Apartment owners seek energy efficient alternatives as incandescent light bulbs are phased out.
*Author’s Note: The legislation was originally scheduled to be enforced beginning this month, but a provision was signed in mid-December that prevents the Department of Energy from funding implementation and enforcement. The reprieve ends on Sept. 30, 2012—the end of the government’s fiscal year—according to CNNMoney.
It’s lights out for Thomas Edison.
Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, 100-watt (W) incandescent light bulbs are being phased out beginning October 2012* in favor of more energy efficient alternatives. According to the legislation—which requires that bulbs produce the same light output of an incandescent-style 100W bulb, as measured in lumens, on 72W or less—75W bulbs will no longer be sold starting in 2013, followed by 60W and 40W bulbs in 2014.
During this transition, apartment owners must decide which lighting options best suit their needs. The two most popular alternatives are LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps), both of which are rated based on brightness—or lumens—rather than watts.
The less expensive of the two are CFLs, which are 78 percent more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. The average 13W bulb costs between $3 and $4 and can last an advertised 8,000 to 10,000 hours. However, the mercury contained inside the bulb can present potential health risks if a CFL breaks.
Alternatively, average 12W LED lights retail at approximately $25 per bulb but have advertised lifetimes of approximately 25,000 hours—or over 20 years—according to manufacturers’ claims. The bulbs also are 80 percent more efficient than incandescent lights. Many agree that LED lighting is a worthwhile investment over the long term, but the hefty price tag on the front-end creates budget challenges for some.
Let the battle of the bulbs—and even more lighting clichés—begin.
Bright Idea
Unless you’ve been hoarding incandescent light bulbs for the past five years, the time has come to compare alternative lighting options and figure out watt’s what.
The trendiest product on the market is LED lighting. The semiconductor light source has traditionally been used in fixtures that plug into a wall or as small indicator lights in electronic devices, such as a calculator or alarm clock.
However, manufacturers have recently flipped the switch, creating LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace (soon-to-be extinct) incandescent products.
National retailers are already carrying LED bulbs to replace 40W, 60W and 75W incandescent bulbs, with a few companies expected to introduce a replacement for the 100W bulbs retailing at an estimated $45 sometime this year. According to The Washington Post, Home Depot, the largest light bulb retailer in the United States with nearly one-third of all such sales, expects LED bulbs to go from 1 percent of the market to 25 percent by 2014.
So what’s all the fuss about?
LED bulbs, though smaller in size, use very little energy for the amount of light they produce. They are 80 percent more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, using 12W for a light output of approximately 800 lumens—the equivalent of a 60W incandescent bulb. “At an average U.S. electricity cost of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour,” according to an article in Scientific American, “the LED bulb would save its owner $6.31 a year and would pay for itself in less than four years—during which time the same owner would have had to replace the incandescent bulb several times.”
Additionally, the mercury-free, dimmable LED bulbs have an unmatched, advertised average lifespan of 25,000 hours—22 years if the bulb is on three hours a day. Some companies are even boasting a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours. If LEDs live up to the manufacturers’ claims, that’s light years ahead of incandescent bulbs, which last an average of 1,000 to 2,000 hours, and CFLs, with about 8,000 to 10,000 hours to their name. Only time will tell.
There is also very little maintenance or replacement required, as LEDs are shock resistant and difficult to damage, unlike fragile CFLs and incandescent bulbs. For Dave Jolley, CAMT, former Maintenance Training Manager for Equity Residential Properties, that’s reason enough to make the investment. He says Equity has various lighting projects throughout the company’s 500 communities, many of which involve replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs. Other communities are already installing LED lighting, but only where savings are the greatest at this time.
“LEDs don’t dim in the cold the way that fluorescent bulbs do and will therefore last longer in winter weather,” he says. “Plus, there is no ballast—a device that limits the electrical current running through a fluorescent tube—to worry about and no cold starters to replace, which equals less maintenance. I think it’s going to be the future of lighting.”
Converting Will Cost You
Consumers are used to spending less than $2 per bulb for incandescent lighting. Convincing them to pay nearly $25—the cost of an average LED bulb—is going to take some time.
According to a recent article in The Washington Post by Paul Glader, marketers at Philips Electronics—the world’s largest lighting company—believe the key is in training consumers to see LED bulbs as “durable goods” like an iPad or TV, rather than “replaceable, disposable goods” such as pencils or toilet paper. Part of that ties into the packaging. Incandescent bulbs were packaged in cheap cardboard squares, Glader explains, but Philips and GE package their LED bulbs in heavy plastic clamshells or blister boxes.
Even so, making the (costly) switch to LED lighting may not make sense for some apartment owners who are unwilling or unable to make such a large investment upfront—especially when buying in bulk.
But others believe doing so will pay off in the long run. Paul Rhodes, CAMT, National Maintenance & Safety Instructor for the NAA Education Institute, says while the cost of LEDs may seem prohibitive at first glance, there are two situations in which they should be strongly considered: remodeling and hard-to-
reach fixtures.
