Alone in the Dark: Keep a Nightlight On

One very small (but highly effective) things that I grew up with in my parents' house was the presence of nightlights in the hallways. They only came on when the hallways were dark; as a kid, this was highly useful when my imagination went into overdrive and I thought monsters were going to jump out at me from the coat closet.

[ Photo from Stephbot ]

Ever since I've lived on my own, I've always kept a nightlight in the hallway. It's mainly due to habit; but it's definitely saved me from a lot of stubbed toes, numerous cases of having the heebie-jeebies, and tripping over rugs and dog toys.

Do you keep a nightlight on in your home? Do you have any little things that you do that makes your home feel a wee bit safer?

Comments (19)

I do, mainly in the bathroom as I have no outlets in my tiny hallway in my apartment. Should put one in the kitchen for when I need to get a drink, but that's what the fridge is for. :-)

Seriously, since my bathroomo is an interior room, it helps to keep it from being just a black hole in the evenings and its light spills out into the hallway when then leads to the living room, but w/ the lights outside, there is enough to see to get to the kitchen for a drink when necessary.

What is more effective and... green, turning on the lights just when you need or keeping a light on all night long?
I'm starting to understand why energy consumption in the US is twice as much as in Europe...

Pantzini, Not sure the answer to your question is self-apparent. You can get LED night lights that use only 1W of electricity. So is it more energy efficient to turn on a 60W bulb for 10 minutes as needed or to leave the 1W bulb on for 8 hours? Turns out the nightlight uses less energy in that scenario.

I agree that US energy consumption is out of control overall, but I think the humble night light is the least of our worries. And stubbed toes are no fun.

In response to Pantzini,

Most night lights even if they use a standard incandescent bulb, are at most 4w anyway so the draw is minimal and many of them have photovoltaig cells in them to turn them off during the day, or at least dim them if in rooms that don't get all that bright during the day.

There are mini florescent models out and as mentioned, LED's as well as the traditional ones but as stated, don't use too much energy.

But in this case, safety is paramount, especially for older individuals who's eyesights at night are not as good as they used to be. I know as my Mom broke a toe once when the night light in her bathroomo burned out in the middle of the night.

I picked up a pack of LED nightlights from Walmart and I use them all over the place. One in the kitchen, one above the stairs of our townhouse, one in the master bath... the one in the bathroom spills into the bedroom to give us just enough light to see if we have to get up at night, but not enough to keep us awake.

Doesn't really make sense using LEDs if you keep them on when nobody's around. Switches, anyone?

There's enough light from my bedroom window that I can see in the dark. I never had one as a kid either.

Unplug when not in use!

Pantzini,

The thing to realize about night lights is this and it may be difficult to understand unless you've experienced getting up in the middle of the night and that is one should NOT have to grope for a light switch in the dark and the REAL reason for the night light is to LIGHT the path to the bathroom and to provide just enough light to see what you are doing and nothing more.

At 2AM, most people are groggy when they get up to use the bathroom and who wants to turn on the bright hall light, just to get to a bathroom, or worse yet, go into the bathroom off the bedroom and do the same and risk waking the other person sharing the bed?

And since these kinds of things are unpredictable, it has been found to be much safer if the light is on at night all night and I do agree that they should be OFF during the day whenever possible.

I have a teeny LED lightlight in my bathroom (that I can also see into the hallway and from my bedroom). This a) eliminates any heebie-jeebies and b) keeps me from having to turn on the lights if I have to get up for the bathroom in the middle of the night. I hate turning on the regular lights in that scenario ... it wakes me up to much and often can't go back to sleep.

Oh, and I never have it plugged in except at night. I assumed everyone does this?

I have a nightlight on the bedroom wall leading into the bathroom. I'm not afraid of falling. I have run into the wall on many occasions before plugging in the light and I have also stepped on a cat or two which is NOT a good thing in the middle of the night. It's only plugged in for about 6-7 hours a night.

I guess everyone does what suits one best.
I hardly ever wake up in the middle of the night so I didn't realize it can be such a big deal :)

I dont have a nightlight. Ive lived in my place for a few years now and know my way around. Ive stubbed my toe on the corner of my bed in the middle of the day so Im not sure how much safer a night light would keep my poor toes.

I do have a few LED night lights around the house. One in the stair well (no windows there) and one near the back door/kitchen. I think the low voltage is a small price to pay if it keeps me from turning on the overhead lights when it isn't really necessary. Not to mention they do turn off during the day or if another light is on...

:)

I have a nightlight in the bathroom too for night visits. I like to avoid turning on a full light at night and waking myself completely up.

I have LED nightlights with motion sensors. They aren't the most attractive looking but they have saved me from tripping over things in the dead of night or when I'm walking through the hallway with my hands full and unable to flip the light switch.

I moved into my husband's house when we got married 9 months ago and shortly thereafter determined that some nightlights would be good for our marriage (because a wife who is cursing at 2 am because she again ran her shin into the bed frame returning from the bathroom is not a good thing). We have 2 small LED ones that are light-sensitive, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. The first cheap ones we bought were crap, but now we have some nicer ones and I'm very happy with them.

I'm all about saving the environment, but if I ran my shin into that bed frame one more time I was going to hurt someone. Plus, this way I don't have to turn on the overhead light in the bathroom in the middle of the night, which means I might get back to sleep sooner.