THE SWITCH
Why use CREE Led lighting as opposed to the typical Compact Fluorescent Bulbs?
Compact Fluorescents’ color spectrum has very narrow bands of color, so our brains are forced to fill in the color gaps between the narrow bands while CREE Led bulbs achieve a more broad color spectrum. Due to these differences, foods often appear more vibrant and appetizing in CREE Led lighting as opposed to Compact Fluorescent lighting, making it ideal for dining halls and restaurants.
Future Growth of the Light Bulb
Incandescent:
* Life span : 750 – 2k hours2
* 90% of energy lost through heat. (85 btu/hr)
* $1.25 per bulb
* Bulky shape.
Halogen Incandescent:
* Lifespan of 3k – 4k
* 80% of energy lost through heat but 120 btu/hr.
* $1.50 per bulb
* Sensitive to rapid cycling.
* Easily broken.
The chart above shows the comparisons between different types of lightbulbs in terms of lifespan, power consumption, and cost of operation. It shows the clear monetary advantage of switching to LED lights but also shows that any updating in the lights at the dining halls could help in expenses. Although LED lights have a high price tag per bulb, in 50k hours they save ~$400 in comparison to incandescent lights. Implementing the change throughout the dining halls, could potentially save thousands of dollars.
Quick Facts
CFLs:
* Lifespan of 8k-10k hours
* Slight delay after turned on.
* 80% of energy lost through heat. (30 btu/hr)
* $3.95 per bulb
* Sensitive to rapid cycling.
LEDs:
* Lifespan of 35k-50k hours keeping at least a 70% lumen maintenance level.
* Turns on instantly
* Low loss of energy (3 btu/hr)
* $35.95 per bulb
* Unaffected by rapid cycling
* Directional light emission1
* Low profile.
* Doesn’t emit IR or UV rays.
These data sheets shows current light bulbs that are being used in the dining halls and potential future switches. As you can see, the dining halls only use Halogen and Incandescent lights and their annual Kwh is very high. On the second data sheet there is a projected amount of annual Kwh, the difference between the two is staggering.