Electronic Ballasts And High Lumen Fluorescent Lamps Change The Energy Efficient Lighting Industry

By Author: Steve Norris
Total Articles: 23
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Technology has changed every industry in the world many times over, and it continues to flex its muscle in the energy efficient lighting market as well. Standard components used for decades in commercial luminaries are now being fine tuned and refined to meet the tough demands of an energy conscious generation. The results have been nothing short of shocking!

The two major components of commercial lighting fixtures include the lamp and ballast. Most high bay commercial applications typically called for 250W, 400W, or 1000W Metal Halide lamps depending on engineering requirements, fixture spacing, and ceiling height. These long lasting high lumen output lamps have been a staple of the industry for well over 50 years.

By adding these high wattage lamps to the required magnetic ballasts for operation, the corresponding actual wattage consumption of these fixtures was actually closer to 295W, 455W, and 1100W appropriately. Although the lamps were long lasting with a useful life of over 20,000 hours, they also consistently lost up to 60% of their lumens (light output) over the expected life of the lamp. Because ...
... the lamps often continue to operate well after their targeted expected life span, many facilities end up being very dimly lit with these high consumption lamps. Even though they put out a fraction of the original light, they still continue to draw the same amperage as when new, and in some cases of failing ballasts, can even draw excessive amperage.

The challenge for the commercial lighting industry has been to design a superior fixture that uses less energy, puts out more light, and keeps the light levels near the performance level of new lamps. Although the task sounds daunting, technology breakthroughs have made and continue to make this possible.

Fluorescent fixtures with newly designed energy efficient electronic ballasts used as replacements for the older metal halide fixtures actually consume less than half of the energy of their legendary workhorse counterparts. They put out more lumens over the life of the lamp, produce a higher CRI or color rendering index, last longer (Up to 30,000 hours), maintain over 95% of their lumens over the life of the lamp, and still use less than half of the energy for equivalent or better light!

By utilizing high lumen T8 and T5 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts, manufacturers are churning out fixtures as fast as contractors can put them in. With government incentives to reduce KWH use in place via EPACT, and with local utility companies offering rebates to encourage large facilities to reduce consumption, the fluorescent industry and electronic ballast industry continue to shape and mold future markets for energy efficient lighting.
Steve Norris is a Texas based Lighting Retrofitting Contractor and Fort Worth Electrician that serves the energy efficient market nationwide. By providing his clients energy efficient alternatives, they literally have saved thousands of dollars per month using the latest technology.