Change a Light, Change the World

Lighting Upgrades

Lighting can be a significant part of the total energy used in your home or business but can also be easy to control.

Here are some suggestions on how to manage your lighting costs:

Turn The Lights OFF

Lights should be ON when needed, but turned OFF when not. Any light (actually any electrical device) when switched OFF will save you 100% energy.

For modern incandescent and fluorescent lamps, it doesn’t take any extra energy to start them so letting them run when rooms are not occupied is false economy.

There is a myth that switching incandescent lights ON and OFF will shorten their life. Switching incandescent lamps ON/OFF frequently doesn't affect their life.

The life of a fluorescent lamp, however, can be shortened by switching them ON/OFF frequently. For fluorescent lights, 10 minutes of run time is usually the balance between energy savings versus life. Therefore, if you are leaving a room for less than 10 minutes, leave the fluorescent lamps ON; if more than 10 minutes, turn them OFF.

Automatic controlling devices can help manage ON/OFF times for you.

• Timers, turn lighting on/off automatically. An example would be decorative exterior lighting turning ON at dusk and switching OFF at bedtime.
• Photoeyes, turn security lights ON at dusk and OFF during the day. These are found in consumer products such as night lights.
• Motion sensors, switch lights ON/OFF based on motion and are found in security lights. Most of these devices also have a built-in photoeye to prevent operation during the day.

Using The Right Lamp

In many applications a smaller wattage lamp can replace a higher wattage one for significant energy savings. Also, using too high wattage can overheat the fixture, causing a fire hazard.

Use caution when dealing with multi-lamp fixtures. These have maximum total wattage ratings which shouldn't be exceeded to avoid fire hazards. You may be able to replace two smaller lamps with one larger wattage lamp for more brightness and energy savings. As an example, one 100 watt rated lamp is brighter than two 60 watt lamps (total 120 watts). Not only is the fixture brighter, but you save 20 watts of electricity.

Recessed or“can"-type fixtures are a special problem. An ordinary-shaped bulb produces light in all directions which tends to get trapped in these fixtures. Reflector-shaped lamps are designed to project light out for energy savings. In most instances, a 60-watt rated reflector lamp can replace a 100 watt ordinary lamp, saving 40%. This sizable energy savings also translates into less heat which is especially important in warmer weather in areas such as a kitchen.

Energy Saving Lights

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) can replace ordinary incandescent lamps for significant energy savings. The greatest savings result from lamps that are left ON for longer periods of time.

Here are some typical savings

Assume ON 8hr/day, @ $.08/kwh in one year’s time

Compact fluorescent lamps come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, for specialty applications such as cold temperatures, dimming, and 3-way operation. Most incandescent lamps can now be replaced with an energy saving CFL style.

There are some additional reasons to use fluorescent lamps:

• Longer life, typically 10 times longer
• Lower heat, reducing air conditioning costs
• Light Quality, modern lamps can produce light almost identical to natural sunshine

Another recent development in energy saving lighting is called the Light Emitting Diode (LED). This solid state device is quietly replacing incandescent lighting in specialty applications such as emergency and portable lighting. Decorative lighting is another growing application for LED’s.

Light Emitting Diodes are even more energy efficient than fluorescent lights and have life spans measured in the hundred thousand hour range. However, they have been limited in size and color choices, but newer designs are starting to overcome these shortcomings.

The future for CFL and LED lighting appears to be very bright, and that’s not just a pun.

Recycling

Please be advised that fluorescent lamps contain a small amount of mercury which has been shown to harm the environment. In Minnesota, it has been illegal since 1994 to toss lamps containing mercury into the garbage. Other HID (high intensity discharge) lamps found in outside and security lights also contain mercury and must be recycled, too.

For recycling information, click on the Recycling link below.