Lighting is one of the most important factors to consider when trying to reduce your energy consumption. It’s one of the largest sources of electricity consumption in a building, accounting for 17% of all electricity consumption in commercial buildings in the United States, and it produces excess heat gain that adds to HVAC costs. Unfortunately, a lot of that energy is wasted due to old, inefficient lighting designs.
Wasted energy means wasted money. If your electricity bills are driving up your operating expenses and your building has old lighting, an update could be the solution.
e3 Power can help you save money while improving the lighting in your building with an energy efficient lighting consultation. We provide unbiased, energy efficiency auditing for builders and commercial businesses in the Denver area.
What Impacts Lighting Costs?
Three key factors impact lighting costs in a building: the type of light bulb you use, how long you leave the lights on, and the quality of your electric fixtures and wiring.
Type of Light Bulbs
Different types of light bulbs use varying amounts of electricity. The most common types of light bulbs are incandescent, fluorescent/CFLs, and LED light bulbs.
- Incandescent – These were once the most common type of light bulb, but they’ve been phased out due to their extreme inefficiency. Only about 10% of the energy given off by an incandescent bulb is light. The rest is heat, which means you have to spend more on air conditioning to combat the temperature increase.
- Fluorescent & CFL – Both fluorescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) utilize mercury vapors and gas to generate light. While they use less electricity once they have warmed up, they require more watts when they are first turned on. This means that fluorescent light bulbs and CFLs are not the best choice in areas where the lights are turned off and on frequently.
- LED – Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are, by far, the most efficient light bulb on the market today. Using an electrical current and microchip to produce light and absorb the heat it creates, an LED light bulb uses 90% less energy and lasts about 24% longer than incandescent bulbs.
How Long the Lights Are On
Whenever your lights are on, you’re being charged. But the people living or working in your buildings need light and they can’t always be expected to turn lights off in places like hallways or bathrooms when they’re not being used. Modern lighting system design includes smart controls like timers, dimmers, and motion sensors to solve this problem. As part of your energy efficient lighting design consultation, e3 Power will recommend the best places to integrate smart controls, like in bathrooms, hallways, and storage rooms.
Fixtures & Wiring
Old electrical wiring and lighting fixtures don’t meet today’s standards for energy efficiency. Retrofitting your existing lighting fixtures with modern, energy efficient replacements will reduce energy use and save you money. As a bonus, new lighting fixtures can be a significant aesthetic improvement.
Electrical wiring is another conversation. Faulty wiring can not only increase your electricity usage and energy bills, it can also create dangerous fire hazards and overloaded breakers with the use of modern appliances. If your building is old, having your electrical wiring inspected and upgraded is a crucial safety measure.
Lighting Retrofit Solutions that Save Money
Making lighting upgrades can dramatically reduce your building’s electricity consumption while improving the quality of light and the overall environment for occupants. But you’ll waste money if you go in blind. You can make the most of your budget by starting with a lighting consultation from e3 Power. We calculate lighting loads, perform photometric assessments, and more to find out where your lighting inefficiencies lie and what upgrades will have the greatest impact on your electricity consumption.
Some of the most common commercial lighting upgrades we recommend include:
- Replacing all lightbulbs with LEDS
- Installing timers, motion sensors, and smart switches
- Installing dimmers
- Replacing faulty wiring
- Installing energy efficient light fixtures
Lighting Consultations in Denver, Colorado
As an independent energy efficiency auditor, the team at e3 Power will perform an unbiased assessment of your Denver-area building’s lighting and energy usage during our consultation. Using a variety of specialized tools, we’ll calculate your existing lighting loads and provide you with retrofit options to reduce your consumption.
In addition to finding solutions to your energy consumption for lighting, we’ll also measure the quality, color, and spatial distribution of your lighting with a photometric assessment. With this information, we can recommend the ideal energy efficient lighting retrofit solutions.
Once our lighting consultation is complete, we’ll offer guidance for what rebate programs and incentives are available for you to take advantage of during your lighting improvement project.
