Task lighting only. I enjoy day and night and never light up my house to the extent lighting specialists suggest. Brilliant clear light right now, gloomy and dim when it's cloudy, glowing areas at night and night lights on for safe walking after bedtime. I may go hygge and light up some of that hoard of tealights I have if I get tired of gloom but that hardly ever happens.

The under cabinet lights are on all day, but that's it unless it's really cloudy out then I might turn on the kitchen hutch lamp. The night lights in the kitchen are on 24/7 as are the ones in the laundry room, bathroom, and living room.

I don't like the idea of lights on during the day other than task lights, e.g., desk in office. If it's a particular gloomy day and/or a guest is over, I might turn on a light to warm it up a bit. Otherwise I will sit where there is the most natural light.

I'm particularly grateful that my kitchen gets great light all day long. I don't think I'd be happy with an interior kitchen.

I live in the Midwest, and in the winter it can be really dark and dreary, so I have lights on--both to see and for the cheeriness.

Only task lighting, or when traversing a room full of Legos at night.

I do - mainly because I can't see a darn thing and this house does not get a lot of natural light.

It is raining here today.... dark, foggy and dreary. We have lights on. If it's sunny out, we don't need lights. Skylights, french doors and lots of windows take care of all the light we need.

I have a sunny house too, and never put lights on unless I need to read. In the kitchen, I do if we are eating or if I am cooking.

I only have windows and slider on one side of my condo. They face NE. By late afternoon in the winter I do need lights. Earlier, just task lighting in the kitchen and general lighingt in bathrooms as needed.

In one bathroom and my kitchen task lights as needed and at Christmas I like my tree light all day.

Only as needed. If it's gloomy and there isn't enough natural light to see what I'm doing, sure. But rarely just for ambiance. And only in the room I'm in. Rarely are there ever lights on in unoccupied rooms. I can still hear Dad yelling at us to turn the lights out when we're done!

My sister has to have lots of light all the time. You can tell where she's been in the house by which lights are on. Once we were visiting Dad in the hospital, and after they came to take him away for some test, she ran around turning all the lights on in his room. She complained that the subdued light in the room was too dim. Because of course people in bed in the hospital need lots of overhead light!!

Not if I can help it!

Not until dark or a very rainy day. Parts of the house can be almost too bright at times.

Depends on the ambiance I want and since installing all led's, electricity isn't an issue.

Almost 800 watts of lighting for the orchids, cacti and succulents, it certainly brightens the room.

Okay then. I am cheating. The aquarium has a fancy LED light over it with 540 watts but it doesn't run at full power most of the day.

DH wakes up around 5 am every day and turns on a bunch of overhead lights. I wake up usually when it's already light out, then walk around turning off all his lights. They stay off unless I switch on a lamp or two on an overcast or dreary day. Sometimes I need to turn on the kitchen island pendants when I'm prepping food, but in general I don't tend to have lights on during the day. Fortunately, we have a lot of windows (and very simple window treatments).

I only turn on the lights I need to see what I’m doing. Generally, there is enough natural light during the day, but at night, I have two lamps with LED bulbs lit. My stairways have occupancy lighting, so the can lights come on when someone will be ascending or descending the stairs. They go off in 15 seconds.

I live in the Pacific Northwest so . . . yes I do.

These responses are very interesting. I thought more people would have lighting on during the day. I do not turn mine on simply bc it is unnecessary. Plus, I was brought up not to waste anything. I remember my parents would yell at me to closet the door saying "you are air conditioning the entire neighborhood!" I live in the south so it is typically quite warm most months and hot as can be in the summer.

My mother said that to me too, ak.

Our house gets excellent natural light as well but I do end up putting on task lighting like over the sink or stove. If it's sunny I don't need anything at all, but with a cloudy/dreary day the lights are on all day. I hate being in the dark. Especially now with short winter days. Our reports from the electric utility show we are usually lower than an energy efficient home in our use based on houses of our size.

Only on dreary days like today. I have my lamp on to make me believe it's cheery out (not) and the wood stove is visible ten feet away so I'm content most of my days.

I don't turn on lights too much. I keep my curtains opened and you cannot see inside at all due to a mirror type reflection on the glass. It is dreary up here in Ohio that's for sure but unless I'm trying to see something in the mirror or I'm cooking, I don't turn on the lights for the most part. When I'm cooking, I just turn on the stove light and the window is enough light for the rest of the work. I remember that I used to always have on the fluorescent lights in the kitchen but at some point, I stopped doing that...don't really know why?

Our house has a lot of natural light. I do not turn on lights until absolutely necessary.

