In our current economic climate, both, the customers and the government, are looking for ways to save money. The cost of living has increased, the operational cost has increased, commercial rent has increased and likewise labour cost and utility rates. Furthermore, there are budget cuts in the most areas of the public sector. Thus, forcing customers to look for savings in operations and maintenance.
Lighting upgrades can be undertaken very quickly (low hanging fruits or quick wins) that yields a substantial cost-savings in comparison to most other areas of facilities management.
The lighting for most facilities consumes about 30-40% of electricity used. LEDs consumes a lot less power than other forms of Lamps / Fixtures, in most cases 50+% less. Thus, they automatically reduce the electric bill by more than 50%. Additionally, by using energy efficient LEDs, less heat is produced. This less heat results in less power consumed by ACs, as much as 30%, to keep the same space cool, thus, having an indirect saving on the light bill. Interestingly, EC&M Magazine stated that these two aforementioned factors could lead to an overall reduction in utility cost by as much as 25%. Coincidentally, this is the exact experience of one of our manufacturing clients.
These percentage savings could be further increased with the use of Lighting Controls such as Photo-sensors and Occupancy-Sensors. While Dimmers are appropriate for residential places, it is not abundantly used in commercial or industrial spaces apart from Board Rooms.
Proper upgrade could have another indirect savings. They could yield significant improvement in the lighting quality, uniformity of lighting, proper lighting output and proper color temperature appearance. Proper lighting increases productivity as much as 6% according to the said Magazine and this usually measured in increased production rate and lower absenteeism thereby resulting in increased profitability.
Upgrades usually take the form of Changing our fixtures for more energy efficient ones or De-Lamping. De-lamping is where there is a one for one lamp replacement. Fixture upgrades are usually more efficient and they usually use less power and require less maintenance that the latter method.
Some considerations in selecting appropriate LED replacement are as follows:
- Use technologies and products that are tested and proven in the market – get market references and how easily the technologies integrate within the existing environment.
- Lamp / Fixture Life Hours – this tells how long it is supposed to last.
- Warranty
- Certified as energy efficient
- Certifications – Bureau of Standards has a list of Certifications accepted for different category of Products.
- The Lamp / Fixture Usage Design e.g. do not use an indoor fixture outdoor.
- Maintenance and Disposal issues and cost.
Engineering and Clean Technologies has Certified Energy Managers who are will to undertake Energy Audits and to assist customers with these Upgrades.
Contact us at [email protected] or call us at (868) 307-5982 / 225-7229 or use the contact form below to send us a request.
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