Bedknobs Green Pages
Reclaimed Energy
The percentage of kWh of electrity saved by using low-energy lighting
Bedknobs Current Reduction
- 6,912kWh each year
- 3,711 KgCO2 each year
- £933.12 each year
These figures indicate the level of reduction for our 'model' of usage. Just think what you could achieve!
Saving Energy on Lighting
Lighting is a vital part of our business. From basic illumination, through safety and security to mood-setting achieving the optimum levels of illumination is a priority. Achieving this with a view to using as little energy as possible has been an evolving story of research and adoption of new technology.
Low-energy Lighting
When we first met with the CoaST team back in 2004, we were introduced to Jonathan Edwards who came round for a visit to our crumbling pile for a cup of tea and a chat about low-energy light bulbs. At this time Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL) were just starting to appear and though expensive, the pay-back time seemed reasonable. They seemed just the sort of bulb you could certainly use in service areas and spaces where fast start-up time - such as hallways - were not a problem, and colour temperature (cold light versus warm light) was not an issue.
We started to replace light bulbs with low energy CFLs as they expired and then as the price came down and 'warm-white' bulbs came on to the market we started to systematically replace most of high energy light bulbs with low-energy equivalents.
It's funny how issues migrate down the chain and now it became one of finding the right bulb for the right fitting as well as finding low-energy replacements for the profusion of light bulb types and fittings that exploded onto the market-place from the 1990's onwards. Now we're dealing with multiple types of light bulb technology such as Incandescent| Fluorescent|Halogen|Eco-Halogen|LED|CFL and with multiple fittings SES|ES|SBC|BC|Gxxx - just look on it as a one-off learning curve.
Incandescent Lamps
A lamp consisting of a heated coiled filament in glass bulb where the air has been removed and or replaced by an inert gas. The filament is heated by electricity to a point where it emits light. The bulb may be of different sizes and usually comes in onion, candle or globe shapes with various types of fittings. Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient with generally less than 3% of the electrical energy input being turned into light output.Fluorescent Lamps
Typically a long glass tube with caps on either end for connection to a fluorescent light fitting that contains special components to start the lamp (the starter) and keep it running (the ballast). The bulb does not contain a filament running through it but but works on a discharge principle where mecury vapour is excited to give off UV light that is converted into visible light by fluorescing phosphors coated on the inside of the tube. Fluorescent lamps are low energy in that they are around 20% efficient in converting electrical energy input to light output that is much higher than Incandescent lamps. The starter and ballast also consume electricity so you should allow for an additional 5W per fitting when working out energy saving calculations.Halogen Lamps
Halogen lamps have become very popular with the rise of low-voltage lighting and are typically packaged as either a capsule bulb or in a dichroic reflector for use in down-lighters. They are actually a small incandescent filament inside a glass envelop containing a halogen based gas that allows the element to be heated to much higher temperatures than you would get in an ordinary bulb. A popular misnomer is that low-voltage equates to low-energy and this is not the case. A 35W halogen bulb will draw 35W of power regardless of whether it is connected to a 12v or 240v lighting circuit.Eco-Halogen Lamps
Bulbs labelled as 'Eco-Halogen' have recently appeared in the shops. These are typically halogen lamps packaged in standard incandescent bulb sizes that are marked as saving 20%-30% energy so this means that they are actually using 70%-80% of the energy of their Incandecent cousins. The main advantage of these bulbs is the colour of the light they produce and that they give immediate light when turned-on. However the limited amount of energy saving makes the selection of bulbs even more confusing as you now get 70w 80w and 105w bulbs in the mix and thats just for 100w equivalents.LED - Light Emitting Diode
LED bulbs use a semi-conductor material to emit light and are incedibly efficient, typically using just 10% of the electricity of their incandecent cousins. Typically LED lamps are made up of multiple LEDs as they emit a relatively small amount of light. They have advantages over Fluorescent lamps and CFLs in that they are instantly startable, can be dimmed and do not use Mercury. However, they also require additional components in the bulb package to allow them to work with a standard 230v power supply as well as cooling elements as they lose efficiency if they run hot. LEDs produce very specific light and getting the right colour temperature can be an issue. LEDs are generally more expensive than other forms of lighting, but they tend to have very high life expectancies in the range of 50,000-100,000 hours (5-10 years). Many major companies are now committed to improving the light level and colour temperature of LEDs and they will probably replace all other forms of low-energy lamp in the coming years.Compact Fluorescent Lamps
CFLS are your typical low-energy lamp that will use 20%-25% of the energy of their Incandecent equivalents. They are compact versions of Fluorescent lamps using a thin tube either coiled or with mutiple loops together with an integral starter and ballast built-in. This is why they are typically taller than their Incandescent cousins and this factor needs to be taken into account when buying bulbs for old fittings or new light fittings.SES/E14 - Small Edison Screw
Light bulb with a 14mm screw-shaped fitting that is screwed clock-wise into it's connector - also known as E14.ES/E27 - Edison Screw
Light bulb with a 27mm screw-shaped fitting that is screwed clock-wise into it's connector - also known as E27.SBC/B15 - Small Bayonet Connector
Light bulb with a 15mm cylindrical fitting with two opposite pins that allow the bulb to be locked into a connector - also known as B15.BC/B22 - Bayonet Connector
Light bulb with a 22mm cylindrical fitting with two opposite pins that allow the bulb to be locked into a connector - also known as B22Gxxx - Glass bulbs with pin connectors
A twin-pin fitting typically used on a variety of push-in or twist_in bulbs where the numerals indicate the gap betwwen the pins in millimetres. Typical examples include GU10 for mini-reflector (MR) type 240v halogen bulbs with a twin pin twist-in bayonet fitting, G4/G9 for push-in halogen capsules and G13 for T8 fluorescent tubes.Lighting Energy Audit
When entering for the CSA Awards in 2009 we saw that it had become an interesting question to ask what reducing your lighting energy consumption actually means in terms of your 'carbon-footprint'. Short of using an abacus and a lot of fingers, a simple spreadsheet seemed the answer. The only problem was that we run a B&B in a large Victorian Villa that by it's nature has a lot of light fittings, so be prepared for a large spreadsheet that represents the current state of play at Bedknobs.