In the event of major remodeling, Rhodes says the cost of a new LED fixture may be worth it, as many of the newer fixtures available don’t even have replaceable bulbs.
“The LED light is an integral part of the fixture,” he says. “With a lifespan of over 25 years in many cases, there is no reason for the light bulb to be serviceable. The building could be renovated again before it even burned out.”
For this same reason, if a community has bulbs that are hard to reach—such as in a gabled overhang or extremely high ceiling—Rhodes says replacing a standard incandescent flood light bulb with a newer LED is the way to go.
Doing so in the future will make even more sense, as most manufacturers suggest the price will come down to $10 per bulb in the next three years.
Lighting the Way
LEDs are considered the wave of the future, but some apartment owners aren’t convinced just yet.
“LEDs are still just a few more years away from becoming truly cost effective,” says Jaime Gomez, Conservation Program Coordinator for Austin Energy, the nation’s 9th largest community-owned electric utility serving more than 400,000 customers in Texas. “At this time, CFLs are the best lighting value there is—especially for existing multifamily communities.”
Many retailers, manufacturers and apartment professionals believe that CFLs will eventually become obsolete—just as incandescent bulbs have—once the LED technology and price points are refined. In the meantime, CFLs are serving as a temporary (and affordable) solution to the Energy Independence and Security Act’s new energy efficiency standards.
Fortunately, at around $3 a pop, CFL bulbs won’t put too much of a dent in the budget. Energy suppliers such as Duke Energy have even created programs that provide communities with free CFLs for internal lighting within all of the units—a big savings for owners who would only be responsible for the shipping.
While most owners aren’t too preoccupied with the cost of CFLs, there are a few disadvantages to consider. Fluorescent bulbs can be used outdoors but are very sensitive to cold temperatures, which can reduce light levels. The lifespan is further (and drastically) reduced by frequent on/off cycling—typical in closets and other places requiring brief illumination where lights are switched on and off very often.
Even under ideal conditions, some consumers say the CFLs they have purchased don’t last nearly as long as the 8,000- to 10,000-hour lifespan that has been advertised.
“Part of the economic decision to utilize CFLs [in our common areas] was the belief that they’d help cut maintenance staff work time, and, while still a good decision, we’re replacing them more often than we thought,” said Terry Danner, President of Dallas-based Riverstone Residential Group, in the November 2011 issue of units magazine.
Although the majority of the problems with the first batch of CFLs—including a shorter-than-expected lifespan, incompatibility with dimmer switches and unnatural glow—have been resolved, one concern that remains is the small amount of the toxic metal mercury inside of a CFL bulb. The 5mg of mercury (on average) pose no threat while in the bulb, but could pose a risk if the bulb breaks and is not handled properly during clean-up.
Bob Davis, CAPS, an Independent Rental Owner (IRO) in Des Moines, Iowa, says he is replacing his internal incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, but isn’t convinced they will do the job elsewhere.
“External lighting is another matter, because I use 100W and 75W bulbs and CFLs are unreliable in cold weather,” says Davis, who owns 40 units. “The current plan is to have enough [incandescent] inventory available to replace burnouts until a better solution presents itself. Fortunately, this is only a couple dozen bulbs of inventory in my case.”
Doug Walker, President of Property Management for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Nakota Development, says he has been tossing incandescent bulbs in the trash for several years. He made the switch when CFL bulbs were first introduced and is now beginning to use LED lighting as well.
“The color of the CFLs’ light is much better than it used to be,” he says. “They are so close to the ‘soft white’ color of the incandescent bulbs that it’s even hard to tell the difference sometimes. The current CFLs are becoming “greener” too. Some now have as low as 1mg of mercury content.”
A third option is purchasing new halogen bulbs, which look very similar to incandescent bulbs and cost less than $2 apiece. However, they are only 28 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs—the least energy efficient of the alternative lighting options available today.
For those who are completely in the dark, there is—of course—an app that can help. Light Bulb Finder is a free app that allows the user to input what kind of light bulbs they need and what wattage they are looking for before recommending an energy efficient bulb to match. The app—which has little in the way of LED suggestions—also calculates how much you can save, both in watts and money.
Now that’s a bright idea.
Lauren Boston is NAA’s Staff Writer. She can be reached at lauren@naahq.org
or 703/797-0678.
Don’t Get Left in the Dark
With several new lighting options available, apartment owners should compare price points, energy efficiency and lifespan before deciding which bulb is best.
LED
$24.97
12.5W replaces 60W
80% more efficient than incandescent
Can last over 20 years
Soft white – 2,700 Kelvin (K)
CFL
$3.27
13W replaces 60W
78% more efficient than incandescent
Can last 11 years
Soft white – 2,700K
Halogen-Incandescent
$1.50
43W replaces 60W
28% more efficient than incandescent
Can last 1.5 years
Soft white – 2,700K
Source: Philips Energy
This chart originally ran in The Washington Post.
Note: LED prices may be discounted to $14.97 with rebates.