Put out that light!

He’s clearly got the frugal mindset from decades past, which is ingrained and unlikely to change.
Just stick to your guns and say that you want it on for security and peace of mind and with low energy bulbs, it costs next to nothing to run. Also suggest he look it up, what the cost is.

You GNers are so kind.
I would tell him if he turns that light off again, I will unplug it and hit him with it so it's definitely off.
Now I know that sound violent, but it might get the point across!

Thanks for the giggle V... now I have forgotten your name having to turn over!!!!! I was feeling a bit despondent, read the post/thread on how tired we all are... so thanks for the laugh!!!

That's my dad, miser, uses a torch rather than switch the lights on. Has recently upped his electric payments to £30 a month due to his electric car!

Here, there is a low LED light inside and outside for the dogs to go out at night to do anything (outside is actually a modified inside with drains so totally secure!), I have the hall light downstairs on so if I need the loo it's safe for me to come down the stairs and aim for the bathroom. Mum has her bathroom light on all night (fixed led mount similar to the one the dogs have) so she can make several visits during the night.

We both also have torches by our beds just in case of power cuts!

We were away one weekend and got burgled. It was devastating! we lost some valuables but also some stuff that was only of sentimental value.
A light on in the house is a good deterrent as most burglars will move along to a house that is in darkness and therefore less likely to have occupants to upset his/her plans.
The police actually recommend leaving a light on, on a timer, for this very purpose.

Grandmaofone

This is in my experience a ‘man thing’ as women do not do this

"-&!:

Quite. Women are more likely to be passing from one room to another with armsful of washing or other items unable to shut the door or operate the light switch, so we open the door and switch the light on in advance.

It is very frustrating to then come back through only to find the door shut and the light switched off.

He is being unreasonalble. Get a flashlight for yourself, remove the light bulbs and see if that satisfies him.

I see why you are annoyed. But I want to suggest another way of looking at it - something I want to offer in a friendly spirit and you can consider it or simply let it go.
Maybe in the great scheme of things in your life, it might help to look at this differently, I am sure that you want to be happy - we all do want that for ourselves and others we care about. Perhaps you could ask yourself if it is worth having this painful fight with your husband, which is making you both feel bad. I realise you want to deter burglars and that is sensible - but unless you live in a high crime area, perhaps this is not what matters most. Maybe finding a way to be at ease with your husband even though he is arguably wrong about the light, would lead to having a happier life.
It is a meaningful thing to be magnanimous and be the great hearted one who steps back and says in effect 'Lets let this go. Its more important to me, and our life together, to be kind and at ease. Can we move on? I'm ready to let the light issue go and want us both to get better at listening to each other.'

The thought ‘any excuse to grumble ‘ did cross my mind.

What a silly man he is being. Show him this thread so he can see for himself how unreasonable his argument is. So, he’d prefer you to stumble about in the dark, would he, and risk an accident to yourself. No, put your foot down on this one and tell him the light will be coming on via its timer- for safety reasons. It costs peanuts to run, for heavens sake.

My husband does this too. Always has, it drives me mad. I leave a room for a few seconds to get something and I walk back into blackness as he has come behind me and turned it off " as I am not in the room and wasting electricity". I call him the Electricity Police and tell him where to go but I love the Air Raid Warden idea, I'm going to start using that instead, also thank you to the poster who worked out how much the annual cost was, I read it out to him!!

Granmarderby10

Crikey!! What decade was he born in?
Just tell him the light’s for you and that you matter. And to stop behaving like some throwback Dad.

This!

If he persists, get an electrician in to hardwire it so he cannot switch it off, or perhaps fit a fake switch that he can switch off to his heart's content without any effect

I've just started leaving lights on when I go out in the evenings as I'm coming home after dark now the nights are drawing in. I'm obsessive about saving electricity, but still want to have some light on when I get back.

As for security, burglars do look for patterns and break in when they think no-one's home. I had an attempted burglary here, despite having lights on and I was in the house. But the significant thing was that my car was not there. It had failed its MOT for the final time and I was about to get another one. I don't know who got the biggest shock when I heard a noise and went to investigate and walked into the kitchen where there are no curtains. All I could see was my own reflection in the french doors and the white handle moving up and down. The burglars disappeared pdq leaving behind the tools they were using to try to force the door, which were found by the police next morning!

I usually leave the kitchen light on and sometimes my outside light at the front. If I go away I have a desk lamp plugged into a timer in the kitchen which switches on early evening then off and on a couple of times again later. The timer was given to me by the police after my attempted burglary and they advised me to use it in that way. They also gave me vibration alarms to stick on the french doors which are labelled as such. They probably no longer work as the batteries are now quite old but the labels are probably a deterrent. I also upgraded my burglar alarm after the scare and always set it when I'm out. It notifies me of any activity via an app on my phone. We do need to be more security concious these days unfortunately and I feel it especially as I live alone.

Tell him the police recommend lights on timers! You are not being unreasonable.

As you say nothing about your financial situation, I think it is grossly unfair that everyone seems to find your husband unreasonable.

I do not live in the UK, but judging by all the gransnetters who have said they are finding it hard to pay utililty bills since the inflation caused by the war in the Ukraine, I support your husband.

