

Original poster

Smallholder · 18/02/2009 00:02

TheYearOfTheCat - yes we use low energy bulbs. The lights that he leaves on are - all of them. - whichever room he goes into, he switches the light on and then leaves it on. Overheads and lamps as well. All lights - our house looks like Blackpool every time he comes home.
Makes me mad, mad, mad

OP posts:

ginormoboobs · 18/02/2009 00:03

YANBU
My DH also seems to lack the ability to turn off any light he switches on. Some mornings asfer he leaves for work , I have to turn off every light innthe house It's the morning FFS , turning on the lights does not make the house any brighter.

PuddingChops · 18/02/2009 00:06

Smallholder - its not just lights with my dp. He can't close doors - any door. Wardrobes, kitchen cupboards, drawers and room doors - always leaves them open.

Timeisablindguide · 18/02/2009 00:09

YANBU - I'm trying to educate my ds about this as I often find all the lights left on upstairs after he's popped up to get a toy etc! Tsk!

TheYearOfTheCat · 18/02/2009 00:21

We use remote control switches, which we plug our lamps into - so in the evening, one button will switch on all the lights we need downstairs - it sounds wasteful, but in fact, because we use lamps in every room (which have low energy bulbs) there is no need to switch on more lights when you go into the room.

I have just totted up - we usually have 8 lamps on, with an average of 7 watts each. If you use the remote control system, you can also switch all the lights out without actually needing to be in the room [great idea!].

The other thing I think costs a fortune, is light fittings, with 5 or 6 bulbs in each. Almost all the overhead fittings in our house have these.

My sister got a wattson a few months ago, and it is strangely compulsive, watching what the current usage is in the house (you will always think twice about boiling the kettle after seeing one of these).

Original poster

Smallholder · 18/02/2009 00:31

Puddingchops - if it was doors as well as lights - OMG - think I would have to put a bat up his pJs. Timeis - yes - get the DCs whilst they're young or you've lost them forever. My DCs are quite good and say Daddy is pants! Only about lights, mind you - Daddy is the dogs' bs with regard to all other stuff!
Mummy is boring, apparently.
Hehe - wait for dinner - could be gruel

OP posts:

Original poster

Smallholder · 18/02/2009 00:36

TheYearOfTheCat - can a wattson be stapled to a forehead/body part? Only joking - I assume it has to be plugged it to the supply or it wouldn't tell you such interesting stuff?

OP posts:

ProfessorCalculus · 18/02/2009 00:41

Puddingchops, mine is the same. he'll open a cupboard/drawer to get something out and leave it open. It drives me nuts!!!
And he leaves lights on. He switches them on in the daytime when they make no difference to the brightness of the room and leaves them on.
I work one day a week and leave very early (before him) an I have to ring him to remind him not to leave all the lights and the heating on in an empty house.

TheYearOfTheCat · 18/02/2009 00:46

I don't really know how it works - I think it may be wireless technology - one bit plugs in, but the other bit can be moved around the house. So it is entirely possible to contemplate stapling it to various body parts

Since it costs the best part of £100, that is why my sis has it, and not us! However, they manage to achieve about 600 watts/hour on average. They tried it at my BIL's brother's house, and it instantly went up to 5000 watts/hour Even when my DBIL's DB switched off all the unecessary stuff, he still couldn't get it below 3000 watts.

However, my DH bought a much cheaper device from Maplin which tells you exactly how much electricity certain appliances are using - you plug the appliance into this thing, then plug it into the wall. We worked out that by using remote control switches for our stereos etc rather than standby, we would save almost £200 a year in electricity (and that was before prices went up).

Oh how the long nights fly by in the YearOfTheCat household . . . .

Bettymum · 18/02/2009 16:48

One of my little games is to try and guess which room DH is in when I get home, by looking at the lights that are on in each room. I then go into each room saying "no, not in HERE...no, not in HERE..." very loudly, while flicking light switches off in a dramatic manner. This goes on until I find him in the last room. I do let him keep the lights on in whichever room he is currently in.