T-12 phase out coming soon, according to my supplier...

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GUNNING

GUNNING

Senior Member
Location
Gainesville, Florida
ca CHING$

ca CHING$

I quit stocking t12 ballasts on the van. Only t8's now. Its half the energy, why would you NOT Up grade to the t8??? From what I have read, if you are changing out a ballast just do it. If you are changing out lamps and have someone there figure it would take about 50 days to payback the difference if you use $.033/kwh as cost and 8 hours a day use. Your lighting costs are some of your highest energy uses and that could be cut in half just by changing to T8's and electronic ballasts. This is a ruff estimates NOT including incentives you might get from the utilities and government.

Be the genius that tells the management you can save them 25% or more on their utility bill.

Sounds like bonus time to me!
 
hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Location
close to greenville sc
GUNNING said:
I quit stocking t12 ballasts on the van. Only t8's now. Its half the energy, why would you NOT Up grade to the t8??? From what I have read, if you are changing out a ballast just do it. If you are changing out lamps and have someone there figure it would take about 50 days to payback the difference if you use $.033/kwh as cost and 8 hours a day use. Your lighting costs are some of your highest energy uses and that could be cut in half just by changing to T8's and electronic ballasts. This is a ruff estimates NOT including incentives you might get from the utilities and government.

Be the genius that tells the management you can save them 25% or more on their utility bill.

Sounds like bonus time to me!
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We have been changing them to t8's if the ballast is bad. If they stop selling the lamps we will be having to replace a ballast every time a lamp goes bad. The management will be blowing their stacks!

What is a bonus, never got one of those? ;)
 
P

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
GUNNING said:
I quit stocking t12 ballasts on the van. Only t8's now. Its half the energy, why would you NOT Up grade to the t8??? From what I have read, if you are changing out a ballast just do it. If you are changing out lamps and have someone there figure it would take about 50 days to payback the difference if you use $.033/kwh as cost and 8 hours a day use. Your lighting costs are some of your highest energy uses and that could be cut in half just by changing to T8's and electronic ballasts. This is a ruff estimates NOT including incentives you might get from the utilities and government.
Click to expand...

I am thinking this is a crazy number.

Just the labor has to be close to $100. New bulbs and a new ballast, probably another $100. To save $200 in 50 days?

Lets see:

That would be $4 per day savings.

At 3.3 cents per kWh that would mean a reduction in energy usage of 120+ kwh per day, or about 15 per hour. At 120V, 15 kw is about 125A.

I do not believe that a typical T12 light fixture draws 250A.
 
GUNNING

GUNNING

Senior Member
Location
Gainesville, Florida
ok I stand corrected .. it was fast math.

You save about an amp a ballast an hour for a 2 lamp ballast. If you have a factory or a shop or an apartment, its an investment. If you are a small government entity or hospital or university it means the local utility doesn't have to build that new power plant to keep up with growth.

Its the right thing to do.

PS here its 14.13 cents per Kwh Not 3.3 cents as stated.
 
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P

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
GUNNING said:
ok I stand corrected .. it was fast math.

You save about an amp a ballast an hour for a 2 lamp ballast. If you have a factory or a shop or an apartment, its an investment. If you are a small government entity or hospital or university it means the local utility doesn't have to build that new power plant to keep up with growth.

Its the right thing to do.

PS here its 14.13 cents per Kwh Not 3.3 cents as stated.
Click to expand...

An amp at 120V is only about 1 kwh per day, for an 8 hour day. Even at 13 cents a kwh, it is going to take 4 years to break even. At 3.3 cents, its never going to break even because the costs of the money are more than the savings.

Most industrial and commercial users are paying far else than residential users. I would not be real surprised if the average was under 5 cents.

It may be "right" because it brings in business to ECs, but that does not make it right.
 
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