Energy Efficient Upgrades - Lighting

Lighting is a critical component of every small business. Employees must be able to see to perform their jobs, and objects and spaces must be aesthetically pleasing to encourage sales.

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.

https://www.sba.gov/content/lighting

Find Financing for Energy Efficient Upgrades

http://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/find-financing-energy-efficiency-upgrades

LED LAMPS ARE NOT ALL EQUAL

Buying “the Wrong” LED Tube Lamps can be Expensive

Electrical Systems and Services, Inc is always concerned that our customers are well educated on what's new as well as comparing products. Many times when we get asked to bid on a project, we go over and above the demand by offering the customer several different options.One of the more common recent lighting upgrades ESS has done has been the T12 to T8 or T5. With a little more dollars up front, we can usually show the customer how money will be saved in the long haul, using LED's 

When making purchasing decision on energy efficient lighting, it is not uncommon for people to choose LED tubes lights on price alone. With conventional lamps where all things are equal, per-lamp price is a reasonable yardstick. However, with LED T8 lamps all things are everything but equal. Per-lamp price alone is inadequate to reflect the real cost of a retrofit project. Experienced lighting professionals are now considering  these factors when calculating the true cost of a retrofit project:

• ·         Per-lamp price
• ·         Per-lamp installation labor cost (50% labor saving is a lot)
• ·         Per-lamp accessories cost (for new tombstones, wirings, or an external driver)
• ·         Per-lamp rebate (available only for qualified LED products listed with LDL or DCL)
• ·         Per-lamp incentive (for it has strict requirements and expiration date)
• ·         Per-lamp energy difference (18W LED T8 saves 18% more energy comparing to 22W LED T8.)
• ·         Warranty (Rebate lists routinely call for 5-year warranty, thus a 3-year warranty is no longer acceptable.)
• ·         UL label (IFAR 1598C will be the standard in Feb, 2013, and many LED T8’s will lose their listing.)

With this holistic view for your retrofit project, buying a “lesser” LED T8 may be the wrong choice. Saving money by using a single-end lamp that only carries a 3-year warranty won’t get you the rebates. Also, you will need to use non-shunted tombstones, which your fixture may not have. Lastly, change-out time is greater since the fixture will require the electrician more labor time.  Now, how much did you really save with the “lesser” LED tube with that 3-year warranty, additional 4-watt higher on power consumption and without any rebate qualification, no UL1598C classification and requiring 50% more labor time on replacing fixture tombstone? You actually end up paying a lot more on a project basis with this “lesser” LED tube even though its per-lamp cost is cheaper.

T12 LIGHTING PHASE-OUT JULY 1, 2012

What should I be prepared for?

• Manufacturers will be phasing out their production

of T12 lamps and ballasts

• Progressively less availability of T12 lamps and

ballasts

• Increased cost of T12 lamps and ballasts due to

demand vs. limited supply

• To keep up with federal regulations of energy

efficiency, manufacturers’ technology and production

will be focused on T8 and T5 systems

What T12 Lamps are affected by this

phase out?

• T12 4-ft. & 2-ft U-lamps with medium bi-pin bases

   - Majority of F40 and F34T12 lamps and all FB40

and FB34T12 U-lamps

   - 4-ft. requires 3560 lumens @ 40W and 3030

lumens @ 34W to pass @ 89 LPW

   - 2-ft. U-lamps require 3360 lumens @ 40W and

2856 @ 34W to pass @ 84 LPW

• T12 8-ft. Slimline with single pin bases

   - All 75W F96T12 lamps

   - All 60W F96T12/ES except for the 800 Series

• T12 8-ft. 800mA HO with RDC bases

   - All 110W F96T12 HO lamps 

   - All 95W F96T12/ES/HO lamps

Did you know?

Approximately 30 percent of all fluorescent lamps sold

in the U.S. are still T12 technology. As a result of the

T12 phase out, 70 percent of all T12 fluorescent lamps

sold in the U.S. will be phased out come July 2012.

FAQ's

1. Why are T12 fluorescents systems being 

phased out?

Answer: T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts are 

considered outdated compared to the far more energy 

efficient T8 and T5 fluorescent technologies now 

available. The Department of Energy’s objective is to 

remove less efficient T12 fluorescent systems from the 

market, and thus increase lighting energy efficiency for 

organizations. 

2. What type of energy savings can I expect 

for upgrading?

Answer: Managers of facilities can select from several 

upgrade scenarios which could result in energy savings 

as high as 45 percent, with attractive 1-3 year simple 

paybacks to the building owner. 

3. Why are Energy Efficiency Fund incentives only 

offered for a limited time on T12 upgrades?

Answer: Once the DOE mandate becomes effective, 

it will become common practice to remove less efficient 

T12 systems; therefore, retrofitting T12 systems will be 

the customer’s only option for maintaining their old, 

inefficient lighting system.  Energy Efficiency Fund 

incentive programs will likely not support commercial 

and industrial T12 system retrofits in the future.

4. Are there some T12 systems that will continue to 

be manufactured?

Answer: Yes.  The following will continue to be manufactured:

• T-12 ballasts designed to dim fixtures more than 

50 percent of their full light output

• T-12 ballasts driving 8-foot, high-output fixtures 

designed for outdoor advertising

• T-12 ballasts designed and labeled for use in 

residential applications

5. Should I gradually change out my T12 magnetic 

ballast system or should I change it all at once?

Answer: In order to take advantage of the Energy 

Efficiency Fund’s 50 percent upgrade incentive, a 

project must upgrade the lighting system as a whole, 

not as individual fixture upgrades.

Please contact Electrical Systems and Services, Inc. with any questions or for a FREE evaluation and proposal for your lighting upgrade needs.