"Thing is, the lights are always on, which of course is not the case. Then again, I suppose I could turn them on and off again. I'm very energy conscious like that."
Or maybe you were seeing light that is there in that realm, not the physical light. Most of what I have read about Astral Light is from books by Ophiel, the pen name of Edward Peach. Some of what he wrote was based on the work of Eliphas Levi and the Golden Dawn, but he had very interesting first hand accounts that lead to some fascinating ideas about the nature of reality and how it comes about. His work is not the most elegant writing ever, but he was a very down to earth person and focused on getting practical results from occult practices. You can find his work here : http://www.templeilluminatus.com/group/ophiel
Ophiel describes in "The Art and Practice of Contacting the Demiurge" how he noticed in lucid dreams and OBEs that there always seemed to be a light, even at night. He described it as being white or golden white in color. He started trying to follow this light to find the origin of it, but it eluded him, seeming to "go around the corner" as he would approach. The light seemed to have a fluid quality as well, and seemed to flow in currents which carried elemental energy which eventually "condensed" into the physical plane reality. According to Ophiel, it is possible to learn how to manage this fluid/light so that we benefit from the end--physical-- results.
I have read other accounts of dreams where people played around with white putty like substance, and I have also had a dream where I was teaching people how to do this. I have been wondering if the "putty" is actually the same as this "light".
Unfortunately my own dream work is not progressing very well as my life has been very disrupted by my attempts to improve my overall life situation, so if I've learned anything about this light I'm not aware of it in waking life. Dream recall has suffered from the difficulty in maintaining a sleep routine. (My living situations have changed frequently over the last few years and involved a lot of travel through various time zones.)