With the ever growing steps in energy conservation, many consumers find great savings in using Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs known as CFL’s. The light bulbs create tremendous energy savings and produce less heat than their incandescent predecessors. However consumers must beware of the cautions associated with use of these lamps.

CFL’s are designed to replace incandescent lamps in most portable and non-portable fixtures, such as table lamps and wall mounted fixtures. The limitation of using these CFL bulbs is their use in outdoor applications and enclosed fixtures. CFL’s such as spiral lamps are permissible in enclosed fixtures, providing that they are specially designed for that application and limited to 42 Watts or less. CFL lamps greater than 42 watts are designed for use only indoors with open rated fixtures. Many manufacturers of these higher wattage CFL’s, such as TCP, Maxlite, and Sunlight Brands expressly denote that these high wattage CFL Lamps are not for use outdoors or enclosed fixtures due to risk of fire.

According to Ellis Yan, Chief Executive Officer of TCPI the nations largest producer of CFL lamps, “The high wattage CFL’s are designed with an integral cooling fan to reduce the heat levels produced from overheating the electronic components. Using these lamps in enclosed fixtures may pose a serious risk to consumers”.  Education is a passion for Ellis that extends into the company’s business philosophy.He has been instrumental in establishing consumer and school education programs to share the energy efficient and environmental benefits of using compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). He is also dedicated to health and wellness and has developed incentive programs encouraging employees to make decisions that are good for their health and the environment.

In 2008, the Office of National statistics reports there were 1033 fires caused from misuse of CFL light bulbs. Energy Star, a joint effort between the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, CFLs installed in enclosed fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs may overheat. This can pose serious risk of injury or fire, and significantly reduce both light output and lifetime.  Even under optimum conditions, light output from a CFL will decrease over its lifetime. To maintain existing light levels, select CFLs with rated lumen output (of bulb and ballast together) at least as high as the bulbs they replace. CFLs should have a power factor (PF) above 50% and a Color Rendering Index (CRI) above 80%. ENERGY STAR-qualified integral CFLs and most available modular CFLs meet these criteria.

Particularly for high-use fixtures, consider replacing an existing screw-based (“incandescent”) fixture with one designed exclusively for CFL use—i.e., a fixture with a hard-wired ballast that accommodates pin-based CFLs. (Residential CFL fixtures are also covered by an ENERGY STAR labeling program.

For More Information

• DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Information Center
  Phone: 1-877-EERE-INF or 1-877-337-3463
• The EPA/DOE ENERGY STAR®program provides product listings of complying CFLs and dedicated CFL fixtures.
  Phone: (800) 372-7827
• The Lighting Research Center’s Web sitehas valuable information covering CFLs and other lighting systems.
  Phone: (518) 276-8716
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory provided supporting analysis for this recommendation.
  Phone: (202) 646-7954

On average, interior lighting accounts for more than 25 percent of a business’s energy consumption according to Florida Power & Light. In addition many customers experience an additional 30 percent of their air conditioning expense, just to cool the heat produced by the lighting.

Synergy Lighting is an FPL Participating Independent Contractor offering FPL rebates to businesses who change to qualifying energy efficient lighting. This is an exciting new program offered based upon the new 2012 Department of Energy Rule that was adopted by the United States Congress. The D.O.E. has established guidelines through the Consortium for Energy Efficiency.   CEE is a consortium of efficiency program administrators from across the U.S. and Canada who work together on common approaches to advancing efficiency.

In 2010, CEE has developed a standard of rating products based on specific energy efficiency measurements. FPL has adopted the CEE standard and is offering a phenominal rebate of $2.00 per lamp for 4′ T8 CEE approved bulbs and ballasts.

What does this mean for you?

By retrofitting your existing T12 or T8 Fixtures to CEE Rated High Efficient Bulbs and Ballasts, you may qualify for the FPL Rebate Incentive of up to $10.00 per fixture. That is 25% of the total cost of a retrofit, allowing the retrofit in most cases to yield a 12 month ROI. In addition to the rebate, you will benefit by an estimated energy savings of $34.00 per fixture per year, and enjoy a better quality of light.

How do I qualify for the FPL Rebate Incentive?

When you decide to upgrade your lighting, one of our Sales Associates will help you though the entire process, from qualifying to selecting the lighting system that’s right for your business.

Here are the steps:

1. Call Synergy Lighting’s Sarasota Office at 941-756-4844
2. Synergy will perform a No-Charge Feasibility Study of your business/facility
3. We will identify target areas of savings and establish where energy can be reduced
4. Synergy will submit all paperwork for your rebate and get an FPL “Pre-Approval”
5. Our team of certified installers will perform the lighting retrofit
6. FPL randomly selects and performs post verifications of lighting installations where rebates are applied.

It’s that easy! Call today for a no-hassle-no-charge audit or study and start saving today!

Qualifying Systems:

High-efficiency lighting systems that qualify for FPL’s lighting incentive include:

• Installation of T8, T5 or T5HO lamps with electronic ballasts
• Installation of pulse start lamps and electronic ballasts in metal halide fixtures
• Permanent screw-in (with locking device) compact fluorescent or ceramic metal halides in hard-wired fixtures
• Delamping with reflectors, tri-phosphor lamps and electronic ballasts
• New hard-wired fixtures, such as fluorescent, ceramic metal halide or compact fluorescent lamps
• Circuited current limiters with electronic ballasts with standard wattage lamps

Click here for more detailed information on qualifying high-efficiency lighting.

Over the years, we have always had a hard time understanding the decisions made by many electricians and customers. It seems like an everyday occurrence to come across a business who purchased the lowest price fixtures they can to light their business. Now that part we do understand, but it is the rest that we don’t. Most of the time when a customer buys based on price, they neglect the cost of operation.

Josey’s Poseys, an award winning Florist in Bradenton, Florida, had this exact situation when we met them. They were using 200 watt quartz halogen floods to light the exterior of their building. The light bulbs for these fixtures had to be replaced every 6 months, and had an annual operation cost of $131.40 per fixture. Synergy Lighting recommended switching to a Compact Fluorescent Fixture using natural daylight bulbs. In our recommendation we were focused on creating whiter, cleaner light as well as reducing the cost of operation.

Total cost of replacement was $170.00 for this project, and yielded a $571.79 per year, energy savings. The warranty for these light fixtures is five years, and the light bulbs should need replacing every two years.

For more information on replacing quartz halogen fixtures with CFL energy saving fixtures and natural white light, give us a call at 941-756-4844 or visit us online at www.synergylightingsupply.com