How much money can my business save with LED lighting?
For small businesses, keeping the cost of utility bills down in offices is pretty important. Every little helps and with lower bills comes more money to invest in growing the business.
Lighting alone can account for as much as 35% of the average businesses electricity consumption – INUI talk us through why it is one of the best places to start when looking to reduce energy costs.
Enter, LED bulbs. Over the years, these bulbs have grown and grown in popularity, overtaking traditional lighting such as halogen bulbs. In fact, on September 1st 2018, halogen bulbs were banned across Europe to make way for a continent-wide switch over to LEDs. Halogen bulbs proved to use around five times more energy than LEDs and it’s thought that doing away with them will save more than 15m tonnes of carbon emissions a year. Businesses the world over are switching to LED lighting, and it’s not difficult to see why.
The savings
Most things in business boil down to money, so cutting down on energy costs is something that should be reviewed regularly. Switching to LEDs is an easy win as something as minor as a 20% reduction in energy costs can add the same benefit as a 5% increase in sales for business. Switching to LED lighting has the potential to reduce lighting costs by as much as 90% – a no-brainer for small businesses.
Their money-saving benefits all come down to their energy efficiency. Their clever technology means that they pass electrons through a semiconductor and subsequently have no filament to wear out, meaning that they don’t get as hot. Traditional lighting loses almost 95% of its energy simply just by producing heat. With LEDs this figure drops to just 5%.
The return on investment
For many, the main argument for not switching to LED bulbs is the initial installation cost. LEDs are more expensive than other bulbs, which is often a turn-off for a small business who perhaps can’t justify the costs. It’s worth remembering however, that you will recoup your initial investment within the first few years and the lights will pay for themselves. The financial and energy savings are huge as they can last up to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs. This means lower bills and lower maintenance and replacement costs, which is not only financially friendly, but you’ll rarely need to think about replacing bulbs, making time for more important things – such as running your business.
If you’re really unsure about taking the plunge and facing the large upfront cost of having an LED overhaul in your office space, gradually replace lights bulb by bulb as they burn out. Introducing LED bulbs slowly may work out more cost effective for you and you’ll be able to compare their performance to existing lighting and slowly see the positive effects appear.
The calculator
To work out how much money and energy your office could save by switching to LEDs, take a look at INUI’s LED lighting calculator. Take for example a 120 square feet office containing 20 lights, all at 40 wattage. Based on a typical £0.1 kilowatt per hour, your existing electricity consumption stands at 8.280 kWh, leaving your running costs per year at £302.22. By switching to LED lighting, your new electricity consumption, (based on a 60% reduction over your current lighting installation wattage required for office use), would be 3.31 kWh, with your running costs at a much lower £120.89 – saving you more than 50%. As a result, your total annual savings would be an impressive £181.33, with your CO2 emissions savings left at 779.73 (based on a conversion factor of 0.43kgCO2/kWh).
