Questions & Answers
You say LSI is a “Turnkey” provider. What does that encompass?
- We provide your N/C lighting-energy audit & report back to your management & accounting personnelwith your ROI and payback, as well as show you sample fixtures for your specific installation.
- LSI provides your new fixtures.
- Our experienced lighting technicians then install your fixtures without disruption to your schedule.
- LSI handles disposal of your old fixtures.
- LSI makes sure your old lamps which contain mercury, are recycled in accordance with EPA guidelines and provides certification.
- LSI completes the complex compliance paperwork, to certify you for your EPAct tax deduction.
- We then handle any future warranty issues.
You mention no need for capital….
We can provide leasing with nothing down and no payments due until 30 days after installation is complete. This way you can begin to make payments with the savings from your monthly electric bill. At the end of the lease the equipment is yours, with no additional buyout.
How do you figure we will save 50% in lighting energy?
Your 400 watt metal halide lamps, after considering the ballast loss use 465 watts as compared to half that many watts with a fluorescent fixture.
Can fluorescent fixtures really produce the kind of light levels we are used to?
Today’s technology with T-5 lamps, high output ballasts and specially designed reflectors in the right fluorescent fixtures produce anywhere from 30%-60% more light than your metal halide 400W fixtures. In addition MH lamps depreciate as much as 50-60% over time, whereas new fluorescent lamps will never depreciate more than 7% from the day they are installed.
What if we use the old T-12 Fluorescent or (Yellow) high pressure sodium fixtures?
The same cost savings applies to the yellow high pressure sodium lighting. If you have the old T-12 fluorescent lighting with magnetic ballasts that have been around for 40 years, there is a good chance depending on the wattage of your lamps, you will save 50% and have dramatically improved lighting by allowing LSI to retrofit your fixtures.
What is the EPAct tax deduction?
The government provides an accelerated tax deduction of 60 cents/psf which can all be taken in the year your project is installed, providing LSI certifies you for EPAct. If you are in the typical 35% corporate tax rate structure, take your deduction amount x 35% to realize your “real cash” value of this deduction.
Why don’t I just use my maintenance department to change out our fixtures?
You can, HOWEVER we typically complete jobs in 3 days to 3 weeks, depending on your facility. If you do this yourself, there are 3 huge disadvantages:
- You cannot certify yourself for EPAct, therefore missing out on the tax advantage costing you thousands of dollars.
- With our 11 years of experience we will recommend just the right fixture combination, as there are lots of options and a “one-size-fits-all” approach will waste tens of $1000’s in energy over time.
- Your maintenance dept is employed to keep your plant and equipment running. A project like this could take a year or more to implement in their spare time, while losing $1000’s of dollars in potential energy savings.
How can motion or occupancy sensors benefit me?
These are used on fluorescent fixtures in a warehouse environment and can be programmed to turn off individual fixtures after they no longer sense activity in an area of your warehouse. Since there is a 10-15 minute warm up time with your current MH lighting, occupancy sensors were never an option. This can easily save an additional 70% in energy in portions of your facility.
If we have Lighting Services do an audit, what is required and how long would it take to get results?
We will need copies of two recent energy bills. We will count your fixtures, verify wattage of existing fixtures, ask how many hours per day/ days per week your lights are on and ask for square footage to help calculate your potential EPAct tax benefit. You can typically expect your payback and ROI information within 10-14 days of our lighting energy audit.
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