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For many organizations, lighting represents a major part of their electricity consumption. Upgrading lighting can produce significant savings on energy bills, especially where lights must remain on 24 hours a day.

Lighting upgrades also help reduce maintenance costs, because efficient lamps (bulbs) last much longer on average than incandescents. Retrofits (and reducing the frequency of burned out bulbs) can improve the quality of light and safety in areas such as parking garages too. Even if your organization is small, you'll still contribute to B.C.'s overall energy conservation effort by changing those lights you can.

How to take action

  • Start with BC Hydro's online calculator for strata corporations and non-profit facilities. This basic calculator gives you a starting idea of what lighting you might retrofit and what incentives or lighting specials BC Hydro offers incentives that could help your organization with the cost of retrofitting. (The incentives page includes case studies of strata councils and community organizations that have experienced substantial reductions in their electricity bills as a result of retrofits.)
  • Make use of BC Hydro's lighting guides for business and/or home, choosing the tips that make the most sense based on your organization's size and the nature of your activities.
  • Buy only ENERGY STAR® lighting fixtures.
  • If your organization is a strata council, download the "Quick Wins for Stratas" [PDF, 56 Kb] tip sheet and share it at a council meeting.
  • If your organization owns or manages property, ask your users where they think lighting could be improved. People may feel lighting is inadequate or unsafe in some areas – input may help you determine where to start your upgrade project.
  • Ask for help. If you're not sure where to start or want more information about BC Hydro's Product Incentive Program that provides financial reimbursements for qualified retrofits, contact the Power Smart Help Desk by email or phone, at 604 522 4713 (Lower Mainland) or toll-free 1 866 522 4713.

Why it makes a difference

  • Energy efficient lighting costs far less to operate than incandescent lighting. For example, an exit sign that uses LED (light-emitting diode) technology uses about 10% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb – and it can last more than 10 years. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) use 75% less energy than an incandescent and last up to 10 times longer – which means a single CFL can save up to $30 over its lifespan. Organizations operating old-fashioned lighting are wasting money they could use on other things.
  • For the energy they use, incandescent lamps use 95% to generate heat and only 5% to produce light. By comparison, compact fluorescent bulbs create very little heat. If you have energy costs related to cooling – fans or air conditioning, for example – your organization will save double when you replace incandescent lamps with CFLs. You'll use less electricity for light, and less energy to get rid of the unwanted heat.
  • It adds up. If everyone in B.C. turned off one (incandescent) light bulb for just four hours a day for a year, the energy saved could power all of Whistler for 12 years. Making a permanent switch to energy efficient bulbs will help ensure B.C. has adequate electricity for generations to come.

For more information

Last Modified: May 23, 2012

 

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