Lighting Retrofit

Lighting retrofits are not only easy, but also offer some of the most attractive return on investment (ROI) opportunities in terms of operating capital investment. While considered the low-hanging fruit of the energy efficiency market, incentives often exist to encourage owners to upgrade older lighting, such as T-12 fluorescent bulbs, commonly found in commercial settings.

How does a lighting retrofit work?

Whether in a residential or commercial setting, lighting retrofits often start with an audit of some sort. Audits can consist of ost often, homeowners will replace incandescent lighting, which loses 90% of its energy to heat loss, with compact fluorescent lighting (CFLs) or light emitting diodes (LEDs).

On August 23, 2012, Consumer Reports released a study, which found that 90% of Americans have replaced incandescent lighting with energy efficient lighting, including CFLs and LEDs.

However, Consumer Reports also found that nearly 75% of consumers have purchased CFLs, making them much more popular than LEDs. Similarly, Precision Paragon found that 84.3% of energy efficient lighting professionals believed that they will predominantly use linear fluorescent lighting for relighting projects in 2012, while 10.3% will predominantly use light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The main reason that CFLs are more popular than LEDs is the price. Consumer Reports found many good CFLs that range from $1.25 to $18, while LEDs ranged from $25 to $60. While the upfront cost is a barrier to LEDs, the report found that even the $25 LED model lasts 75% longer than an incandescent and can save $130 over it's 23 year lifetime. In comparison, a CFL saves about $60 over its lifetime.

However, LEDs are predicted to decrease in price over the next decade, which could make them more competitive with CFLs. According to Pike Research's study, LEDs are expected to displace more than 52% of the global market for lamps in commercial buildings by 2021, thanks to decreasing prices and improving efficiencies.

4 Ways to Avoid Common Efficient Lighting Problems

Sometimes, CFLs and LEDs get a bad rap because certain models can glow in odd colors or appear too bright or dim. Consumer Reports gave tips for avoiding 4 common energy efficient lighting issues.

1. Avoid dim bulbs by purchasing ones with higher lumens. For example, a 60 Watt (W) incandescent bulb should be replaced with an energy saving lightbulb with at least 800 lumens.
2. Avoid weird light colors by choosing the right Kelvin (K) number - higher K numbers mean cooler colored light. Warm, incandescent light is about 2700 Kelvins.
3. Choose lighting with a higher CRI to avoid unflattering light.
4. Avoid early burnout by checking if the bulb works in the fixture you're using. If bulb does burn out early, bring it back to the manufacturer or retailer.