Reduce your energy and maintenance costs by switching

T12 Conversions

T12 8 foot tubes often represent a significant percentage of lamps installed across an estate, however with energy prices rising and an array of environmental legislation, the push is towards more energy efficient products. Weblight has undertaken nationwide T12 replacement works for a number of key clients including Midland Co-operative Group, ASDA and Sainsburys.

 

Major manufacturers have now ceased production of the 8 foot lamp – the only product now available is the basic white tube from a ‘B’ grade manufacturer, who will only supply lamps in quantities upward of 4000. In addition, the Federation of National Manufacturers Associations for Luminaires and Electrotechnical Components for Luminaires in the European Union have disqualified the production of this inefficient control gear and all stocks are now exhausted, meaning that lamps can be sourced but gear cannot be repaired to operate it. Of course, this means that simply relamping is no longer a viable option.

 

Disadvantages of T12 Lamps

• Contain a high mercury content and are therefore environmentally unfriendly

• They have a short lamp life of only 9,000 hours thus increases maintenance costs
• Only 75% lumen maintenance causes loss of lamp lumen output at end of life Lamp flicker and stroboscopic effects can create discomfort and should be avoided The lamps are now only available as halophosphate hence poor colour rendering.

There is a potential risk to the site as insurance companies have recognised that the control gear in these fixtures is old and inefficient. The starterless circuits that operate these lamps can also be the cause of overheating and a potential fire risk.

Benefits of Converting to High Frequency Luminaires

• Automatic shutdown of failed lamps

• Silent in operation

• Significant energy savings available from HF gear

The T5 lamp has significant benefits over the T12

• A superior service life of 25,000 hours
• 95% lumen maintenance
• Excellent colour rendering presenting the colours of the products accurately. To do this, lamps require a colour rendering of 80+ (CRI)
• Cost savings due to reduced WEEE fee impact
• Environmentally-friendly product, RoHS compliant and contains recyclable components Substantial energy savings, as example shown below

8ft T12 REFIT

Total no. of lamps	T12   1340	T5   1340
Luminaire type	125w	49w
Store operational hours per year	4,380	4,380
Elec tariff £kw/h	£0.11	£0.11
Design specification	150 lux floor	150 to 170 lux floor
	T12	T5
Type	Halophosphor	Triphosphor
Lamp rated watts	1 x 125w	1 x 49w
Control Gear	Switch start	High Frequency
Lamp life (hrs)	9,000	25,000
Lumen maintenance	75%	96%
total circuit watts kw	0.136	0.025
Annual Running Costs/Savings	T12	T5
Existing Energy costs	£80,701.50	£31,634.99
Savings per Annum	£49,066.51
Cost of Delay	£147,199.53

The above is an example only based on one of our Clients estates –figures shown are not representative of all sites.

What is the Cost of delay?

The cost of delay quite simply is the revenue a company would need to generate to compensate for the high energy bills they currently pay. As a rule for every £1 spent on wasted energy a further £3 of revenue/sales is needed to pay for this. In terms of GP this significantly impacts the overall bottom line figure on your P&L.