Energy Efficient Upgrades : Lighting

Depending on the type of business you operate, lighting accounts for 20% to 50% of electricity consumption. This means that significant cost savings can be achieved with energy-efficiency improvements, and due to continually improving equipment, lighting usually provides the highest return-on-investment of major upgrades.

The Formula for Lighting Energy Efficiency

Incandescent Lighting Technology

Thomas Edison invented the first commercialized electric lighting technology in 1879, the incandescent lamp. This simple, yet inefficient, technology has dominated lighting applications ever since. Incandescent lamps come in two common type varieties:

• Standard Incandescent Lamps: Inefficient lamps used in many applications throughout a facility.
• Halogen Lamps: Halogen Lamps are a more advanced incandescent lamp technology commonly used to highlight merchandise and architectural features due to their white light and “sparkle”.

Where can you find incandescent lamps in your facility?

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

CFLs are fluorescent lamps that have been specifically made in a compact form to replace incandescent lamps in traditional screw-in fixtures. These energy-efficient lamps come in a variety of styles and sizes and are suitable for a variety of applications. ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs  use 75% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a 100-watt incandescent with a 32-watt CFL can save approximately $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

The long life of CFLs makes them ideal to use in hard-to-reach places due to their reduced need to be replaced as often. In addition, CFLs are cool to the touch, making them safer than incandescent and halogen lamps. To learn more about CFLs visit:

• ENERGY STAR Qualified Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
• DOE EERE Consumer’s Guide: Compact Fluorescent Lamps
• National Lighting Product Information Program’s Screwbase Compact Fluorescent Lamp Products Report 

Fluorescent Lighting

Fluorescent lighting is the “standard” technology for lighting spaces such as offices and classrooms, and is up to four times more efficient than the incandescent lamp. However, older, obsolete fluorescent lighting systems can result in poor light quality and flicker. Advancements in fluorescent lighting systems have resulted in the introduction of new systems that provide improved energy efficiency, lighting quality, and design flexibility.

The primary components of standard fluorescent lighting systems are the ballast, which modifies incoming voltage and controls electrical current, and the lamp (bulb or tube), the source of artificial light.

Traditional Systems:

• T12 Fluorescent Lamps: One of the most common, but least efficient fluorescent systems. T12 lamps can be identified by their 1.5-inch diameter.
• Magnetic Ballasts: Magnetic ballasts are common and still used extensively today due to their low initial cost. However, these ballasts are considerably less efficient than new electronic ballast designs and are prone to flicker and humming (particularly as they age).

Standard fluorescent lamps are commonly used in a variety of places in a facility. Some common applications include:

What energy-efficient technologies can replace T12 fluorescent lighting system?

Energy-Efficient Fluorescent Lighting Systems: These systems, using T8 (1″ in diameter) and T5 (5/8″ in diameter) lamps, offer improved efficiency, higher intensity, and potentially longer life due to reduced degradation in light output over time. T8 and T5 lighting systems are constantly increasing in flexibility and are now applicable to a variety of task and accent lighting applications, as well as general lighting of larger spaces. To learn more about T8 and T5 lamps visit:

Energy-Efficient Electronic Ballasts: When specifying a fluorescent lighting system, always specify electronic ballasts. These ballasts provide near flicker-free operation while using up to 30% less energy than magnetic ballasts.

High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting Systems

Due to their intensity, HID lighting systems are useful for lighting large areas from high ceilings, and range from 50 to 2,000 watts each. Older HID installations are often mercury vapor lamps, an extremely inefficient design. Like fluorescent lamps, HID systems have ballasts, and systems built before 1978 may contain potentially harmful substances such as PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls).

HID lamps are commonly used in the following applications:

• Garages
• Warehouses
• Areas with high ceilings
• Exterior safety and security lighting
• Accent lighting

Fixtures

Specifying an energy-efficient lighting technology, such as T8 or T5 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts, is a critical step to improving the energy efficiency of your facility and saving money. However, lighting is a system and depends on the quality of the fixture (the apparatus that contain the lamp), combined with the lamp, ballast and placement (the position of fixtures in a room, which affects the amount of usable light that is supplied).

Fixtures come in a wide variety of applications. Fixture selection may be guided by:

For the best energy efficiency and light quality consult a lighting professional or designer when selecting fixtures. To learn more about lighting fixtures and their impact on efficiency visit ENERGY STAR Qualified Lighting.

Lighting Controls

Controls are a key part of any lighting system. Specify controls that maximize the flexibility of your system while eliminating light usage, often automatically. Common controls include:

• Bi-level Switching: Control of a lighting system in groups of fixtures or lamps, for example bi-level switching allows you to turn-half of the lights in a room off when full illumination is not required. Bi-level switching is commonly used in offices, conference rooms, and classrooms.

• Dimmers: Dimming lighting systems allow you to control the amount of light and save energy. Dimmers are available for fluorescent and incandescent systems. Daylight dimmers are special sensors that automatically dim room lights based on the amount of free and natural daylight available. Dimmers are commonly used in conference rooms, classrooms, restaurants, and libraries.
• Occupancy Sensors: These sensors detect the motion of room occupants, turning off lights in unoccupied areas and turning them back on when movement is detected. Occupancy sensors are commonly used in restrooms, classrooms, and warehouses.
• Daylight Sensor (Photocells): A common inefficiency of exterior lighting systems is a tendency to “dayburn.” This is when lights are on during the day, wasting energy and money. This problem can be prevented by installing light-sensitive controls that turn the lights on and off automatically based on daylight, thus producing convenient energy savings. Timers can be used, but do not react to changing daylight conditions.