Lighting and Lighting Controls

Lighting accounts for anywhere between 16% and 37% of the energy used depending on the facility being measured. Updates to lighting not only save energy costs but have also been shown to reduce maintenance costs, improve employee productivity, improve safety, reduce sick days and improve overall employee well being. The bottom line impact of these additional benefits often exceeds the actual energy cost savings. For example, studies have shown that lighting upgrades typically improve productivity from 3-7% and a 1% improvement in productivity typically pays for the cost of the lighting upgrade within the first year. Each facility has it's own unique lighting needs and Graybar has a wide selection of solutions to meet those needs.

Energy-Efficient Lamps

Relamping is a great first step toward reducing your environmental impact while reducing your energy and maintenance costs. GE is the leader in energy-efficient lamps, providing energy-efficient fluorescent, compact fluorescent and HID lamps. Key benefits include:

• ENERGY-STAR® rating on over 90% of compact fluorescent lamps
• Longer lamp life – reducing maintenance costs
• More consistent light output at the same light level

Energy-Efficient Ballasts

Changing out your lamps can save you energy – updating your ballasts will enable those lamps to operate at optimal levels while maximizing lamp life. Maximizing lamp life minimizes your lamp and maintenance costs. And, features such as dimming, instant-start and programmed-start take energy savings to the next level. Savings as high as 60% are achievable with the right lamp and ballast combination!

Using the right combination of fixtures, ballasts and lamps for your application enables you to meet your energy-efficient goals while providing for optimum levels of lighting. Choosing the right fixture can also decrease your maintenance costs and address lighting issues such as light pollution, light trespass, glare and the cave effect. All of these benefits while providing aesthetic designs – now that's an attractive green solution!

Sensors and Dimmers

Maximizing the energy savings from lighting is simple – turn off the lights. Many facilities have areas that are lighted even when they are unoccupied for long periods of time or have sufficient daylight such that additional light is not needed. Occupancy sensors automatically switch lights off when an area has not been occupied for a specified amount of time and switches lights back on when motion is detected.

Concerned with disruption and cost to install occupancy sensors? Solutions from Lutron® and Leviton® offer wireless options – simply replace the existing wall switch with a wireless receiver and mount the appropriate wireless sensor. Not only do you get energy savings, you also benefit from reduced installation costs.

Dimmers provide individuals with the ability to further control their lighting levels. Personal control of lighting has been shown to reduce lighting energy costs on a nearly 1:1 ratio while enhancing occupancy experience

Lighting Control

Lighting control systems provide the ultimate in lighting energy cost control. Systems can be stand-alone or integrated into building-wide automation systems. Schedule-based systems allow lighting to be controlled based on time-of-day while more sophisticated systems also respond to signals sent from external control devices such as sensors or switches. Digital control systems assign device-specific addresses to each segment, allowing commands to be issued to specific portions of the building's lighting system. Daylighting control systems allow for lighting to automatically adjust based on the available daylight.

Lighting control systems can be adjusted, automated and monitored from a central location. Management of the lighting systems can facilitate pre-planning of maintenance schedules and analysis of occupancy trends to determine possible areas for energy usage improvement. Lighting control systems can also assist in load shedding practices, driving down usage during peak demand periods.

LED Applications

Consumers have witnessed the increasing use of LED devices in many applications such as signaling equipment/traffic lights, flashlights and landscape lighting. Now LED systems are gaining acceptance in many commercial building applications where the benefits of the technology outweigh the disadvantages. Some of these applications include:

• Cove lighting
• Downlights
• Cold storage lighting
• Emergency lighting/warning lights
• Exterior and landscape lighting
• Exit and other signage

The benefits of LED systems include higher energy efficiency, substantially longer life, infinite ability to dim, instant on and better light direction. However, there are still several challenges that must be overcome, including their higher cost, their sensitivity to electrical surges and humidity and the impact of high temperatures on their life and lumen ratings. We provide LED solutions from the top manufacturers that have proven to be reliable and meet customer expectations. Our commitment is to continue to be a reliable and trusted source for LED solutions as the technology continues to develop.