Power Smart for Business: Using Energy Wisely in ... - Manitoba Hydro

Lighting
Turn off lights manually:
When you leave a room unoccupied
or leave for the day.
In rooms that are seldom used. Storerooms,
utility rooms, washrooms, and meetings rooms
do not need to be lit when not in use.
Install devices to turn
off lights automatically:
Install occupancy sensors that turn the lights
off when the room is unoccupied.
Install a local light switch or occupancy sensor in rooms
where the lights are controlled by a breaker panel.
A less expensive alternative is to label and colourcode
all circuit breakers, so everyone knows which
breakers control which lights and can turn on only
the lights that are needed.
To turn off exterior lights during the day, install
a timer, a photocell switch, or a motion sensor.
Perform regular maintenance:
Look for flaking, chipping, and rusting, metal showing
through the paint and/or layers of dust or dirt on
fixture reflectors, as the fixture’s ability to reflect
light will be inhibited.
Look at the sockets, check for deformation, cracking
or exposed metal contact, and note any difficulty in
lamp installation.
Lens condition: Check for brittleness, cracking,
discolouration or yellow colour, glare, and pitting.
Consider this:
One CFL bulb equals seven incandescent bulbs.
The life span of one CFL (compact fluorescent lamp)
is 6 to 7 times greater than one incandescent. That
saves you time and money if you switch to CFLs
when considering labour and purchasing costs.
Consider your existing lighting level.
Does your current lighting provide the quality and
ambiance you want to achieve? If current lighting
levels are too high, retrofitting to a lesser number
of lamps or low light ballast is often adequate.
In particular, review:
Performance:
Consider the speed and accuracy of work, fatigue,
eye strain, morale, and motivation of employees.
Comfort:
Is glare, reflected images, or adequate light falling
on the task, or work area?
Ambiance/lighting effects:
What is the employee and customer perception
of the space? What kind of lighting effect is
desired (direct, indirect, diffused, concentrated,
task or ambient?)
Light colour and temperature:
Colour Rendering Index (CRI) indicates how
light sources affect object colour: the higher
the number, the more likely the light source will
render object colours well.
Consider this:
For fluorescent technologies, a CRI of 80 per
cent and above is recommended. By switching
to T8s, you are achieving 80% CRI, bringing you
closer to daylight quality which can help you save
money by being able to properly view due dates
and food spoilage before they happen, providing a
cleaner and safer working environment!
Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) describes
the colour appearance of the source. While
there are several colours available in T8 and
T5 fluorescent lighting for neutral white light,
consider using Cool White (4,100°K). For softer
lighting, consider utilizing Soft White (3,500°K).
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