These pay for themselves in as little as two years – and can immediately save up to 80% in energy and electricity costs!
Today, we’re highlighting the topic of commercial lighting for you in our energy efficiency blog series. There is a lot of potential hidden here – you can simultaneously save energy and increasingly expensive electricity, and eminently improve the atmosphere for your employees and customers.
Light is a big and important feel-good factor for your employees and customers in your business, but it also makes for more efficient work and a stimulating shopping experience. Many underestimate the impact of lighting until they see and experience the difference in their own operations.
Payback rate as short as hardly any other modernization program
What many don’t know: LED lighting is subsidized by the state in many cases. This promotion applies to indoor lighting, as well as outdoor and street lighting. And in the overall calculus of financing the retrofit of your light fixtures and modernization of your lighting system, taking into account the subsidies and thanks to the relatively moderate and manageable costs plus the high potential for energy cost savings, the payback rate of financing is, on average, only two years. That means you’ll have the money you invested in the retrofit back in your business assets after just 24 months through energy cost savings.
Promotion by the federal subsidy for efficient buildings
The Federal Ministry of Economics and Export Control’s federal subsidy for efficient buildings combines various subsidy programs under one large program. The Federal Support for Efficient Buildings – combines former support programs for the promotion of renewable energies in the building sector and energy efficiency. It supports u.a. new heating systems, the optimization of existing heating systems, measures on the building envelope and the use of optimized system technology.
This also includes the promotion of LED – this has been available since 01.01.2021 available. The purchase and installation costs are subsidized with 20%. The construction support and/or a specialized planning are promoted with 50%. Specialist planning is particularly important if you want to modernize to a so-called “intelligent lighting system”. These systems make it possible to control the lighting intelligently and to define and adjust it individually for each area of your operation. In addition, these switching centers can be coordinated with the ventilation and heating system so that they work together optimally.
Highly efficient indoor and hall lighting
If you want to update your indoor or hall lighting, the installation of high-efficiency lighting is encouraged. This includes the products luminaire, illuminant, reflector and the cover. This must be combined with a control and regulation system that matches the intended benefits. The subsidy rate is as high as 30% in some municipalities.
Intelligent LED lighting technology is a prime example of how technology can be used to achieve our climate protection goals. And how to achieve a high return on investment with investments in climate protection. Immediately after retrofitting, you will demonstrably reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 80%. The investment in intelligent lighting systems pays for itself after ca. 24 months. And that with a service life of approx. 17 years of light sources – without loss of quality. Regular maintenance work is therefore not required.
There are certain general conditions that must be met for the grant to be approved:
- Luminous efficacy of at least 100 lm/W
- Luminous flux maintenance of 80 %, with a service life of 50.000 hours
- Color rendering: the CRI value must be at least 80 RA
- the control of the lighting system must comply with the reference design according to ENEV (Energy Saving Ordinance) Annex 2, Table 1
- Proof of at least 50 % greenhouse gas savings
- Lighting design according to DIN EN 12464-1:2011-08
You ask yourself how this looks in practice?
We have also interviewed an expert for you for this article:
Reinhard Krotz, managing director of “Working Light LED Lichtsysteme GmbH” in Hamburg, has already carried out many refurbishments and modernizations of lighting systems with his team.
1. What can companies change right now to make their operations more energy efficient??
“Modernizing the lighting and converting it to an automated, intelligent system is recommended for every type of business and company. Here, an energy saving potential of up to 80% can be achieved with a relatively manageable effort (both in terms of time and money). And as a positive side effect, you simultaneously reduce the heating of the room temperature when you convert to LED, have a stable service life of the illuminants for up to 20 years and can immanently improve the working atmosphere of your employees via the intelligent illumination. Most of our customers, after the implementation of the modernization of their lighting system, contact us with the feedback: “we should have done this much earlier!”
2. What can every business implement immediately to reduce energy demand and save energy significantly by winter?
“Now money is still relatively “cheap” and therefore you should tackle the modernization of your lighting system as soon as possible. The payback period is shorter than for almost any other renovation project, and in addition, you can apply for valuable subsidies. After only two years on average, the investments have already paid for themselves through the energy costs saved. It takes no more than 8 weeks from decision to contract award and so far there have been no supply shortages of our materials. So don’t wait any longer, modernize your lighting as soon as possible and you can save a lot of precious energy very soon.”
3. What is your tip for implementation? What is the best way to make this change in practice and what should you bear in mind??
“Do the retrofit in one go and modernize all of the lighting in your facility. So you can make the entire system completely controllable and use these controls and interfaces not only to intelligently and digitally control all of the company’s lighting, but also to merge and coordinate it with your heating and ventilation system. So you can analyze your energy consumption and the light control also automated and save reports about it. These “reportings” will become mandatory in the coming years. So, by modernizing your lighting system, you combine many advantages and provide for the future already today.”
So what are you waiting for? Request financing for your intelligent lighting system today and take advantage of our service to obtain the best offers for you and automatically take into account the use of subsidies. We look for the best conditions for you in our network of around 300 financing partners. It pays to compare – now more than ever!
Read the posts in the energy efficiency series on ventilation systems here, and the interview with Dr. Tatjana Ruhl of DENEFF on the energy crisis. In the next blog posts, we will highlight the energy-saving potential of heating systems and heat pumps.
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