LED – An Illuminating Revolution?
By JD Dodson
When energy prices were at an all time high in the summer of 2008, "going green" became the phrase of the day. Becoming energy efficient was seen as a way to reduce energy demand, protect the environment and hopefully become less reliant on the Middle East. Congress proposed carbon footprint legislation as a solution. Heated debates ensued as the proposed legislation could mean extra taxes for all energy consumers and a heavier burden on large energy users especially in the industrial and utility sector. Many experts agreed this was not a good idea during an economic recession. The recession along with an increased natural gas supply has pushed energy prices down causing Congress to refocus their efforts. The term "carbon footprint" has been replaced by the politically correct term sustainability. Sustainability is the movement of corporations towards technology that is long-term and self-sustaining. In this spirit, LED (light-emitting diode) systems are making progress in becoming a reality for commercial and industrial applications. In this article, we will explore current and new lighting technology for commercial and industrial users.
To understand how LED's fit in today's commercial and industrial applications, we must first discuss the most common lighting fixture installed in facilities today. Many years ago, Metal Halide fixtures (see figure 1) replaced fluorescents as the predominant light fixture. This change was due to Metal Halides long life, initial high light output and concentrated light distribution. Now fluorescent fixtures are replacing Metal Halide fixtures. The switch back to fluorescents was mainly due to several drawbacks of the metal halide system and advancements in the fluorescent system. This swing in technology has required many plant personnel to change their paradigm as fluorescents were thought of as the inferior lighting system.
Even with advancements in fluorescent lighting, there are still drawbacks - poor lighting quality, poor efficiency and significant loss of illumination to name a few. Due to inefficiency, California has banned fluorescent fixtures from many new applications. Due to increasing bans on T-12 fluorescent lamps, T-8 and T-5 lamp systems (Fig. #2) are becoming more popular in the industrial sector. Their popularity is due to the fact that they provide consistent lighting over a reasonable life at an affordable cost.
As the lighting landscape evolves, LED is thought to be the future of lighting solutions (Fig. #3 & #4). LED is already being applied in the retail and commercial sector, but is slowly implemented in the industrial sector. The slow progression to LED is mainly due to the high fixture cost. For more progressive firms that strategically plan for the long-term, LEDs provide lamp longevity, as the lamp life is three to four times longer than the fluorescent systems, thus lighting maintenance cost is very low. To consider whether LED is right for your commercial or industrial application, see the comparison chart below.
Even if an LED system is not a good lighting solution today, LED fixture costs are decreasing by an estimated 20% per year, thus it is only a matter of time before LEDs will be considered for all applications. Please contact us and let the experts at RPM provide you with a financial analysis to determine if an LED system is right for your application!
Value Comparisons on Light Fixture Systems
| Fixture Type | Fixture Costs | Per Fixture Lamp Replacement Costs | End of Life Lumens | Lamp Life (Hrs - 10 Hour Cycle) | System Watts | *CRI | **CCT (Kelvins) |
| Metal Halide - Probe Start | $155 | $20 | 16,200 | 20,000 | 458 | 70 | 4,200 |
| T-5HO (4 Lamp) | $190 | $16 | 19,000 | 24,000 | 234 | 85 | 5,000 |
| T-8 (6 Lamp) | $160 | $12 | 18,240 | 24,000 | 192 | 85 | 5,000 |
| LED | $500 | $300 | 9,000 | 70,000 | 120 | 75 | 6,000 |
Market Update - January, 2011
The West Texas Intermediate crude oil spot prices in December 2011 averaged over $89 per barrel, about $5 per barrel higher than the previous month average. This is due to expectations of higher oil demand and the unusually cold weather in the Northeast this winter.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the price of WTI crude oil to average about $93 per barrel in 2011 and forecasts WTI prices to continue to rise into 2012. Average price of WTI crude oil for the fourth quarter of 2012 is $99 per barrel. OPEC is scheduled to meet in June of 2011 to discuss production targets and the EIA expects that OPEC members' crude oil production will continue to rise over the next 2 years. At the end of 2010, natural gas working inventories were at 3.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is about 1% below the end of December record-setting level. At the end of the winter heating season (March 31), EIA expects a record high of 1,774 Bcf will remain in storage, well above 2010 level of 1,662 Bcf. In 2011, inventories are projected to stay at or near high levels throughout the year.
The Henry Hub spot price averaged $4.25 per MMBtu during December. For 2011, the projected Henry Hub natural gas spot price averages $4.02 per MMBtu, but the EIA expects the natural gas market to tighten in 2012. The projected Henry Hub natural gas spot price average for 2012 is $4.50 per MMBtu.
The natural gas futures 12-month strip had a low just under $3.87 in late October and a high of $4.70 in early December. Currently, the January 2011 contract is priced at $4.70 per MMBtu. The GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter 2010 (from third quarter to fourth quarter), after a real GDP increase of 2.6 percent in the third quarter. The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased. The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency. The "second" estimate for the fourth quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on February 25, 2011.
The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected a sharp downturn in imports, an acceleration in PCE, and an upturn in residential fixed investment. They were partly offset by downturns in private inventory investment and in federal government spending and a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment.
