Cool Savings - How an LED Upgrade Relieves HVAC Loads
For facility managers in the Greater Los Angeles area looking to reduce operating expenses, making the switch to LED lighting offers an often overlooked benefit beyond just energy savings – lower air conditioning and cooling costs. The low-heat, high-efficiency properties of LED fixtures can substantially decrease demands on HVAC systems compared to traditional lighting technologies. This cost-cutting advantage is especially valuable in California, and Los Angeles specifically, where cooling demands can be significant throughout the year.
Enlighting, an award-winning lighting contractor serving the Greater Los Angeles area, specializes in designing and implementing LED lighting solutions that not only enhance illumination quality but also deliver substantial savings on HVAC and cooling costs. By understanding the significant impact that lighting can have on a facility's overall energy consumption, Enlighting helps clients achieve comprehensive energy efficiency and cost reduction.
The Cooling Burden of Older Lighting Technologies
Conventional lighting technologies like metal halide, high-pressure sodium, or fluorescent lamps operate at very high temperatures and waste a tremendous amount of their energy in the form of radiated heat. For example, a typical 465W metal halide high bay fixture can emit up to 347W in waste heat!
All that excess thermal load translates into higher HVAC loads and costs to remove the unwanted heat from the space through air conditioning. Removal of lighting heat can account for as much as 25% of a building's total cooling requirements. In other words, your HVAC systems are working overtime to counter the heat generated by inefficient lighting systems, leading to higher energy consumption and operating costs.
Low Heat, Low Cooling Needs with LED Lighting
LED technology is fundamentally different, converting the majority of energy into light rather than radiated heat. High-quality LED high bay fixtures installed by Enlighting at higher lumen outputs produce only a fraction of the waste heat as their HID counterparts – often just 50-150W in thermal load.
This low-heat attribute directly translates into markedly lower cooling and HVAC demands. An LED lighting upgrade eliminates tons of excess thermal load that would otherwise need to be offset by running air conditioning systems harder and longer, resulting in significant cost savings.
A Real-World Example in Greater Los Angeles
Consider a 100,000 FT2 industrial facility in San Bernardino with (200) conventional 400W (465W with ballast) metal halide high bay fixtures. Those 200 fixtures generate a total of 69,400W of waste heat that HVAC systems must remove.
By upgrading to (200) LED high bays at only 150W of thermal load each, that waste heat burden drops to just 30,000W. That's 39,400W (or 134,464 BTU/hr) less that air conditioners have to contend with – a 57% reduction in cooling load! Savings like these can really make a dent in HVAC energy usage and operating costs, especially in a warm climate like we find in Greater Los Angeles.
Beyond the HVAC and cooling benefits of reduced heat output, LEDs also produce light more directionally onto desired surfaces instead of dispersing it in all directions. This cuts the solar heat gain that would normally be absorbed into the building space through hot ceiling surfaces exposed to HID light radiation, further reducing cooling demands.
The Enlighting Advantage
Comprehensive Energy Efficiency Solutions Making the switch to an LED high/low bay lighting system installed by Enlighting is one of the wisest investments a facility manager in Greater Los Angeles can make to comprehensively manage energy costs. The energy-efficiency and low-heat advantages provided by Enlighting's LED solutions offer cost-saving benefits that transcend just the lighting system alone by alleviating loads and expenses related to HVAC and cooling demands as well.
An LED upgrade, in essence, is an overarching energy retrofit that attacks waste and inefficiency from multiple fronts. For maximum cost savings, LED is the enlightened way to cut air conditioning needs alongside improving lighting performance, quality, and overall energy usage.
Enlighting's Expertise in Lighting Controls and HVAC Integration
In addition to installing high-efficiency LED fixtures, Enlighting also specializes in implementing advanced lighting control systems that can further enhance energy savings and HVAC integration. By incorporating occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, and task tuning capabilities, Enlighting's lighting control solutions ensure that lighting and cooling systems work in tandem, optimizing energy usage based on real-time occupancy and environmental conditions.
Moreover, Enlighting's recommended lighting control platforms employ open protocols and intuitive software interfaces, enabling seamless integration with existing building management systems (BMS). Through a centralized control architecture, lighting systems can be synchronized with HVAC systems for coordinated energy-saving strategies across the entire facility, maximizing efficiency and reducing operational costs.
Partnering with Enlighting for Comprehensive Energy Solutions
For facility managers in the Greater Los Angeles area seeking to reduce operating expenses and achieve comprehensive energy efficiency, partnering with Enlighting is an enlightened choice. Enlighting's team of lighting professionals works closely with clients to understand their unique needs and develop customized LED lighting and control solutions that align with their specific goals and requirements.
By leveraging Enlighting's expertise in LED technology, lighting controls, and HVAC integration, businesses can unlock substantial savings on lighting, cooling, and overall energy costs. Additionally, Enlighting's commitment to sustainability ensures that their solutions not only deliver financial benefits but also contribute to a more environmentally responsible future for all of us living in California.
Don't let inefficient lighting systems drive up your HVAC and cooling costs. Partner with Enlighting today to experience the full potential of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions and take a comprehensive approach to reducing your facility's operating expenses.
