By North American Precis Syndicate

In a time of struggling economy and increasing operational costs, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for U.S. businesses: More than $640 million annually could be saved nationwide if businesses updated their lighting to more energy-efficient systems.

According to a recent study conducted by Venture Lighting International and the American Counsel for an Energy Efficient Economy, lighting is the number one use of electrical energy for business establishments, accounting for approximately 40 percent of total electric bills. This is in part due to the more than 40 million outdated, energy-wasting lighting fixtures currently being used.

One type of lighting with energy-saving potential is high intensity discharge (HID) lighting. HID lighting, featuring metal halide and high-pressure sodium (HPS) technology, is commonly used in commercial, industrial, retail and municipal applications. Metal halide provides high-intensity white light, offering longer life, improved color uniformity, and significant energy savings.

Like any technology, HID lighting sources have improved significantly over the last three decades. Unfortunately, businesses have not moved as quickly as the technology. Some say upgrading lighting technology isn’t in the budget. Meanwhile, switching to newer energy-saving technology could pay off in less than two years with substantial savings in years to come.

Retrofit solutions

In an attempt to lower initial start-up costs, companies such as Venture Lighting International have created retrofit solutions to allow companies to change out of their old technology lamps and ballasts without changing their current fixtures. In addition, numerous utility providers are offering rebates in the range of $25 to $50 per fixture for customers to upgrade their technology.

Still worried about up-front retrofit costs? Installing the 300-watt metal halide retrofit kit from Venture Lighting costs approximately $110 per fixture. With $81 in energy savings and additional rebates ranging from $25 to $50 from utility providers, companies will pay for the investment in the first year.

If the savings per company were not overwhelming, what would be the national savings? If only 20 percent of the 40 million fixtures currently using old technology were replaced, that would be a savings of more than $640 million of energy per year.

For more information on metal halide lighting or Venture’s retrofit options, visit www.venturelighting.com or call (800) 451-2606.