Mack Technologies, a manufacturer of circuit boards and
electronics, recently announced the completion of their LED Lighting retrofitproject. In one of the largest lighting retrofit projects in New England
manufacturing facilities will save Mack Technologies $ 50,000 a year. John
Kovach, president of Mack Technologies researched the saving possibilities from
upgrading his fluorescent lighting to a more energy efficient lighting. Like
many facility owners, Mr. Kovach was concerned about the upfront cost of
replacing his existing lighting. With more than 2,500 bulbs to replace this was
a concern.
Fortunately, there are a number of energy rebate programs
available at both the national and state level. Mack Technologies was able to
reduce his investment by almost 40 percent by taking advantage of existing
energy efficient lighting rebate programs. Through state and federal energy tax
credits and a program with National Grid, Mack paid just over $200,000 for the
total project instead of $325,000, Kovach said. "We were kind of blown
away by the information we came across in terms of the kind of energy savings
we could realize and the impact to the environment."
Utility companies have played a major role in offering energy
rebates to customers in their market area. Your first step should be to visit
their website and explore their programs. Unfortunately rebate programs vary
significantly from one utility company to the next. To qualify for the rebate
program you will need to conform to their specific program. To make this
process easier, a number of utility companies have joined the DesignLightsConsortium.
The DesignLights Consortium, a collaboration of utility
companies and energy efficiency organizations,
is a leading resource for energy efficient commercial lighting
performance information. The DLC publishes a listing of LED luminaires that
meet strict energy efficiency and performance criteria This listing is called
the DLC QPL. LED lighting manufacturers listed on the DLC QPL meet the
preliminary requirement for utility incentive eligibility from DLC member
firms.
The DLC QPL provides technical information on LED lighting
that meets or exceeds their requirements. One of the most important technical
requirements for bulb performance is for System Light Efficacy. The DLC
requirement for bulb performance is ≥ 100 LPW and in situ performance-≥ 85 LPW.
RedBird LED, an Atlanta based LED Tube light manufacturer, has the highest
commercially available lighting efficacy for this category on the DLC QPL list.
Their Cardinal LED Linear products have Installed efficacies (the ratio of
light-output to power consumed) up to 110 lumens/watt, making them some of the
most energy efficient LED lighting products available today.
For more information on the DesignLights Consortium and the
QPL please visit their website at www.designlights.org.
To receive information on the RedBird LED Cardinal
Replacement Lamps please click here.
