Switching to LED lighting can cut costs - Philips

18 Jun 2012

Businesses are bracing themselves for the 1 July 2012 electricity increase of 13.5%. "Businesses can save up to 15% on their total electricity bill by making better lighting decisions and switching to LED lighting," says John Westermeyer, marketing manager of Philips Lighting South Africa.

Today, people work longer hours than ever before, and they do it more flexibly - in terms of the hours in which they work and where they choose to work. Consequently the office structure and use of space is changing. We are moving from a standard static office to a more dynamic and natural place to engage with others.

"Compared to standard office lighting with fluorescent tubes, LED offers great support for the changes in the office space. In addition, LED brings great energy saving, especially when combined with lighting controls," says Westermeyer. In response to a growing demand to minimise the environmental impact of buildings, many organisations have developed Green Building certification systems. "Our lighting solutions contribute to Green Buildings not only by making buildings more energy-efficient, but also by enhancing the indoor environmental quality," he adds.

Low-maintenance operation

Well-designed LED lighting systems not only offer low-maintenance operation and a useful source life of 50 000 hours or more, they can consume up to 85% less energy than conventional solutions when properly specified and deployed. LED lighting also lends itself to tight integration with digital control systems, photo sensors for daylight harvesting, and other strategies for delivering the right level of light not only where it's needed, but when.

"LED lighting systems are digital devices which can communicate operational and status data to software-based reporting and remote-management systems, to further reduce potential management and maintenance costs. By some estimates, there are over 100 million m² of over-lit office space around the world. This represents both a massive waste of energy and a risk to the health and comfort of the millions of people who work in these spaces," says Westermeyer.

"By offering energy-reducing savings, at a time of year when energy increases are affecting households and businesses across the country, LED lighting is an immediate and non-invasive solution to curbing costs and offsetting your carbon footprint. With new ways to deliver and use light, LED lighting has the potential to transform the way we work and live," concludes Westermeyer.