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Feasibility of Today’s LED Lighting

Guest post by: Eric A. Woodroof

Article Overview: The Status of LED Lighting at the end of 2010

Feasibility of Today’s LED Lighting

During the past six months, I have toured many facilities that are testing

various applications of LED lighting. Although this technology is improving

(and this article will probably be obsolete within one year), there are some

basic conclusions that can be reached based on the technology available

today. Hopefully, this information can guide facility managers to either

embrace or avoid this technology for certain applications during 2011.

These "conclusions" are based on data from research divisions of utilities

who have been actively testing LED lighting fixtures (and many other

energy-related technologies) to determine their economic feasibility. Many

utilities across the country have "technology application centers" or minilabs

that test and demonstrate energy technologies. If your utility has such

a center, you may want to ask for a tour to see the applications with your

own eyes. Some utilities also are testing technologies such as food

processing and industrial refrigeration equipment, plug-in hybrids,

renewable technologies and industrial applications.

I have toured utility research centers on the coasts such as Southern

California Edison and New York Power Authority as well as centers in the

Midwest (Oklahoma Gas and Electric) and the South (Southern Company).

All of these utilities had active programs to demonstrate new lighting

fixtures in a variety of applications. Special thanks to Mr. Doug Avery

(Project Manager at SCE), who allowed me to take some pictures of their

testing activities. The picture of the LED tube lights (replacement for a T-8

lamp) was taken at Southern Company's Technology Applications Center.

Lighting Considerations

As we all know, energy efficiency recommendations that involve lighting

must be sensitive to the quality of light that a retrofit will provide.

Specifically, the color or "warmth" of the lamp sets an immediate "mood" for

a space, so if you change lights and change the color, you may impact the

productivity of the occupants. Of course, the other major consideration is

the Color Rendering Index (CRI) that indicates the occupant's ability to

distinguish colors under a certain lamp. Beyond these two criteria, most

lighting manufacturers have been trying to develop lamps that give more

lumens per watt, have longer lamp lives and are cost-effective.

Figure

1.

3500k

"Warm"

Lighting

Figure

2.

4100k

"Cool"

Lighting

As the pictures below indicate, LEDs are available in a variety of color

temperatures ("warm" or "cool" effects). Inside offices, homes and other

locations, many people prefer a "warm" atmosphere with lights that have a

3500k rating. However, most people prefer a "white" light for High

Intensity Discharge (HID) applications such as in a factory, warehouse or

parking lot lighting. Regarding HIDs in recent years, the pricing for a LED

lamp that would replace a Metal Halide lamp has dropped by more than

66%.

Consider the economics of replacing a 450w Metal Halide fixture. If an

LED fixture can deliver the same lighting for around 220w (an average), the

energy savings is about 50%, which would yield an annual savings of about

$92 (@ $0.10 per kWh and 4,000 operational hours per year). Considering

the fixture replacement cost, many of these types of retrofits yield about a 5

year payback, although sometimes a utility rebate is necessary to reduce

the upfront cost. So, in this example, if you can get the LED manufacturer

to guarantee a lamp life of at least 5 years, the LED would become

practical. You may also be able to use the retrofit to obtain LEED points or

achieve other green marketing initiatives.

Figure

3.

LED

HID

Fixtures

Similar LED retrofits have been done on bridges and other outdoor

applications with most utilities reporting success. In fact, one municipal

client told me that after putting the LED lights on the bridges, they have

significantly reduced their re-lamping interval so much that they had to do

"special" bridge walks (without actually re-lamping), just to keep their

maintenance staff practiced at the "high wire" walking!

As described above, LEDs are becoming effective replacements for HIDs,

task lights and other display lighting, especially applications in cold

environments- such as refrigerated display cases. This summer, I did an

audit of a well known "warehouse store" and we found very short paybacks

on replacing the fluorescent lamps with LEDs in the glass doors where they

displayed milk and other frozen foods.

Of course, there is a variance in the quality of LED products. I have had

one type in use for 2 years without a single failure, while I have also had

other types that lasted about 2 months... so the guarantee/brand name

may be an important consideration. When considering HID retrofits for

indoor applications such as a factory/warehouse, the T-5 or T-8 (four tubes

in a fixture) can also be very attractive and may have better economics.

Figure

4.

LED

Testing

Lab

#1

Figure

5.

LED

Testing

Lab

#2

One place where today's LED technology has not created an attractive

economic return is with LEDs in tubes (to replace a T-8 lamp). Although

the 13-15 watts per lamp sounds impressive, at a cost of $50 per lamp, the

payback is too long. When you compare LEDs in tubes versus some of the

low wattage T-8 or T-5 technologies, usually the traditional solutions offer a

quicker payback and higher reliability. However, progress is being made

and the color of the LEDs in tubes is very good as indicated by the picture

below.

Figure

6.

LEDs

in

Tubes

with

and

without

coated

glass

One other innovative and inexpensive solution I saw at one of the research

centers was a solar tube (basically an enhanced skylight). The original

installation generated too much light and glare in a particular office setting,

so one engineer taped concentric rings of paper to diffuse the light... it has

worked very well for about 7 years!

Figure

7.

Unique

Paper

Diffuser

for

Solar

Tube

Conclusions about the State of LEDs in 2010

While LED lights are making tremendous advances in sign-related lighting,

HIDs, incandescent replacements and other "under counter" (display)

applications, they have not been a suitable replacement (yet) for

fluorescent tubes. The economics of this application is likely to improve,

however LED lights in tubes will also have to compete against other

technologies that may offer a better economic justification

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Article Tags: feasibility, lighting



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