I go for the task lighting in the kitchen.

The range hood lighting and under cab lighting as needed.

On really dreary days, I may need task lighting elsewhere.

Yes, I usually have lights on during the day but we use very energy efficient ones. I live in Texas and in the summer we don't want the sun in the house! We have big shade trees that block the sun. In the winter the den gets sun all day which we really enjoy but the living room faces north with a porch and the kitchen just gets morning sun.

I hate a dark house and do turn on lights.

Happily, I️ love having big trees to filter light and using lamps etc during the day! Our house sits up on a hill which allows for great views but no trees.

I️ live in Texas too!

I have LED lights everywhere, and my house's electric bill is the lowest compared to other houses of the same size and built around 1939. $86 per month.

I have two lamps on timers to come on in the morning around the time I get up. One is in my kitchen lounge seating area and the other is on the game table at the front of my living room (so with my plantation shutters it looks like i'm home).

They go off around the time my house is fully lit my sunlight on sunny days -- 10 am. They come on again at 4:30 pm in the summer and 6:00 pm in the winter, and are set to turn off at 10:30 pm.

On cloudy, dark days, I turn the timer switch to keep them on; I turn on other lights as needed.

So -- the answer is -- I turn on what makes me feel the most comfortable. I love my home, and sometimes to fully enjoy sitting in my living room, I turn on three of the lamps.

IMHO lighting is the most important element of decor to make the room and people in it look their best. I'm a crazy about light. Every lightswitch in both houses is dimmered, including and especially bathrooms. I love the welcoming look of a dimmed light over the "hearth" in the kitchen in the morning; i leave it on overnight. I don't like walking into dark rooms. I like the rooms of the house to be lit a certain way when I pull in the driveway. When i stay in a luxury hotel that has unflattering lighting, I ding them in the review. I was at a party recently and the lights were too high in the one room we were socializing in, and so I tried to find the dimmers to adjust it. When DH and I were dating, we rendez-voused at a little cottage and the vestibule entry had fluorescent light. When he arrived, I stayed in the cottage proper and he was knocking away, LOL. I take candles with me when I travel.

Yes, lights on during the day as needed. My eyes are sensitive to light, and they function like a camera lens. If there is bright light coming in a window, I need lights on in the room to balance the incoming light. When I face a light-filled window, my pupils contract and I can't see a thing.

I'm in New Mexico, at a higher altitude where it is rarely cloudy. The house was also designed for most rooms to get light from 2 sides, at least. It is very rare for me to use artificial lights during the day. Even with LED lights, I hate the thought of wasting the electricity. I also like to appreciate the change in the quality of the light throughout the day and throughout the seasons. The one place I often make an exception is the kitchen. The natural light there is not as nice as I would like (I need to make different curtains that allow the whole window to be exposed). I will use the lights over the cooktop to help me judge the food being prepared, or use other lights to make sure I do not chop off a finger. I also of course turn on the lights no matter what time of day for makeup application. That is out of courtesy to whomever I might see, I would hate to startle someone.

My energy report for the last month just arrived, so I think I'm okay with my daytime lights!

I also live in the PNW. And in the woods and in a lower level dwelling unit. So yes, I have lights on :-) In fact, I have some on 365/24/7. I couldn't see where I was going or what I was doing otherwise!

Unless it's really dark/cloudy outside, we don't really need lights on during the day except in the cooking part of our kitchen. While it does get some light from windows on the north and west wall during the day, and probably doesn't need lights on when in there, we usually do turn on at least one light when we are in there during the day. Unfortunately, the south wall has most of our cabinetry plus our stove and fridge, and it directly faces our neighbor's house/kitchen window, so we don't have any windows on that wall which would bring a ton of light. If we ever get around to remodeling it, I want to add at least one window on that wall - even just one would add a lot of light. Today it's cloudy but still kind of bright outside, but the kitchen light is on - mainly b/c my kids never turn it off! If i'm home alone, I only turn it on if I'm actually in there. No other lights on in the house at the moment though. Our family room has 10 windows on three walls and the other "wall" is a huge opening to our eating area of the kitchen, so that room gets a ton of natural lighting. Aside from the kitchen, the only other "dark" room in the house is my boys' bedroom but even still, it has a south facing window so gets enough light during the day, plus they are rarely in there during the day anyway - at school!

I have one light in our living room on a timer in the winter - the window faces the front street side, right near the front door. We don't really use that room much at night, but I think it makes the house look more welcoming from the outside, plus it means no one coming home alone (esp my kids) enters into a completely dark house.