Questions & Answers

You say you're is a “Turnkey” provider.  What does that encompass?

• We provide your No Risk Lighting Energy Analysis & report back to your management & accounting personnel with your ROI and payback, as well as show you sample fixtures for your specific application.  
• We provide your new fixtures.
• Our experienced lighting technicians then install your lighting retrofit without disruption to your operation.
• We handle disposal of your old fixtures.
• We'll make sure your old lamps which contain mercury, are recycled in accordance with the EPA.
• We complete the complex compliance paperwork required to certify you for your EPAct tax deduction.
• In First Energy & AEP territory, we will complete your utility rebate application.

You mention no need for capital….
We can provide 100% financing, with nothing down and no payments due until 30 days after your 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.

How do you figure we will save 50% in lighting energy?
Your 400 watt metal halide lamps, after considering the ballast loss factor use 458 watts as compared to 216 - 234 watts for a T-5 or T-8 fluorescent fixture.

Can fluorescent fixtures really produce the kind of light levels we are used to?
Today’s technology with T-5 and T-8 lamps, high output ballasts and specially designed reflectors in the right fluorescent fixtures typically produce dramatically more light than your depreciated metal halide 400W fixtures. In addition, metal halide lamps depreciate as much as 55% over time, whereas new fluorescent lamps only depreciate 6% during their average rated life.
 
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 40-50% and have dramatically improved lighting by allowing SJ Lighting 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 we certify 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 2 days to 2 weeks, depending on the size of your facility. If you do this yourself, there are 3 HUGE disadvantages:  

1. You cannot certify yourself for EPAct, therefore missing out on the tax advantage costing you thousands of dollars.
2. With our years of experience, we will recommend just the right fixture combination, as there are lots of options and a “one-size-fits-all” approach can waste tens of $1000’s in energy annually.
3. 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 for warehouse lighting 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 warehouse facility.
 
If we have you do a lighting analysis, what is required and how long would it take to get results?
We request copies of your three most recent energy bills. We'll count your fixtures, verify wattage of existing fixtures, obtain your hours of operation & request square footage to help calculate your potential EPAct tax benefit. You can typically expect your payback and ROI information within 10 days of our lighting energy analysis.