Rumpelstiltskin, the fabled thread-spinning alchemist, was easily able to exploit the inadequacies of those arrogantly promising gold to the king, because despite the talk, they were unable to deliver. And today, there are many products purporting to be energy-efficient, when in fact they are merely paying lip service to the idea and trying to stake a claim in the great green scramble.
The need for energy-efficient lighting is obvious. Lighting constitutes 20 per cent of western societies’ energy bills, and there is a host of pretenders to the energy-efficiency crown. Tungsten and halogen bulbs have no place at this table, as high wattage bulbs are gradually being phased out. Around 90 per cent of lighting power is lost through heat using halogen bulbs.
With this in mind, there seems one clear contender — the compact fluorescent bulb (CFL). But the CFL does present some dangers and inefficiencies and has been criticised for providing poor lighting quality. Despite this, there is a wide held belief it is the best on offer.
But Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting is becoming more popular. LEDs are efficient, safe, long-lasting and arguably better at using energy than other lighting technologies. They convert energy straight to light, resulting in running cost savings of up to 90 per cent on standard energy bills. They also last up to 10 times longer than traditional lighting.
Steve Day, facilities manager at Best Western Blunsdon House Hotel in Swindon, has been using LED lamps for over a year, and is reaping the benefits. He initially carried out an energy audit on a single floor of the hotel on normal power for a month. A month later, after installing LEDs he conducted another audit which revealed a 75 per cent power output saving.
“Five years ago electricity bills were not as high, but this has changed and with electricity prices soaring, running halogen lights now costs considerably more,” says Day. “LED lights appeal to both the pocket and the conscience. We’ve already seen dramatic reductions in our costs and energy use. Swapping a 35-watt halogen with a 4-watt LED will save a lot of money in the long run. A room or a corridor with a dozen 35-watt downlighters is wasting nearly half a kilowatt of energy, as 90 per cent of electricity is heat, not light.”
However, despite the LED’s excellent cost and energy-efficiency credentials, a quality stigma remains. The technology implemented by LED specialist companies surpasses those LEDs currently being offered to consumers in DIY chain stores. The real difference is in the design and testing. LEDs are almost wholly recyclable, as they are 80 per cent aluminium and also contain silicon and a few other discreet electronic parts. In addition, they are much more durable than glass bulbs, and don’t break easily. Because of their robust composition, LEDs are extremely resilient.
Quality LEDs last for the 40-50,000 hours (eight years) that they are supposed to. While mass-producing manufacturers say their products last this amount of time, their driving technologies often only last 10-20,000 hours. If an LED driver runs from 110-230 volts on AC, because of their sensitivities, it is essential to ensure that the LED light can cope with the expected fluctuations in voltage within the UK grid system.
The other prohibitive factor affecting the development of LED lighting is that mainstream lighting manufacturers are not fully exploring the latest advances LED technology has to offer because of their long-term vested interests in CFL technology. Manufacturers are able to produce CFLs cheaply thanks to continued government subsidies, so they’re not offering consumers an alternative technology.
One only has to consider the vast investment the European Lamp Companies Federation (ELC) has put into CFLs to envisage just how detrimental an LED overhaul would be to the industry’s financial balance. The ELC represents the leading European lamp manufacturers, their 50,000 employees, 95 per cent of total European lighting production and an annual European turnover of 5 billion. According to the ELC’s Strategy for Domestic Lighting, the organisation’s members have promoted CFLs for 25 years, and actively support the phase-out. However, there can be little doubt that this is based on the understanding that CFLs will prosper. “The eight-year phase-out proposal is designed to ensure that supply of efficient cost-effective products can satisfy demand, development and innovation. We have a responsibility to ensure that consumers are not faced with empty shelves.
“It is important to note that LED technology is still in the very early stages of development, and as such there is a strong possibility that lamps will be made with a certain spectral composition in the future, hence alleviating some of these initial problems.”
The other side to this is that major manufacturers have invested a great deal into developing the CFL, and up until now, it has suited them to ignore the problems they bring.The recent media backlash over the poisonous mercury content of CFLs has raised general awareness of the long-term problems inherent in this technology.
Proper disposal is a complex process and is set to become a major problem. Defra recommends that FMs disposing of CFLs: “Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of household hazardous waste at a civic amenity site or household waste recycling centre.”
The need to rigidly follow the above protocols cannot be regarded as negligible. In such an event, those responsible for lighting maintenance not only have a health hazard on their hands, but also significant disruption — to those who use the room where the accident has occurred, and to their own productivity.
The enormous savings available mean that properly engineered LEDs are expensive, and due to the investment needed, the financial benefits are more suitable for the commercial market in the short term. However the availability of a variety of finance options including interest-free Carbon Trust loans, make them a viable investment for any high-energy use enterprise.
The biggest change for the LED, and consumer availability, will be government incentives. The government’s continued subsidy of CFLs ends in the next year. This will free up money which will hopefully pass on to LEDs, making them much more affordable. Alternatively, higher energy consuming lamps such as halogen or CFLs may start to attract new taxes.
Ian Peter Macdonald is sales and marketing director of sustainable-lighting company Greenled Turning.
