Is there, like, some law of nature that says that every household has to have one person who goes around turning off the lights???

My friend admits to being the culprit at her house. Her husband gripes because "We're livin' in a cave" while she chirps "Pennies down the drain!"

Now, I don't mean when you're done in a room and you wander off, forgetting to turn off the light.

I'm talking when I go down cellar to get a can of peas, and when I get back in the kitchen all the lights are off. Then what do you do? Turn 'em back on, and make it about dueling light switches? "Oh yeah? Well, I wanted them ON!" Leave them off and get supper ready by squint?

If it's possible to (vaguely) make out the outlines of furniture as I grope my way through the house, then we don't "need" the lights on, and we're saving money.

How much money are we going to save when I trip over the pile in the carpet or walk in to a wall and break my nose?

My brother is like that. I'd go visit him, and in about 600 square feet of space, there would be a pin-up lamp with a forty-watt bulb. I wanted to slap a ten dollar bill in his hand and screw in a 100-watter.

It isn't that I can't see in the half-dark, it's that I'm claustrophobic when it's semi-dark all around me. I can't describe it, but it makes me feel trapped or something.

So am I right? Does every house have one? Man, he can't even bring himself to kiss me good-bye in the morning until he has all the "unnecessary" lights turned out first. AAAAAAAARGH!

I think it's a second nature for some people, B2, somewhere in life it was pounded into their heads that electricity is expensive.

At some point, I was told that it's more cost-effective to leave them on during short intervals of absence and I agree with you on that one. Maybe you could help Bob out with a little nudge, and offer to have $75k worth of new, bigger windows installed to save on electricity. Or, have skylights installed so he'll have a new hobby keeping them clean and sealed. Of course, you could always use battery-operated lights strategically located to foil him, buying dozens of batteries every month will definitely lower the electric bill. Also, it seems to me that if you can't cook or do laundry in the dark, then, well, you can't cook or do laundry anymore.

Oh! And don't forget, solar grids have been dropping in price for years!

If you have multiple switches for single lights, go to the least convenient one to him and set it to sit in the middle, the other switches won't work.

You are funny, B2U.

I am guilty as charged. I am the one in our house that insists every light is off, except a few 40 watts usually hidden behind large electronics.

It isn't about saving money though, as I keep my once a week utilized hot tub going year round. I also do about 5 loads of laundry a day (I like clean!) . . . but I just do it all in the dark.

I hate bright lights at night time. As soon as the sun comes up, I have every curtain open in the house, and I like direct sunlight . . . but when it comes to lighting, I hate it. In fact, I generally don't even shop in stores that have bright lights, like Walmart, and wear sunglasses most of time, even on my balconey.

I have been like this since about the time I probably "came down" with MS, in my mid-teens. I think I am part bat.

PS: I have used the "cost" as the excuse, but it's not the real reason.

Cherie

I keep my lights off during the day mainly because I use the sunlight/daylight. Plus, ever since my last visual flare in 2005 my eyes are ultra sensitive. I cannot tolerate bright sunlight or flourescent lighting for too long. I prefer dimly lit rooms to brightly lit ones. I guess my son has become accustomed to this because he keeps most lights off, too.

Growing up my Dad was the official "light turner offer" at our house. He had a sense of humor about it, though. He'd wander through the house declaring "this ain't the Taj Mahal.....when did I get a raise??.......nobody's in this room - guess the ghosts need the lights on.....am I the only conservative in this house??"

Ana was the ultimate "light switcher off person" Her mom trained her well!
Her 'best' was while at a party at the Officers's Club, in a very busy ladies room.....Ana was finished and proceeded to go return to the party, while leaving the room, she turns out the lights, leaving various women stranded in their stalls!!! Leading to various eeks, and shrieks and what the he!!'s
I then had to yell "Ana, please turn the light back ON!"
Everyone who had been 'stranded' in the dark wanted her to come to their house and teach their kids HOW to turn out lights!!

It's me - David is always leaving lights on and I go behind him and shut them off - he complains the same when I put a dirty knife, fork or spoon in the dishwasher that is sitting on the counter.

MY FATHER IN LAW. He drives me crazy. He is constantly following me around their house and turning off lights. They have this huge family room off their kitchen/eating area. One Christmas, I got up from the couch where I had been reading for over an hour to go get a cup of tea, I was gone for no less than 2 minutes, you can see the kitchen from where he was sitting as well as see me, he got up and walked across the room and shut off my light.

About 45 minutes later, I got up to go to the bathroom, and he did the same thing, shut off the light. My book is still there as well as my tea cup and my blanket.

He does this all the time.

I just turn the light back on. Funny thing is, he doesn't turn HIS light off when he gets up to go somewhere. But he does do it to other people in the house as well, just not his light.

PODH says it's because they grew up in during the depression and it's a money saving thing. They keep their house closed off, and the heat vents closed in rooms that don't get used, the house is always dark, it's spooky, almost like no one lives there!

MIL does cook in the dark and she has a beautiful kitchen...when I am allowed to cook, the place is lit up like a Christmas tree...she comes in and starts turning off lights. I turn right around and turn them back on. I can't see.

So I say let there be light! It's only for a few minutes!!!!

I leave the lights ON!

Turn them off, and just like when the neuro says to close my eyes, I fall down! ...... I have absolutely no stability at all in the dark.

Ditto kiddo!
I have turned into my Mother and run around the house following DH saying don't read in the dark; you'll ruin your eyes etc...etc