"v" wrote in message
...

Quite a lot of the lights in our house are used for only a couple of
minutes at a time, if that. Like our main hallways have switches at
either end and the middle (entry point there also). At night, enter
on one end, turn on light; exit other end, turn off light. Less than
a minute.

Perhaps you can find in the USA what are marketed
in France as "minuteries" which turn off a light after a
(programmable?) X seconds. They were prima facie
invented for staircases in walkup apartment buildings.
You turn on the light as you enter the staircase, then
forget about it even if your hands are not full. The
gadget automatically turns off the light (usually when
you just dropped your key.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)