Most business owners don't realize that a lighting retrofit is probably the best investment they'll ever make. Often, more efficient lighting can pay for itself out of electricity savings in months (not years).

We all want to save money and help the planet. A great way to do this is to reduce energy use. But how do you and your business accomplish this?

Changing your lights (a lighting retrofit) is one of the easiest and most effective ways to save energy and money. Not only will switching to more efficient lights save you money directly on your electricity bill, it will also save you in maintenance costs because newer energy efficient products last up to 5 times longer than traditional lights.

How do you know this is true? The math speaks for itself. Let’s do a quick case study on a small retail store:

Their main type of lighting is screw-in 90 Watt PAR 38 halogen lamps. These lamps are mounted on tracks that are used both as general lighting and to spot specific products. There are 50 in the store.

For our example these will be replaced with 23-Watt PAR 38 Compact Fluorescent reflector bulbs.

      Existing Wattage: 90 Watts per bulb

      Replacement Wattage: 23 Watts per bulb

      Wattage reduction per bulb: 90 – 23 = 67 Watts

To determine how much energy these new bulbs are going to save over the entire year we must look at how many hours these lights will operate each year. In our example, the store hours are:

     Mon-Fri 10:00 am – 9:00pm

     Saturday & Sunday 9:00 am – 6:00pm

In addition the store is usually open for about 1 hr before and after the posted store hours for a total of 87 hrs/ week (13 hours each week day, 11 hours on Saturday & Sunday).

The store is open 51 weeks per year so the total hours of operation for the lights is equal to 51 weeks * 87 hours/week = 4437 hours per year.

The going rate for electricity where the store is located is 10¢/kilowatt hour (kwh). One kilowatt-hour is equal to 1000 Watts for one hour.

To determine how much money this store will save, we must multiply the total electricity savings by the price of electricity.

Total Electricity Savings = 50 bulbs * 67 Watt savings/bulb *4437 hours per year

      = 14,863,950 Watt-hours

      = 14,864 kilowatt-hours (kWh)

Total Energy Savings = 14,864 kWh * $0.10/kWh

      = $1,486/year

So this small retail store can save almost $1,500 per year simply by changing from halogen PAR 38’s to Compact Fluorescent PAR 38 Bulbs.

The store owner reduced her electricity consumption by 75% and the new commercial quality compact fluorescent PAR 38’s only cost $500. The project has paid for itself within 4 months.

The most amazing thing about this example is that the store owner didn’t have to call an electrician, or even change her behavior. A simple and easy conversation with a Lumetro lighting consultant allowed the store owner to select the best bulb for her application. Contact us today to see how easy it is to help the planet and your bottom line through better lighting.