From Fluorescent to LED: A Sensible Plan!

Nine Reasons Why LED Lighting Makes More than ‘Cents’ for Your Facility

As a decision maker in your company, you know that keeping the lights on in your facility is a costly expense on multiple levels. Are you looking for ways to cut your facility costs? Consider the incremental savings that can be realized just by improving daily operations. Begin by considering the significant cost to light your facility. Believe it or not, there are ways to reduce these costs on more than one front.

First, consider your capital investment in fixtures. You may even still be capitalizing these expenses if your fixtures are relatively new. Retrofitted LED lighting can extend the life your investment. You also have the monthly variable expense of utility charges, as well as direct and indirect maintenance costs related to replacing bulbs and ballasts. Additionally, you need to factor in less tangible costs associated with lost productivity, employee health and safety risks, and a potentially diminished reputation within your community.

How can you slow or even reverse these costs that accrue so rapidly? The simple answer? By retrofitting your fluorescent lights. If this sounds too easy, read on for concrete ways to reduce expenses and speed your ROI.

Comparison of LED and fluorescent lights
Compare the difference retrofitted LED lights make! Retain the fixtures, change the lights. Rapid ROI.

LED Lighting Makes More Cents!

Save on Utility Expenses: Not convinced? In addition to saving money on fixtures and maintenance, LED lighting also reduces your monthly energy costs. LEDs use less wattage, and you can expect to see up to 65% savings if you are lighting a warehouse or manufacturing plant and up to 40% for office lighting.

Protect Your Investment in Fixtures: LED lights can be retrofitted into most existing fluorescent light fixtures. Whether your existing light fixtures were installed years ago or much more recently, it’s likely that you will be able to retain your existing fixtures. LED lights cause less wear and tear, so you’ll spend much less time and money replacing ballasts, which can go bad as often as every third light change with fluorescent tubes. LED lighting protects your capital investment.

Reduce Your Maintenance Costs: Maintaining fluorescent lighting is very costly and there are significant hidden costs if maintenance is not planned in advance. Fluorescent tubes have an average lifespan of only 8,000-12,000 hours, while LED lights last 50,000 hours on average. This variance alone creates a significant reduction in maintenance costs, but there’s more! Because LED lights have a higher benchmark rating of around 70%, the replacement frequency is further reduced as compared to their counterpart fluorescents, which require replacing as early as at 60% of their average lifespan. Also, LEDs dim rather than suddenly burn out. This convenient feature means you won’t be left in the dark, literally. With LED lights, you can plan maintenance at a time that will not interfere with your production schedule or strain your workforce.

Increase Your ROI: Retrofitting fluorescent light fixtures with LED tubes results is a rapid return on investment (ROI). The more your lights are on, the more quickly you will realize your ROI. For example, if your facility runs 24/7, you can expect a full return on your investment in less than two years.

Preserve a Healthy Environment: It’s no secret that fluorescent lighting triggers migraines. This is due to a spiraling strobe effect and to a slight buzzing sound that some individuals are sensitive to. LED lights remove these migraine triggers and the resulting lower productivity and instead contribute toward a healthier environment and increased productivity.

Enhance Productivity: Production rates in a facility using LED lighting are higher than in those facilities that use fluorescent lighting. Without delving too deeply into a technical explanation, the higher the color rendering score, the more conducive the environment is to safety and productivity. With a color rendering score in the mid-80s as compared to the mid-60s to low 70s, LED lighting creates a more well-lit facility, which in turn reduces eye strain, decreases errors and safety concerns related to poor lighting and eye strain, and increases production rates. Plus, less facility maintenance and lower employee sick time equals less overall downtime; and that is always a positive when it comes to productivity.

Capitalize on Hidden Savings: Depending on your line of business, you may be able to save big dollars in other less obvious ways. For example, for a warehouse or facility that works with produce, the ultraviolet rays in fluorescent lighting cause faster ripening, rotting and brown spots, which results in lost revenue. LED lighting, on the other hand, will not negatively impact the quality of produce.

Take Advantage of Tax Rebates: Retrofitting fluorescent lighting opens the door for Energy rebates through both state and local governments. Check out tax relief options for Act 129 Rebates.

Gain a Green Reputation: Environmentally-conscious companies project a positive image in the community. Replacing fluorescent lighting is one step toward a green or LEED-certified facility, since LED lighting is an investment in long-term energy conservation. According to a University of Notre Dame study, business performance at LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified locations exceed that of non-certified properties. Read more about how PNC, a leading LEED®Certified organization, demonstrated that LEED certified branches had $431,300 more in sales and $675 less in utility charges per employee.

The implications of the study findings are enormous. Owners and occupants of green buildings can now be expected to experience measurable business benefit beyond simple operational efficiencies.

 

We’ve given you nine reasons why LED lighting makes more than ‘cents’ for your facility. So if you’re ready to save big, contact us at sales@LightingByLED.net or by calling 412.LED.1234. We’ll conduct a no-cost, no-obligation evaluation to help you consider LED lighting options that will save you money in so many ways.