Here are some tips to save money when considering ongoing costs:
- Use LED Lights
The best way to reduce your lighting power consumption is to use energy efficient lights, which in 99.9% of cases means using LEDs. But there’s more to it than that...
- Use Proper Lighting Design
When a project is properly lit with the advice of a lighting professional – considering task lighting, following standards, placing lights where they’re actually needed – you can save a lot on installation and maintenance costs.
- Use Natural Light
Natural lighting is an often under utilised part of energy efficient design which can provide zero-energy carbon-neutral lighting. Natural lighting should be considered in both the building plan, the layout of objects in the room, and the placement of light fixtures.
- Implement Behavioural Change and Use Lighting Controls
By having more switches and banks of lights, you don’t have to turn all lights on at once just to light a single area. Use of smart controls like timers, occupancy sensors and daylight sensors will also greatly help to reduce your power bill, as does education and visual reminders to create behavioural change.
- Use Surface Mounted Lights
Did you know that many recessed lights can actually double your heating / cooling costs? If air is escaping through the tiny gap around your recessed downlight, or there’s a gap in your insulation above the light, you could be unnecessarily spending money to heat and cool your ceiling space. Instead, lights with a tight seal, that can be covered by insulation are preferable. However this is still not ideal because LEDs are very sensitive to heat. So the best solution of all is to use surface mounted lights.
Top Tip: Consider maintenance costs
Its not just power consumption that costs you money. Buying new lights further down the track also costs money, especially if you need an electrician to replace them. Buy good quality luminaires with long warranty, that aren’t too hard to change. You might find a cheap LED light for $10, but if it needs replacing every 1 – 2 years then you’re actually better off spending $40 for a light that will last 10yrs.
