Reduce 10 million Tonnes of CO2 and save £1.4 Billion the easy way

 

On reading a report on the industrial (non office) lighting that Vita Energia carried out I must confess not being surprised at the results. Over 500 companies in the UK’s manufacturing and warehousing sector were surveyed all employing over 100 people.

Industrial facilities in the UK are generally run at a high standard to maintain productivityand comply with the relevant legislations. The goal will always be to run a smooth,uninterrupted operation for maximum profit. Anything that interrupts that process will always be viewed with skepticism and as result it appears industrial lighting and lighting control is at the bottom of the priorities of most businesses.

24% of factories and warehouses in this report had lighting and controls dating back as far as the 1950’s (typically T12 fluorescent lighting). The level of electricity consumed by this old installations are immense when compared to modern, controlled installations.

To illustrate the point:

2 x 70W 6 foot fittings consuming 158 watts can be replaced by 1 x 49W consuming just

51 Watts. A reduction of 67%

With the correct lighting control added this reduction can normally be increased to 80%

Return on Investment

All business look for a ‘Return on Investment’ and will be a major influence on any work carried out but with a payback period typically of less than 18 months it should become attractive for any FD.

Under the ‘Green Deal’ this type of installation should comply with the ‘Golden Rule’ and if taken up properly a potential 10 million Tonnes of CO2 and £1.4 Billion can be saved annually

LED Lighting

Despite the heavy promotion of LED Lighting by the lighting industry LED’s have not yet reached the level of performance required for general application and is only suitable for feature lighting. T5 fluorescent currently provide more light output per watt than LED, have a lower lifecycle cost and a proven reliability.

When compared to other emerging technologies the time will come when LED outperforms fluorescent at a lower cost but that time is not now and it is folly to wait and continue burning excess power until it does as this is likely to be a number of years away.

Written by Alex Carter of Durable Technologies who has over 30 years practical experience in the lighting industry both installing and maintaining light control technologies  for domestic and commercial sectors.

 

 

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