The Green Buck Stops Here

The long hall down the center of my house is very dark, both day and night. My 90 year old father sometimes gets up in the middle of the night to get a snack. I had to keep lights on 24/7 to make sure he didn’t trip. I used compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s) to save energy but they’re bright and can be a shock when you are coming out of a dark bedroom in the middle of the night.

I bought a string of white LED Christmas lights and strung them down the middle of the hallway ceiling. Then, using an adapter, plugged it into the existing light fixture. I liked the way they looked so I added another string along the den wall against the ceiling. I dug out an old floor lamp and, using another adapter, plugged the string into the lamp so I didn’t have an ugly cord hanging down the wall to the outlet. It also makes it easy to turn on and off. I leave the hall light on day and night and turn the den light on only after dark.

The effect is a nice soft glow and we now have a clear path of light from the bedrooms to the kitchen without flicking on any switches. LED bulbs use only at tiny amount of electricity and last a very long time.