Building Management Hawaii October/November 2013 - (Page 14)

Are You Still Using Fluorescent Lamps? Here’s a bright idea—switch to LED and save a bundle on energy. By Colin White lighting A lmost everyone reading this article is wasting more than 50 percent or more in energy bills. If you’re still using fluorescent lamps in your operation—and most of us are—it’s time to rethink your lighting. Fluorescent tubes are in our offices, hallways, stairwells, parking areas and other locations. Fluorescents are a decades-old technology. Today the better choice is solid state or LED linear lamps. Benefits of New Solid State Tubes LED T8/T10 tubes are gaining a much wider market acceptance. The reason is due to these significant factors: • Years of testing prove that they last while maintaining high lumen output. • Their energy efficiency is a major breakthrough in lighting, saving 50 percent or more. Informed distributors can save you 75 percent or more in stairwells, recessed coves and other areas with LED tubes. • They are much safer; they don’t break easily and they don’t pollute, being mercury free. • They don’t flicker and bother people’s eyes as fluorescents do, and they’re available in any color. • They can be dimmed more readily, and without dramatically shortening their lifespan. Who wouldn’t want a safer lamp that is at least twice as energy-efficient, and that provides longer life without flickering and dimming problems? That’s why owners and managers are converting to LED linear tubes. They’ll be the next major lighting revolution, with more than 2 billion sockets of market potential. What Are the Facts on Saving 50 Percent or More in Energy? LED linear tubes already exceed 100 lumens per watt and maintain lumens better than fluorescent tubes. 14 October - November 2013 BMH The Down to Earth Maui store was one of the first major retail stores to go completely to LED lamps. Because they’re directional, many are finding that 15-watt LED tubes can replace 32- and 40-watt fluorescent tubes, with energy savings of at least 50 percent. You can save even more by using occupancy sensors and lighting controls. Should I Buy LED Tubes Now or Later? In Hawaii, if you’re burning your fluorescent lamps 24 hours per day, you should buy LED linear lamps immediately! But even if you burn your tubes just 12 hours per day, it still makes sense to buy now. How does the math work? If your kilowatt rate is about 32 cents, you’ll save more than $42 per tube per year on a 24-hour burn cycle by changing from a 32-watt tube to a 15-watt tube. If your system is on a 12-hour burn cycle, it would be more than $21 per tube per year. Since good tubes usually offer at least a five-year warranty, you can be assured that you’ll get your money back many times over, as long as you purchase from a distributor that has a proven track record and will be around for years to come. For example, a tube that saves more than $42 per year and has a five-year warranty is guaranteed to save you more than $210 during its guaranteed lifetime alone, while costing just a small fraction of what it saves. What Kind of LED Tube Should I Purchase? • Plug and play tubes that work on existing ballasts (these plug into existing ballasts) • Single-end tubes (operated by an internal driver) • Double-end tubes (operated by an internal driver) • Externally driven tubes (operated by an external driver) The self or internally driven LED tube can be a single-end or doubleend tube. (Single-end tubes are powered on one side; double-end tubes are powered from both sides.) To retrofit a single-end LED tube into your fixture, both hot and neutral wires are re-routed to one lampholder (or tombstone) of the fixture. This lampholder must be non-shunted, or not bridged. Retrofitting a doubleend LED tube is much simpler, in comparison, as the rewiring involves www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com http://www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Building Management Hawaii October/November 2013

Remodeling & Renovation
Lighting
Disaster Preparedness
HVAC & Indoor Air Quality

Building Management Hawaii October/November 2013