Lighting Maintenance Blog Series: Principles of Lighting Maintenance
This is the first in a series of posts about lighting maintenance.
A Worldwide Energy crew member inspects a lighting fixture for proper maintenance, which improves lighting levels.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lighting accounts for an estimated 20 percent of the total energy used in commercial buildings.
More often than not, many buildings do not have a detailed lighting maintenance policy other than replacing burned-out bulbs. Poor lighting maintenance can lead to visual degradation, reduce worker productivity, and contribute to higher energy costs.
Having an effective lighting maintenance policy includes having written procedures, training, management oversight, and inventory control.
Principles of Lighting Maintenance
A cost-effective way to reduce the overall cost of lighting is proper maintenance, which is often overlooked. Lighting levels tend to decrease over time because of aging light fixtures and gathering dust and film on lamps. This can reduce the total illumination by up to 50 percent.
Avoid adding extra wattage, fixtures, and energy costs by performing these basic maintenance strategies:
- Clean the dust off fixtures, lamps, and lenses every 6 to 24 months. Tip: Never clean an incandescent bulb while it is turned on. If the cloth is damp, the cooling effect of the liquid may shatter the hot bulb.
- Replace lenses if they appear yellow.
- Clean or repaint small rooms every year and larger rooms every two to three years because the dirt collected on these surfaces could reduce the amount of light they reflect.
- Consider group light replacement. Common lamps lose up to 30 percent of light output over their service life. Replacing all the lamps in a lighting system at the same time saves labor, keeps illumination high, and avoids stressing ballasts with dying lamps.
Second part of this blog series: Lighting Maintenance Policy
Source: Ameren Missouri
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