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Home > Energy Efficiency Tips & Tools > Lighting
Look to lighting for potential energy savings
Changes to your lighting are often easy to make, and many of them cost
little or nothing to do. This section will give you ideas for addressing
your lighting requirements and areas you can look at for savings.
Do a lighting audit and a walk-through with a light meter
The first step is to know what lighting you currently have in place. Print
out a Lighting Audit Form, that you can put on your clipboard. Then take
it, along with a light meter, and do a walk-through of your facility.
You might consider doing the walk-through with an expert especially if
you are considering retrofitting with new lamps, fixtures or controls.
Measure the present light levels with a light meter. Ask how people feel
about the lighting (are their eyes tired at the end of the day, is there
glare, etc.). See the table for acceptable lighting levels in general.
|
Recommended light levels
|
Lighting level
(footcandles) |
Examples of areas or tasks |
| 5-20 |
General public areas, reception areas, stairs, corridors,
circulation areas, lightly used office areas, etc. |
| 20-50 |
Average office work (limited, occasional or less demanding
visual tasks) |
| 50-100 |
More prolonged or difficult visual tasks (e.g., drafting,
reading maps or small type, etc.) |
| 100-200 |
Especially difficult visual tasks -low contrast, small
size (e.g., electronic component assembly) |
| Over 200 |
Quality control inspection |
| Note: 1 footcandle = 10.76 lux Source: Based
on IEEE recommendation |
How lighting can waste energy
- Inefficient light sources -when the lamp or fixture is inefficient
in converting electricity to light, using more watts (units of electric
power) than necessary to produce the lumens (units of light output).
- Transmission losses - when dirt or some other obstruction blocks some
of the light or when the light source is too far away from what you
want illuminated.
- Over-lighting - when more light is used than is needed; when "free"
sources such as daylight or reflectors are not used; and when lights
are on for no reason.
A word about codes
There may be provincial or local codes with lighting requirements you
must meet, for new construction or remodeling. Some codes specify light
levels in footcandles, while others set limits in terms of watts per square
foot of building area.
Make sure you meet the code requirements -but don't stop there. The code
will define the minimum acceptable level of energy efficiency, but you
may be able to design your new lighting for even greater efficiency and
electric bill savings!
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