LED Circline Light Bulbs from SYLVANIA Result in Energy Savings and More Light

GoodMart recently had the opportunity to work with a well known property management company to propose a retrofit of existing decorative circline fluorescent hallway fixtures in a landmark apartment building in New York City. The existing light fixtures each have two fluorescent circline light bulbs, (one FC12T9 and one FC8T9), drawing 58 Watts in total, including the magnetic ballast. Our solution was to remove both fluorescent circline light bulbs and the magnetic ballast, wire a new LED driver and install just one circline LED light bulb from SYLVANIA, resulting in an energy use reduction of 36W per fixture. On paper, the LED system lumens were substantially lower than the fluorescent system lumens, but because the LED solution shoots the light directly out of the fixture, (while the fluorescent circlines actually block half of their own light output), the measured footcandles in the hallway actually increased substantially. NYSERDA rebates help pay for a large portion of the job cost, so the resulting simple payback is about two years. 

Before and After: Fluorescent Circline vs. LED Circline

One note about the color of the light as depicted in the image above: We took these photos with an iPhone 4, and they have not been retouched. The camera sensor captures light differently than does the human eye, obviously. The light color differences when the two hallways are viewed in person are not objectionable in any way. In fact, the color rendering index of the warm white fluorescent circline light bulb is just 52, while the color rendeing index of the LED circline is 74, so the colors of the wall finishes and carpet in the hallway actually are rendered more vibrantly by the LED system. 

To see how GoodMart can help specify energy-saving solutions for your property, please contact us.