Maintenance programs for lighting are a good way to make sure that you facility lighting doesn’t come into disrepair, which keeps production levels high, but most of the time it overlooks real cost saving areas. Instead of just replacing bad lamps and ballasts with the same old thing as is customary, take a look at the following ideas that can help make your maintenance program even more effective.

Cleaning fixture lenses and reflectors will increase light output and also the dirt and bug build up will increase the amount of heat inside the fixture which in turn will decrease the efficiency and life of the new lamps and of ballasts that you just installed.

Look into more modern and efficient lighting technologies to replace your old and inefficient lighting systems. Cost can always be prohibitive when looking an entire facility upgrade, so just start with one room. Motion sensors can be installed to save wasted energy when no one is occupying the space. New 2X4 T-5 HO (High Output)direct/indirect lighting can put out more usable light with less power that older prismatic lens, parabolic, and even older direct/indirect 2X4 lighting.

There are a lot of newer lighting technologies out there that have been put to the test, and the prices are coming down daily as the technology becomes more and more commonplace with set standards. Starting slowly with your lighting system maintenance on a monthly basis you can build a more efficient and more effective lighting system for your building.

Jason
Estimator

One of my suppliers and I were discussing Lighting Retrofits, and he told be that FSC Lighting has a new energy efficient light out. The PLI 99100i is an Induction Parking lot light fixture that is available in a 100W or 200W fixture. This fixture is extremely efficient, it has an average lamp life of 100,000 hours compared with a standard Metal Halide lamp that has an average lamp life of 10,000 hours. It’s lamp design has no electrode which allows for installation in high vibration applications. Instant on and instant restrike allow for the lights to be “Full On” immediately compared with Metal Halides that take several minutes to get to full brightness, and can take up to 10 minutes to restart after being shut off. These fixtures are pricey, but the 10 year warranty for the lamp and ballast on all induction fixtures makes that cost worth the savings in lamp and ballast maintenance and replacement. Depending on the situation, it may also be possible to take advantage of lighting retrofit incentives.

If you are looking at lighting retrofits, but were unhappy with the bottom line, it’s time to take a second look with a Phoenix electrical contractor that has enlisted the help of a leader in the lighting retrofit industry.

Jason
Estimator

“Go Green!” That is the mantra that is heard all over these days. We would all love to do our part to help the environment, but in these tight economic times we all seem to have less money in our budgets and “going green” can seem to cost a lot. So what are we to do?

Lighting loads are one of the most efficient and cost effective systems that we can “upgrade” to greener technologies in order to save on the electric bill. There are many different ways that this can be done with varying costs.

Think about how many lights are left on in your office building whenever someone goes to lunch, or for a smoke break, let alone overnight. Installing motion sensors will eliminate wasted energy from lights being left on, and it’s easy to retrofit these to existing systems with minimal cost. Typically all you have to do is replace the existing wall switches with occupancy sensors.

A lot of commercial buildings in use today were designed and built a long time before energy efficiency standards were put in place. Consequently many buildings are still utilizing old lighting technologies that are not only inefficient, but also annoying (old fluorescent fixtures utilize T-12 magnetic ballasts that “hum” constantly). Replacing these old ballasts with new T-8 or even newer T-5 ballasts and lamps can dramatically save energy, and improve noisy working conditions, which will help to improve productivity.

Replacing entire fixtures can seem cost prohibitive, but lighting retrofits have the quickest payback in the savings created by less energy consumption and higher productivity. Noisy, and many times unflattering color rending, “high bay” light fixtures can be replaced with High Output (HO) T-5 2X4 fixtures that are much brighter, quieter, and use a lot less energy.

In these tough times we all want to spend our money wisely. So the next time you have to have your lighting system looked at, consider discussing how you can reduce your monthly power bill by replacing outdated technologies with newer, Greener technologies.

Jason
Estimator