Three Reasons you Should Consider a Lighting Retrofit

As anyone who has burned their finger on a hot lamp knows light fixtures produce large amounts of heat. And all of that heat means your wallet could be getting burned too. That's why summer is the perfect time to consider replacing older lighting technologies in your home or office with more energy efficient alternatives.

Here are 3 reasons you should cool down with a lighting retrofit:

1. Inefficient Lighting Makes Your Air Conditioning Work Harder
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 4-5 percent of the energy used in this country goes to removing excess heat generated by lighting. The more inefficient a light source is, the more heat it gives off. And all that extra heat makes your A/C system work harder to keep things cool during the summer.

A commonly used ratio for approximating the additional cooling load from a lighting system is 3:1. “For every 3 watts of energy a lighting system consumes, it requires 1 watt of energy for the HVAC system to neutralize the heat being introduced into the building environment.” Sam Bernal, Lighting Engineer, Precision Paragon.

2. Electricity is More Expensive During The Summer Months:
During summer, electricity gets more expensive for both residential and commercial consumers. When the temperature goes up, so does the price of energy. This means that an energy efficient lighting retrofit will show more cost-savings during the summer months.

3.Cut Two Costs For The Price of One
According to Southern California Edison, in 2010, commercial buildings used 17% of their energy on cooling, and 42% of their energy on lighting.  By installing energy efficient lighting, your lights will be more efficient and your AC system won't have to work as hard to cool down your facility. That's two energy savings for the price of one!

So don't continue to get burned with inefficient lighting! Calculate your cost savings with an energy efficient lighting retrofit and stay cool all summer long.