LED LIGHTING
Often the first option to going solar is reducing the KWH needed at your location. Lighting especially in commercial locations is a very high use of KWH. Retrofitting the lighting to LED can save hundreds or thousands of KWH and therefore lets you put a smaller solar system in. The payback for solar is 7-9 years, the payback on lighting can be as little as 8 months. There are utility rebates available from some utilities to offset the cost of installing LED for business. LED lighting not only sales KWH and money but also brightens up a location.
FAQ on LED Lighting
What are the cost advantages of LED bulbs over conventional ones?
- LED bulbs save 75% in costs of lighting of Metal Halide in warehouse applications. A store of company that has 24/7 operations can have a Return on Investment in less then a year.
What other advantages to businesses get from LED bulbs?
- Large facilities pay a fee to dispose of fluorescent bulbs and large warehouse bulbs. This fee is gone with LED as they are completely environmentally friendly. Normal fluorescent bulbs last 10,000 hrs, LED are spec’ed to last 50,000 hrs, less maintenance, less overhead, more profit Normal fluorescent fixtures have a ballast in them for the high voltage needed. These ballast have a life of about 20,000 hrs. LED do not use a ballast, less overhead, less maintenance, more profits.
Is there a visible difference between the light from LED bulbs and fluorescent bulbs?
- Color wise fluorescent bulbs are available in the spectrum of 3000K,4100K,6500K. LED are available in the same colors. These are commonly refer to as soft white, natural white and daylight. Fluorescent bulbs cast light in 360 degree radius around the bulb, this causes a lot of light to be cast where it is not needed, IE into the fixture, up into the ceiling. The LED bulbs cast light down on to what you want lit, your products, your office, you work area. LEDs are also 25%-40% brighter then fluorescent.
How long has Ohio Valley Electric been recommending LED bulbs?
We have been retrofitting fluorescent fixtures for 3 years, we expect to install over 6000 bulbs this year. We have installed 1000s of LEDs in the tri-state.
When was LED technology first developed?
- LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and have been around for a long time, High output LED started coming to the market about 5 years ago and were very expensive, but now that costs have come done they are a better choice to retrofit to then replace to high output T5 fluorescent fixture, have much less overhead cost after the install and are often cheaper upfront because other lights are a fixture to fixture replacement, where the LED is a simple retrofit that uses the existing fixture and just changes the bulb and rewires the fixture.
Will additional wiring be needed?
LED retrofits work with existing lights and no new wiring is needed Will existing light sockets be okay or do they have to be replaced as well? LED bulbs are made to fit any type of socket