LED Lamps – Energy Saving Replacements
Steve Maurer, IME
I’ll make no bones about it. LEDs are the light of my life. Okay, maybe that’s going just a bit far … but not much. If you want to find an incandescent or fluorescent lamp in my house, you’re going to have to look hard. I think I may have a few C7s left to replace. But only because they’re hard to get to.
Back when I was an industrial electrician, one of my major projects was replacing or retrofitting the lighting in a processing plant with LEDs. Sometimes it meant replacing the entire fixture or luminaire. Other times, there was a direct replacement for the light I was working one.
But these days, there are more options than back then. In fact, there are very few occasions when an incandescent or fluorescent fixture can’t be upgraded to energy-saving LEDs. And there are other new features that make lighting homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities and warehouses even more flexible.
Let’s start with warehouses and manufacturing/food processing facilities.
Low and high bay LED lamps
Warehouses and manufacturing facilities have some lighting scenarios in common. Low bay fixtures and high bay fixtures light up the pathways in a lot of instances. 175-watt low bays are typically mounted at heights of 10-15 feet and provide area lighting. High intensity discharge lamps can get hot, for sure. But using a 65-watt LED replacement lamp could cool things down a bit.
250-watt HIDs are often used for 15-20 foot heights. An 80-watt LED replacement fits great here. And most LEDs come with heat sinks and venting to keep the fixture cool. Topaz® uses a vertex design for air flow and heat management.
For higher ceilings, particularly in cold storage facilities and warehouses, a high bay fixture is used. And because heat rises, it can get pretty warm up there. This can cause premature lamp failures, so some LED replacements come with internal heat sensors to dial down the power during extreme temperatures.
Even though LEDs are known for being more energy efficient than their HID cousins, you can lower your energy bill even more by shutting them down when not needed. But sometimes your warehouse needs a “nightlight” to ensure worker safety. Some high bay lamps can be outfitted with a plug and play microwave motion sensor to lower power consumption when no movement is detected. They often have a dial to select the power reduction you want: 0%, 20%, 40%, or 60%.
Wall packs and area lighting for outdoor walls and parking lots
This is where things can get really interesting. When replacing an HID wall pack with and LED lamp, you have options you didn’t before.
For example, instead of worrying about getting a fixture with the right light output, only to have the requirements change, you can use a lamp with a selector switch for up to three light levels. Remove the existing ballast, and wire the socket directly to line voltage.
A selector on the top of the lamp allows you to select the wattage, usually between 20 and 40 watts. Additionally, the color temperature can be selected, often with 3000K, 4000K, and 5000K. This gives you choices between a warmer light and a bright or daylight option.
Some lamps have a rotatable base, which means that once fully seated in the socket, you can “aim” the light in the right direction.
Pole fixtures can also get an LED upgrade with little prep. Some of them are also color temperature selectable to get just the right lighting effect for the parking lot.
Incandescent and fluorescent replacement lamps
Moving back inside to the office and home environment, there are LED replacements for almost any lamp you may have.
I wish I’d known that earlier!
We had some cool wall sconces that used fluorescents with pin bases. Little did I know that there are replacement LEDs that use that type of socket configuration. I’ll just tell myself they weren’t available at that time.
Anything’s possible!
But the fact now is that there are replacement LED lamps for pretty much every lamp base you have.
Even … C7s.
I guess I don’t have an excuse for not replacing those in my ceiling fans.
But … I’ll come up with one.
For now.
Back when I was an industrial electrician, one of my major projects was replacing or retrofitting the lighting in a processing plant with LEDs. Sometimes it meant replacing the entire fixture or luminaire. Other times, there was a direct replacement for the light I was working one.
But these days, there are more options than back then. In fact, there are very few occasions when an incandescent or fluorescent fixture can’t be upgraded to energy-saving LEDs. And there are other new features that make lighting homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities and warehouses even more flexible.
Let’s start with warehouses and manufacturing/food processing facilities.
Low and high bay LED lamps
Warehouses and manufacturing facilities have some lighting scenarios in common. Low bay fixtures and high bay fixtures light up the pathways in a lot of instances. 175-watt low bays are typically mounted at heights of 10-15 feet and provide area lighting. High intensity discharge lamps can get hot, for sure. But using a 65-watt LED replacement lamp could cool things down a bit.
250-watt HIDs are often used for 15-20 foot heights. An 80-watt LED replacement fits great here. And most LEDs come with heat sinks and venting to keep the fixture cool. Topaz® uses a vertex design for air flow and heat management.
For higher ceilings, particularly in cold storage facilities and warehouses, a high bay fixture is used. And because heat rises, it can get pretty warm up there. This can cause premature lamp failures, so some LED replacements come with internal heat sensors to dial down the power during extreme temperatures.
Even though LEDs are known for being more energy efficient than their HID cousins, you can lower your energy bill even more by shutting them down when not needed. But sometimes your warehouse needs a “nightlight” to ensure worker safety. Some high bay lamps can be outfitted with a plug and play microwave motion sensor to lower power consumption when no movement is detected. They often have a dial to select the power reduction you want: 0%, 20%, 40%, or 60%.
Wall packs and area lighting for outdoor walls and parking lots
This is where things can get really interesting. When replacing an HID wall pack with and LED lamp, you have options you didn’t before.
For example, instead of worrying about getting a fixture with the right light output, only to have the requirements change, you can use a lamp with a selector switch for up to three light levels. Remove the existing ballast, and wire the socket directly to line voltage.
A selector on the top of the lamp allows you to select the wattage, usually between 20 and 40 watts. Additionally, the color temperature can be selected, often with 3000K, 4000K, and 5000K. This gives you choices between a warmer light and a bright or daylight option.
Some lamps have a rotatable base, which means that once fully seated in the socket, you can “aim” the light in the right direction.
Pole fixtures can also get an LED upgrade with little prep. Some of them are also color temperature selectable to get just the right lighting effect for the parking lot.
Incandescent and fluorescent replacement lamps
Moving back inside to the office and home environment, there are LED replacements for almost any lamp you may have.
I wish I’d known that earlier!
We had some cool wall sconces that used fluorescents with pin bases. Little did I know that there are replacement LEDs that use that type of socket configuration. I’ll just tell myself they weren’t available at that time.
Anything’s possible!
But the fact now is that there are replacement LED lamps for pretty much every lamp base you have.
Even … C7s.
I guess I don’t have an excuse for not replacing those in my ceiling fans.
But … I’ll come up with one.
For now.
Photo courtesy of Topaz Lighting