The following figures represent a 'model' of our lighting usage to provide a benchmark for measuring change. Here are a couple of assumptions to make it all work:
- Price per Unit of electricity - 16.5p
- KG of CO2 per Unit - 0.537Kg (see Carbon Trust website)
- LED to Incandescent conversion factor - x7 and round - so a 100w Incandescent is replaceable by about a 14W LED
- CFL to Incandescent conversion factor - x4.5 and round - so a 100w Incandescent is replaceable by about a 23W CFL
Please note that what is presented here is a model that can be used to measure change so it doesn't matter if it's not 100% accurate as long as it covers all of your fittings.
If you think that this idea could work for you, then we would be more than happy to send you a blank copy to get you started on your own project. It's also a great way of keeping tabs on all those pesky bulbs that you need to keep spares for.
LED Colour Temperature
Getting the right colour temperature with LEDs is extremely difficult as they emit a very pure and intense light. The manufacturers categorise colour temperature by degrees Kelvin
- Blue White - 6500°K
- Daylight - 6000°K
- Cool White - 4000°K
- Warm White 2700K-3000°K
however, even the Warm White bulbs often seem far too bright.
The colour of LED mini-globe bulbs, where the LED is enclosed in a semi-translucent cap can easily be adjusted to that of an incandescent bulb by a coat of Camp Coffee. Just clean the casing and dab the coffee on with a tissue or rag. Two coats is usually sufficient, though you can always add more or wipe it off if you go too far.
This has worked really well in our downstairs sitting room where the main light fitting had 5 x 40W incandescent globes replaced by 5 x 4W LED globes toned down with two coats of Camp.
Latest News
We experimented with the purchase of of 2.5W LED Corn-bulbs with SES connectors to replace the side lights in Beeches that originally came with 4 x 40W globes. The corn-bulbs were naked and produced a very 'spotted' light. These have been relocated to a dresser downstairs and replaced with 4W globe LEDs that seem to do the trick.
Beeches bathroom has two globe lights either side of the mirror over the wash basin. The 40W incandescent globes have now been replaced by 4W LEDs.
We are currently trialling replacement of our outside lights that were converted to 30W CFLs back in 2008 to use 27W LED corn-bulbs. Although the reduction in electricity is marginal, the lumen output of the bulbs is greater, so more bang-for-the-buck and no Mercury!
Our two next lighting projects are for the Breakfast Room and the Kitchen. In the Breakfast Room we have 3 x 100W Incandescent bulbs on a 2-way dimmer. 14W LED GLS dimmable bulbs are now available, however the dimmer will also have to be replaced with a specific one for LEDs. Our kitchen is primarily lit by a number of fluorescent bulbs, some that are on for most of the day. I have been aware of LED strip light replacements for fluourescent bulbs for some time and have found what look to be excellent replacements on the Ledison Lighting website. They even have a dimmable option!
Ethical Consumer - Low Energy Lightbulbs
Have just revised our Lighting Audit after replacement of a large number of CFLs with LEDs and have now reached 62% saving. Once the two new projects are implemented and with a bit of extra tweaking then 85% energy saving for lighting is possible.
WARNING
- If you are changing a light bulb or doing anything else - then isolate the supply of electricity. If you don't know what this means, then call a friend or electrician that does.
- Watch out for and avoid LED Corn bulbs that are not fully enclosed in an outer casing as they are potentially lethal. There are a number of videos easily available on the web by qualified electricians that explain why and if you know someone using them, then please pass the message on.
- Be careful of 'CE' marks on imported goods. The mark is ambiguous as it can mean either of the following
- Certified Europe
- China Export
