Upgrading Lighting in Two Small Warehouses Leads to Big Savings
Personal Security Products has undergone a lighting retrofit in two of its warehouses,a combined 11,800 square feet of space,saving$3,410 per year in annual energy and maintenance costs and increasing light levels by nearly 300%.
Before the retrofit,PSP's warehouses were lit by 28 metal halide fixtures,each using about 456 watts of electricity,and by six T12 fluorescent fixtures.LumaTech replaced all the existing fixtures with six-lamp T5 high bay fluorescent fixtures.The new fixtures use only 351 watts of electricity.Only 20 new fixtures were needed to increase the lighting levels in each warehouse.The original lighting system delivered an average of 7.6 footcandles of light,well below the Illuminating Engineering Society(IES)light-level recommendations for warehouse operations.LumaTech's retrofit increased the average light levels to 21.7 footcandles.The lowest light level anywhere in either warehouse is 18.6 footcandles.
LumaTech also replaced the warehouses'exit signs and wall floodlights with energy-efficient LED alternatives.
The new lighting alone consumes 49%less energy than the original lighting.LumaTech also added automatic lighting controls,further reducing the energy consumed by the number of hours the lighting is actually on.The annual burn hours of the new lighting shows a decrease of 30%from the annual burn hours of the original lighting.LumaTech's installed occupancy sensors will turn off the lighting in an area that is not populated by warehouse workers and will automatically turn the lighting on when a person walks into that area.Thus,PSP saves on energy in warehouse areas where workers are not active.
Another area of savings for PSP is on lighting maintenance.The new lighting boasts average lifespans of 15,000 hours longer than the original lighting.PSP expects to save more than$1,300 in annual lighting maintenance costs.
The entire retrofit cost$10,259 initially.However,through Entergy Arkansas,PSP received a$0.21 rebate for every kWh reduced.Since the retrofit reduced energy consumption by more than 27,000 kWh,the project received more than$6,800 in rebates.The net cost of the project for PSP was$3,456.With the rebates and savings on energy and maintenance bills,the project paid for itself in one year and five days.
The new lighting system is due to deliver more than$3,400 every year in positive cash flow.
