The development of LED lighting has provided a new breakthrough in design and energy saving. The LED (Light Emitting Diode) being very small in size can be used in many areas where normal lighting is not possible. The LED provides some good benefits whether it be the consumption, property maintenance and the environment.
An LED that consumes 3W can give the equivalent of 20W of light. Creating very little heat, LED lights can be possibly touched when on without risk of burning. However, there is still some heat around the electronics.
The primary benefits of LED based lighting are energy efficiency, long life, minimal maintenance and reduced air conditioning requirement to property areas. Is what we have been striving for many years. Like all technologies the costs in the beginning have been significantly high an the quality has been particularly poor. But in the last couple of years we have seen a swing change with LEDS coming down in price, the availability being more accessible and the quality exceeding UK Legislation.
LED lighting products come in a multiple of ranges and meet with all specifications. They also come in variable colour rendering such as cool white or warm white. Comparing with traditional industrial lamps, LED lighting saves between 50% – 90% electricity cost. They have a lifespan up to 15 times longer than traditional lamps. As well as being Eco-friendly, no UV or IR, lead and mercury free with zero air pollution.
Most companies are currently migrating their existing lighting systems from conventional lighting systems to LED. However, not all companies are investing in this technology. But it one of the number areas to install LEDs which will reduce your consumption and provide you with a good return on investment.
Since the last government legislation of ESOS we have witnessed a significant increase in LED installation across the country based on expert advice. B2B Energy has been working with organisions to look at LED project implementation based on a payback and a good return on investment. In some cases, we have seen c2 to 3 Year Payback. One part of the implementation that causes the cost is the installation and often this work must be carried out during out of office times.
In 2019 we implemented a project where the organisation implemented their own installation to keep their costs down, which worked well as they knew the building far better than any other company:
Case Study – Retail Shopping Mall
Two key areas within the Low and High Mall Areas:
Low Mall: 70W to 10W (220 off) – 70W-10W x 220 Divide 1000 = Savings 13.2KW
High Mall: 70W to 10W (490 off) – 70W-10W x 490 Divide 1000 = Savings 29.4KW
If these were on 24hours a day (As stated) and every day the savings in kWh would be a total 373,176kWh. We even were able to address compliance issues with Emergency Lighting and with some good design reduce the amount of lights required along with good colouring.
With this in mind, we have built a typical lighting calculation model to replace all the lighting within the Landlord areas:
Benefits of installing LEDs
- Significant energy cost savings.
- Improved lighting quality in various areas.
- Some LED products are on the ECA list (Enhanced Capital Allowance), allowing significant tax savings.
- Maintenance costs significantly reduced
- Some LED products come with a minimum 2-year warranty or more and last an average of 50,000 hours.
- Most LED products are designed to be plug and play replacements, using existing fittings. Some fittings may require a simple modification.
- Emergency Lighting compliance addressed
- Improved switching (technology now enables us to switch individual lamps)
Environmental Benefits
- Significant reduction in carbon emissions.
- LED products can be disposed of more safely as they contain no pollutants.
To conclude migrating from conventional lighting to LEDs brings many benefits and when the implementation is managed from start to finish, it provides a significant return on investment. I must also point out that implementing energy saving technologies it is important to provide an independent measurement and verification at the end of the project which will protect the return on investment.
This article has been provided by B2B Energy Ltd and is an extract from ‘The Energy Expert’ Training and book. 8th February 2020