Electricity + Control November 2015

LIGHTING

ROUND UP

Moving to energy efficient lighting In a drive to use less energy and reduce costs, various industries are moving to LED-based lighting and selecting lighting products that have a longer lifespan and are less prone to dam- age. LED lighting uses 60% - 90% less energy than incandescent lighting and is more durable. Although LED products are more expensive, they will last about a hundred times longer than an equivalent halogen light. “As one of themost energy-efficient light bulbs on themarket, LED is themost environmentally friendly because it has a lower carbon footprint, and when discarded, does not leach poisonous mercury into the ground,” said Leonard Chester, product manager - Vehicle Accessories,Torre Automotive, the sole VisionX distributor. Although energy efficient, CFLs contain mercury, a toxin associated with birth defects, brain damage and other disorders.That is why CFLs must be safely discarded. LEDs on the other hand contain no mercury or hazardous materials. In addition, LEDs last 35 to 50 times longer than incandescent lighting and about four to 10 times longer than fluorescent lighting. Reducing usage by just one light bulb keeps a half ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmos- phere through the LED’s life cycle. LEDs are also 98% recyclable,” he said. In addition, LEDs have no off-state power draw, meaning that the fixture does not use power when turned off, with the exception of external controls, where power should not exceed 0,5 W in the off-state. Enquiries: Charles Smith.Tel. 011 781 6190 or email charles@csa.co.za

technical datasheets and together with determination of the operat- ing hours of the building this can be used to state the annual energy savings resulting from the retrofit. For quantification of energy sav- ings due to daylight harvesting and occupancy it is better to physically measure the energy consumed in a sample space over a period of time to empirically estimate the contribu- tionof these factors to the savings as they are dependent on behavioural patterns. Provided that the sample space is representative of the entire building these measurements can be used to verify the calculated daylight an occupancy savings for the entire building. For verification of the energy savings fromoptimum light level control the percentage dimmingper sensor canbe recorded or a lighting level design calculation can be performed for each standard lighting design to determine the level of overdesign. Conclusion Challenges faced with the imple- mentation of LED technology is the higher capital cost requirements compared to other technologies however latest indication from role players in Europe is that financing options might very soon become available for developing countries where CAPEX is paid back to the supplier using cost savings result- ing from energy savings. General energy savings that can be achieved by introducing energy efficient technology is up to 60% and by behaviour change, savings can be up to 30%. It should be noted that behaviour change has less capital because it is a matter of providing awareness or trainings on how we can use energy effectively like switching all equipment/appli- ances/light fittings when they are not required. Enquiries: Email engineer@ecsa.co.za