Recent History in HID and Fluorescent Lighting
As the U.S. anticipates a 30% increase in electricity demand by 2030, energy providers are calling energy efficiency the first fuel of choice as it is clearly the least cost solution to addressing our energy demand.
Lighting represents nearly 25% of our electric load and up to 30% of a commercial facility's energy use. The industry has continued to develop innovative technology solutions to reduce this demand. In the 1990s, this led to an aggressive program to promote electronic fluorescent options in both residential and commercial buildings, a trend that has been subsidized by State and Federal rebates. In this effort, even commercial/industrial high-bay facilities were targeted and old, inefficient magnetic high intensity discharge (HID) ballasts have been increasingly replaced with electronic fluorescent options, allowing business owners and facility managers to bring down energy costs and increase efficiency.
Until recently, electronic fluorescent technology has been the most viable, commercially acceptable replacement for old magnetic ballasts. It was the obvious solution that could not be overlooked, and the public relations and marketing push of fluorescents has been widely embraced as customers rushed to replace old and outdated HID magnetic ballasts. However, what users are finding after the fact is that the many reasons for past HID dominance in high-bay applications (lumen output and purity, mounting height, temperature issues, maintenance, number of lamps/ballasts) were overlooked.
Now enters a new, commercially-proven option that will allow many facility and business owners to keep the performance benefits of HID lighting while realizing exceptional energy efficiency, intelligent control and cost savings: the new and innovative solid state electronic HID networkable SmartPOD™. The SmartPOD enables facility and energy managers, lighting designers and engineers with a high-end product that delivers savings, simplicity and intelligence.
A new "Green" movement in energy and building practices is emerging that is driving changes in the industry to further increase efficiency, address global warming, and increase momentum towards "net zero" buildings. Electronic HID technology is here now as a viable solution towards the "Green" movement, a solution that moves us closer to the "net zero" building, conserving energy, reducing environmental impact, increasing worker productivity, safety and comfort with a payback in as little as 14 months.
Compare the SmartPOD Luminaire to traditional magnetic HID or to a fluorescent T-5.
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Whitepaper
Compare electronic HID to fluorescent lighting options for high-bay applications.