Lighting roundup: eBay, Hazardous Metals, GE

by | Feb 15, 2011

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Here’s a roundup of the latest news in energy-efficient lighting.

Ebay has replaced nearly 19,000 lamps  and 7,000 ballasts at its San Jose, Calif., campuses, in a move that it says will reduce lighting-related electricity consumption by 40 percent. The company said it only installed two lamps for every three it took out, and used low-power ballasts to reduce wattage in each lamp from 32 to 25. The project, which took about six weeks, will avoid nearly 800,000 kWh of energy use and save $200,000 a year.

Some LED lights contain hazardous materials, according to an academic study. Researchers at the University of California at Irvine found levels of lead exceeding California and federal regulations in some Christmas lights, car brake lights and headlights.

The scientists are now studying a wider variety of LED bulbs, and while the results have yet to be published, one researcher told Cnet, “I can say that precautionary principle supports not throwing this in the regular trash for landfills.”

GE has launched a line of halogen bulbs designed to look and operate like traditional incandescent bulbs, but that are up to 22 percent more energy-efficient. The Clear and Reveal Clear lines, described by the manufacturer as incandescent halogen bulbs, sell in 29-, 43-, 53- and 72-watt varieties that dim and turn on instantly like their 40-, 60-, 75- and 100-watt incandescent equivalents.

The bulbs’ rated life is 1,000 hours. They are less bright than their incandescent cousins, with a 43-watt rated at 750 lumens, as opposed to 840 lumens for a 60-watt traditional bulb.

The U.K.’s Manchester Airport has selected MHA Lighting to retrofit the lighting at its Terminal 2 and 3 car parks. MHA will replace over 2,000 80-watt bulbs with 30- and 40-watt LED units, with an aim of reducing carbon emissions and energy costs by 60 percent. The airport is the U.K.’s fourth busiest.

New software for turnkey lighting retrofits is available for free trial. The manufacturers of OptoMizer say it provides all the tools necessary for a full, detailed lighting audit, with support for an unlimited number of projects, full physical parts tracking and pricing, existing and design luminaire configurations, occupancy schedules, and detailed space data to support space-by-space audits.

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