Sunday, October 14, 2012

Lighting Control Strategies and Saving Money on Your Lighting Bill

Lighting Control Strategies Control of lighting systems ranges from the most basic and familiar manual wall switch to sophisticated computer control lighting management systems. Modern advances on occupant sensing and daylighting add additional cost-effective options for managing lighting systems. Forms of automatic lighting control include: • Time clocks and photocells, simple, reliable and cost-effective methods of controlling lighting systems. • Occupancy sensors, sound and heat-sensing technology used to detect the presence of people in a space and turn lights off when spaces are unoccupied. They include delays and logic systems to avoid false or too frequent turning off of light fixtures. • Dimming technologies include common manual dimming switches as well as more sophisticated technology that automatically reduce light output according to the availability of daylight or other ambient light. While dimming of incandescent lamps is common, dimming of fluorescent fixtures can only be accomplished if they have ballasts designed specially for dimming applications. • Daylighting controls adjust light output levels from fixtures in perimeter areas next to windows or under skylights in response to natural outdoor light entering the building. Daylighting controls are available in continuous dimming and stepped reduction models. • Automated lighting management systems provide centralized computer control of lighting systems. Saving Money on Your Lighting Bill There are many cost-effective ways to save on your lighting energy bill. Several effective energy efficiency measures are discussed below and the accompanying chart provides estimates of annual energy cost savings. 1. Replace standard incandescent with reduced wattage • Replace standard wattage lamps with energy saving reduced-wattage lamps with about the same light output. • For example, replace a standard 100 Watt with an energy savings 90 Watt lamp. 2. Replace standard incandescent with Halogen • Halogen lamps are about twice as efficient as standard incandescent lamps. With their brighter, more focused light, you can replace a high wattage incandescent with a low wattage halogen. • For example, replace a 150 Watt standard incandescent with a 30 to 60 Watt halogen. 3. Replace incandescent with compact fluorescent • Compact fluorescent lamps and fixtures use about a quarter of the energy of incandescents. • For example, replace a standard 75 Watt downlight with a CFL that uses only about 20 Watts. • If you are constructing a new building or doing a major renovation of an existing one, use recessed fixtures with dedicated CFLs. 4. Fluorescent lamp replacement or removal • Many older buildings are significantly over lighted. In some cases you can remove lamps and disconnect ballasts and still have excellent light quality. In other cases, simply replacing standard wattage lamps with energy saving lamps can be an effective savings measure 5. Replace magnetic ballasts with electronic • Replace old, inefficient magnetic ballasts with new, high-efficiency electronic ballasts. • Often this process