Energy saving is the buzz word of the day. You have to save energy to reduce the strain on energy management. Since last sixteen years I have been marketing lighting products, I thought should share some of my experience with my readers. Energy can be conserved in homes start using CFL, T5 fittings and Led lamps.
CFL (Compact Fluorescent lamps)
Energy Conservation is the need of the day and while using electrical light fixtures efficacy takes the prime spot, GLS (General Lighting Service) or incandescent lamps consume lot of energy compare to its efficacy. Compare 100W GLS lamp it consumes 100Watts per hour and its output is only 1000lumens (Light output of a bare naked lamp), but a 15W CFL lamp consumes 15Watts per hour and its output is 900 Lumens. Second a 100W GLS lamp life is 1000 burning hours compare with CFL’s 8000 burning hours. That means life is 8 times more than a GLS lamp.
CFL are available in different colour indexes, more popular are 2700k (Warm day light) and 6500k (cool day light), (k=Kelvin)
CFL are also available in two cap BC type and ES Cap type.
CFL are also available in different shapes and sizes, you can have with two U, three U or spiral or Globe type.
CFL are very easy to put in holders, replacing and cleaning. Most important in India CFL have one year replacement guarantee from the date of sale. One more thing CFL is available in all shops including grocery, stationary, hardware shops and of course electrical shops.
T5 lamp
CFL are not the replacement of FTL’s, hence T5(2900 lumens
) lamps are electrical equal and lumen output of T8 FTL’s(2500 lumens), but life( T5=20,000) is three times that of t8 FTL. So if you have a FTL fixture you can change the same with small adopter. Since T5 are slightly shorter than FTL. T5 consumes almost the half the energy taken by normal FTL.T5 are also a great energy saver. T5 lamps are fluorescent lamps that are 5/8″ of an inch in diameter .The efficacy of T5 lamp is 104.This come in 14,28 and 35 Watts and also in High output lamp.
LED
The latest trend in lighting industries are LED’s . One great draw back with LED is that they are mostly spot lights and can easily replace miniature halogens (MR16). LED produces no heat or very low heat.
No wonder even the lighting industry itself is keen to get beyond CFLs and into a lighting technology that really can deliver safe, high-quality light that is low-cost, low-energy, low-heat, low-carbon footprint, ultra long life-span. Hence lighting giants like Philips,GE and Osram are putting all resources in LED. The main place where LED are used:
• spot lights
• accent lighting
• sconce lighting
• tracks and clusters
• recessed down lights
• security lighting
• courtesy lights
• desk lamps
• decorative & feature lighting
Most people’s home use this type of lighting in kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and basements. Anywhere really that needs bright ambient light.
LED units also work very brilliantly in strips, so under kitchen units and inside cupboards are ideal applications not least because they give off almost no heat, plus their super-bright light is required in a relatively small area rather than spread widely.
A 11w LED bulb that has a 120 degree beam, lasts 50,000 hours and delivers 720 lumens illumination (for comparison purpose that’s twice as bright as a regular 40w incandescent which typically outputs 360 lumens).
Some Tips for Energy saving
1) Turn off Lights quickly to reduce lighting costs, when not required or on leaving the room.
2) Paint your walls with light colour so that more light can be reflected.
3) Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight.
4) Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it.
5) Use Electronic chokes and low watt loss chokes only.
6) If possible use glass filters on the roof to get direct sunlight in the morning.
One thing we all must remember One unit energy saved is equal to one unit energy Produced. World wide we must all appreciate to save energy
