Q: Why is a LED upgrade the "low hanging fruit" of a phased energy efficiency program?
A: First, it’s smart economics. If we imagine ‘a tree’ of possible energy efficiency measures, on the lower branches there will be some measures that can be done quickly and have fast paybacks. Higher up the tree things are more complex, take longer to initiate and are more costly – so budgets need to be secured in advance. The critical point is that money not saved is money wasted forever. And money saved can be put to accumulating a budget for the next measures up the tree. The danger about thinking it’s good to do the whole tree at the same time is that decisions will inevitably be delayed. Meanwhile the money that could be saved by doing the most economical measures is wasted.
Q: I LIVE IN A STRATA. DO WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AN AGM TO UPGRADE?
A: Delaying for months until an Annual General Meeting before beginning the savings on the strata's BC Hydro bill could be interpreted as a significant loss of unrealized savings, which a Strata council would want to prevent. If a council however does want the endorsement of the full strata, the LED retrofit project could be brought up at a Special General Meeting, either one called for this specific purpose or as an agenda item added to an SGM called for other reasons
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Q: HOW DOES SAVING ELECTRICITY LOWER CARBON EMISSIONS IF VANCOUVER USES HYDRO POWER?
A: Even though BC produces electricity from hydro dams, the grid is much more complex. BC trades electricity back and forth with the rest of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which includes Alberta and all or parts of 14 US states. The power we use is not all clean! The carbon impact of electricity has been calculated to be 0.443 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per MWh. Click here to read more.
Q: Why should I consider a specialist LED retrofit company like Greenlight versus a general electrical contractor?
A: General electrical contractors are constrained to the choice (and cost) of technologies stocked by local wholesalers. In contrast, Greenlight works hard to select the best and most affordable technology for every fixture on each project. For the high quantity LEDs needed for our projects we deal directly with the manufacturers. We specialize in technologies that minimize installation costs and e-waste.
The result is that we do excellent work that can be much more affordable. You can find out just how much more affordable via a free no-obligation survey of your building. Through this detailed survey we can tell you exactly how much the electricity cost savings can be from the retrofit project. We also provide an estimate of the additional savings in maintenance costs going forward. You get all the information you need to make a very well informed choice.
Q: HOW DO I KNOW THE ENERGY SAVINGS WILL MATCH THE PROJECTION?
A: Part of our process is to count every bulb in a building. We know the electricity drawn by each type of bulb used. We compare this to the actual electricity drawn by each LED replacement. Our energy projections are not estimates – they are accurate calculations based on real-world conditions.
Q: Should I use the existing ballasts or bypass them?
A: This is an important question. While it is a simple question, the answer is not. See our detailed write up on why this consideration will change depending on your project.