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BriteSwitch, a utility rebate management company, just published this interesting infographic on the value of the average outdoor lighting rebate by fixture type and light source. The infographic, embedded below, lists the average dollar value for rebates on pole lighting, wall packs, canopy lighting and bollard lighting fixtures based on BriteSwitch's North American Rebate and Incentive Database.  It's interesting to see that LED lighting is the clear winner in terms of rebate dollars offered. …

There are certain lighting professionals within the lighting industry with a level of knowledge, experience and drive that put them in rarefied air. Even longtime lighting industry veterans would do well to take a page out of the books of these illumination experts who have their finger on the pulse of what’s relevant in today’s marketplace. The people listed here are bloggers and publishers with a passion for lighting. They write about a variety of topics such as lighting design, energy-effi …

While replacing existing lighting fixtures with energy efficient fixtures such as T5s and T8s will certainly help reduce your electricity bill, several of Florida’s electric companies offer Florida Lighting Rebates/Incentives.  The Florida Lighting Rebates will help reduce the cost of purchasing new lighting fixtures. Florida Power & Light  (FPL) Lighting Rebates As of May 2012, FPL through its Interior Building program provides between 65 cents to $3 for each linear fluorescent lamp as a …

I'm sure you've realized by now that in order to calculate the return on investment for a new lighting system, you're going to have to know how much energy your new fixtures will save you. In order to know that, you're going to have to have an idea of total wattage the existing fixtures you have are consuming. You could dismantle a sample of the fixture and read the specs for the ballast and lamps you have, but that can be tedious and very time consuming. Another option is to use a standardized …

President Obama is proposing new efforts to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings across the country. Last year, commercial buildings consumed roughly 20 percent of all energy in the U.S. economy. Improving energy efficiency in our buildings can create jobs, save money, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and make our air cleaner. The President’s Better Buildings Initiative will make commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade by catalyzing private se …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced support for energy-saving commercial building projects as part of an ongoing effort by DOE to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in the United States. With money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DOE's national laboratories will select and fund technical experts to provide technical guidance to commercial building owners and operators. The goal of this Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) initiative is to incr …

Efficiency Vermont, Vermont's statewide provider of energy efficiency services, has announced a new program promoting the replacement of T12 and HID High-Bay lighting with more efficient technology.  The newLIGHT program is being made available from April 1st to December 31st, 2010, and is offering businesses significantly enhanced rebates for upgrading their old T12 fluorescent and HID high-bay lighting systems to more efficient equipment.  This comes as the Department of Energy has passed n …

While doing some research last week, I bumped into this great video that was put together by the folks at ElectricTV.net.  I was surprised to see the logo of one of our sister sites towards the end, so I decided to reach out and ask if they would let us embed the video here.  It's great to see all of the points we've been stressing about T5HO high bay lighting being repeated by a professional organization like NECA and IBEW. ElectricTV.net is the on-line “Television network” of the Internatio …

For far too long, the standard for lighting warehouses, industrial facilities, manufacturing facilities and other high ceiling height applications has been the 400-Watt Metal Halide fixture. Advances in ballast technology and the improvements of the T5 High Output (T5 HO) Linear Fluorescent lamp have led to many new light fixtures that are targeted specifically to replace old HID high bays. The following article details the many benefits that the T5HO high bay fixture offers over tradition …

The vast majority of existing warehouse space in the US is lit with inefficient high intensity discharge or magnetically ballasted T12 fluorescent light fixtures.  Unfortunately, lighting is one of the few areas that is often overlooked when investigating cost reduction opportunities.  Owners and managers blindly budget tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for utility bills without realizing that switching to more energy efficient warehouse lighting can provide a tremendous opportunity to re …