Lighting Upgrades

Businesses invest in lighting upgrades for a number of reasons:

interior design or remodeling work
to brighten, soften or improve the lighting quality
to save energy

Whatever your reason for upgrading your lighting system, you will want to take advantage of the energy-saving potential of new lighting technology.

Understanding your lighting options
Before you undertake any lighting upgrade, you may want to request a lighting audit and analysis to make sure your lighting maximizes energy savings and lighting quality. This analysis will compare efficiency, energy savings and cost effectiveness of various lighting tools and technologies appropriate for your business. Retail businesses like clothing stores, supermarkets and auto dealerships, where colors are important to customer purchases, will want to study the effects of various lighting sources on colors.

When considering lighting upgrades for the purposes of saving energy and related costs, you should consider four different steps:

Turn off lights. Is it possible to turn lights off earlier or leave them off longer? Are all employees trained to turn off lights when they are not in use? Would your building benefit from a “smart system” in which lights turn off automatically when a room is not in use?
Remove lamps and ballasts. Are some areas “over lit”? Is it possible to remove some lamps while preserving adequate light in an overlit space?
Replace lamps. Is it possible to replace existing lamps with more efficient products that will provide adequate lighting?
Replace fixtures. Is it desirable to replace the fixtures, as well as the bulbs, to overhaul a thoroughly outdated lighting system?

The following chart illustrates the way new bulbs can help you reduce your energy demand.

Replace	With	Estimated Energy Savings
Fluorescent	T8s with electronic ballast	30%+
Incandescent lamps	Compact fluorescent fixtures	65%+
Incandescent exit signs	LED exit signs	89%+
Mercury vapor lamps	High intensity discharge or fluorescent	dependent on application

Rocky Mountain Power provides incentives for lighting, motors, HVAC equipment and more through our FinAnswer Express and Energy FinAnswer programs. Get more information for customers in Idaho, Utah or Wyoming. You can also download this information in PDF format or visit the Lighting Design Lab for more information.