I have saved a whopping amount since our electricity prices rose so steeply by only having one light on at a time. I cannot afford to have lights on in rooms I am not in any longer. Can you?

jocork

I've just started leaving lights on when I go out in the evenings as I'm coming home after dark now the nights are drawing in. I'm obsessive about saving electricity, but still want to have some light on when I get back.

As for security, burglars do look for patterns and break in when they think no-one's home. I had an attempted burglary here, despite having lights on and I was in the house. But the significant thing was that my car was not there. It had failed its MOT for the final time and I was about to get another one. I don't know who got the biggest shock when I heard a noise and went to investigate and walked into the kitchen where there are no curtains. All I could see was my own reflection in the french doors and the white handle moving up and down. The burglars disappeared pdq leaving behind the tools they were using to try to force the door, which were found by the police next morning!

I usually leave the kitchen light on and sometimes my outside light at the front. If I go away I have a desk lamp plugged into a timer in the kitchen which switches on early evening then off and on a couple of times again later. The timer was given to me by the police after my attempted burglary and they advised me to use it in that way. They also gave me vibration alarms to stick on the french doors which are labelled as such. They probably no longer work as the batteries are now quite old but the labels are probably a deterrent. I also upgraded my burglar alarm after the scare and always set it when I'm out. It notifies me of any activity via an app on my phone. We do need to be more security concious these days unfortunately and I feel it especially as I live alone.

Tell him the police recommend lights on timers! You are not being unreasonable.

I am sorry that you had to go through an attempted burglary Jocork. That must have been very unsettling when you were on your own.
It was useful to read about the steps that you have taken to make your house more secure and very helpful to hear that the police recommended lights on timers.
Thanks for your reply and I hope that your security measures have increased your feeling of security in your home

Thanks everyone for your further responses.
I will mull over your advice and try to have a further conversation with my husband when the time is right. Hopefully he will see the light! (Ahem. I'll get my coat.)

Amazon do battery operated tea lights on a timer. You can tell him you will pay for the batteries and to keep his hands off your stuff! If you dont take men down a peg or two by going mental at them, they will always walk all over you.

Smudgie

My husband does this too. Always has, it drives me mad. I leave a room for a few seconds to get something and I walk back into blackness as he has come behind me and turned it off " as I am not in the room and wasting electricity". I call him the Electricity Police and tell him where to go but I love the Air Raid Warden idea, I'm going to start using that instead, also thank you to the poster who worked out how much the annual cost was, I read it out to him!!

I've got one of those too!
OK, sometimes I forget to turn out a light and don't mind being reminded but I hate having to walk from the kitchen (shutting the door so the cats don't get in there) and stumble across the dark dining room to put on the light switch at the far side, then come back to pick up whatever I need to carry in there!
And just because the top up app happens to be on his phone (because my frugal second hand one loses battery power too quickly if I put too many apps on it) it's "But I'm the one paying for it"!

My late husband would complain about lights, but have no end of electrical things going in the shed. I wondered why our electric was so high, then found he had a compressor which switched on and off at intervals all day when he was at work. 😡

My dad used to say its like Blackpool illuminations in here, now my son is saying the same to his children,...funny

Cost of having a 3w LED on for 10 hours a day is £2.74 a year.

I suggest you get him to read the link below which gives the figures in a clear and easily understood way.

You could, of course offer to pay him £2.50 a year for the light to be left on, with you paying the cost.

www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/how-much-do-led-lights-cost-to-run/

My neighbour had a burglary recently. Everything was gone through and stuff thrown out of drawers and jewellery taken. That were advised by the police to have a light on!!

Also your husband is a bully. His behaviour will only deteriorate if you let him go on with it. These women who are saying the same thing, beware! Also, I've noticed with friends, Alzheimer's often starts this way, with violent behaviour following when they consistently get their way. I've always wondered at women treated as third rate citizens in there own homes. Some of you need to start making a note of this behaviour and make sure your dune or to with thus, just to have a quiet life. It only gets worse.

Sorry about the mistakes, I should have used preview. 'Some of you need to start making a note of this behaviour and make sure you don't put up with this, just to have a quiet life. It only gets worse'.

Georgesgran

Leave it on!
I’ve outdoor dusk to dawn lights which cost next to nothing to run and give me a bit of security in my dark corner.

We have a dawn to dusk light too, and one of our neighbours is convinced that we are wasting huge amounts of power. But it gives me the security of knowing that I can see to get the door unlocked if I get home in the dark, and anybody attempting to break in would be fully illuminated!

I've turned into my father in law - cf it 'being a man thing' - in my old age.... We have inherited a multi light arrangement in every room of our tiny cottage. It has a double height ceiling in the living room which sports 6 large suspended bulbs. Even the tiny kitchen has two ceiling lights.... DH wanders from room to room switching them all on.....That can mean 8 bulbs as the kitchen and living room are open plan though the kitchen does have a normal height ceiling. Telling him our electricity bill is about £250 a month makes no difference. He's been a tremendous support to me for over half a century so I just let it go ..... Life's too short. Having said that I do believe you can install motion sensor lights in your garden to spot light any would be persons of evil intent...but you may have to hide the switch. .