Specialty and Architectural Lighting — Retrofits

Currently, T8 fluorescent tubes dominate the commercial and institutional lighting sector both in number of lamps and in lumen output. The USDOE estimated in 2010 that there were 1 billion fluorescent fixtures in the U.S. It is no surprise that LED manufacturers have focused on this potentially huge retrofit market with a large number of LED options. Unlike other LED replacement bulbs, T8 tubes have some subtle, but critical differences in how they are installed....

This is the latest in our short series on benefits of lighting retrofits. In the first article, we examined reducing load on regional utility companies and explored why it makes economic sense for utilities to offer rebates for lower energy usage, rather than simply upgrading equipment to meet higher energy demands. The second article looked at reducing maintenance costs for commercial and industrial spaces. When a building has hundreds or thousands of light bulbs on...

Last week, we started a series on the benefits of LED retrofits for consumers and businesses, mostly focused on the commercial sector. As LED bulb prices have come crashing down from a couple years ago, retrofits are becoming more economically feasible by the day. Our first article took a look at how public utility companies can reduce load and maintenance costs on their own equipment by reducing demand from end users. The most visible way...

Yesterday, we looked at some of the benefits of lighting retrofits, mainly from the perspective of utility companies. The high cost of maintenance and new construction makes energy subsidies and rebates attractive for power companies, which can reduce the load on their legacy systems by encouraging residential and commercial end users to switch from inefficient technology to newer LEDs and fluorescent bulbs and fixtures. Taking advantage of energy rebates is also attractive from the viewpoint...

Half a decade ago, when LEDs were either cost prohibitive if available or simply unavailable as replacements, retrofitting was a pipe dream for commercial property managers. But with prices down as much as 90% for LEDs from a few years ago, switching to LED is no longer a huge up-front investment. But saving money on energy costs is not the only benefit of replacing incandescent, halogen, and fluorescent lamps with newer LED bulbs. Some of...