Workshop Light Efficiency

[wizer]

Thought I wouldn't hog the other thread. I recently bought one of those Efergy meters which tells you how much energy you are using at any given time. It helps you work out how much each appliance is costing to run. I did a test on my workshop lights and found that they are sucking more energy then any other room in the house. The jump on the meter is quite dramatic.

Is there a cheaper solution that will provide the same amount of light? I was actually just about to add more lights. Will newer units and daylight bulbs reduce or increase the energy usage?

 

[head clansman]

hi tom

what sort of light are they , things like how many lights , do you need that many , are they all on one switch, can you switch off some at times on seperate switches . hc

 

[wizer]

Oh sorry, They are fluorescent strip lights.

I can't see turning individual lights off would work. I tend to be all over the workshop and it's only small. Maybe when I'm turning :-k

 

[plymouth pirate]

If I remember correctly a two foot tube uses about 18-20 Watts. Even if you've got ten of them in use that only equates to the equivilant of two 100 Watt light bulbs. Not really a drain on the planet.

I could be, (and often am), wrong.

John

 

[head clansman]

hi tom


how high off the ground are they, is it possible to move lower, or position more acccurately over machines ,how many do you have , are they i think white light tubes or pearl light tubes the white being much brighter , so you wouldn't need so many maybe , i think you can get different wattage tubes as well, also may help reduce cost of running . hc

 

[jlawrence]

wizer, how many lights have you got in there then ?
Unless you're only looking at lighting, I can't see that the workshop lights could possibly use more juice than any other room in the house.

 

[motownmartin]

I have 4 x 4 foot tubes in my garage which is about 140 watts wich is low compared to the old type lamps used in the house as I use 2x 100watt in the bathroom, but on the other hand it can be high if you compare to low energy lamps, my kitchen uses 2 x 15 watt and my lounge 2x 11 watt.

Incidently, I have cut my electricity bill in half using these low energy lamps

 

[plymouth pirate]

Incidently, I have cut my electricity bill in half using these low energy lamps

But you must be running your cooking and heating on gas or something else.

John

 

[9fingers]

Tom,

Just feel the temperature of the body of the light fittings. If they are hot then they are the old fashioned type with chokes in running at 50Hz then they will be less efficient than high frequency ballast units.

You also need to be confident in your meter and be sure it is telling the truth with non resistive loads. Some power meters are so cheap that it is difficult to credit that they are doing the maths correctly to calculate true reactive power.

Bob

 

[wizer]

I have 5 x 4 foot tubes. I'm not sure what it all means tbh but when I take a reading before the lights go on it's at 0.736KW and after it goes up to 1.256KW Compared to everything else in the house, it seems a big jump.

 

[motownmartin]

Incidently, I have cut my electricity bill in half using these low energy lamps

But you must be running your cooking and heating on gas or something else.

John

The cooking is electric but heating is gas, my 2 kids are now grown up and still living at home with the bad habit of leaving lights on, if you add it up it comes to a mighty sum, it may only cost 50p a day (not in my case) but that amounts to £15 a Month.

 

[wizer]

I'm desperately trying to find ways of reducing it. Lights seem to be the issue. It's starting sink in with wifey and she's turning lights off. But we have lots of halogen light fittings, so the energy efficient bulbs don't fit.

 

[9fingers]

I have 5 x 4 foot tubes. I'm not sure what it all means tbh but when I take a reading before the lights go on it's at 0.736KW and after it goes up to 1.256KW Compared to everything else in the house, it seems a big jump.

I really think your meter is telling you lies. There is no way 5 x 4' tubes should be drawing over 500 watts.

Bob

 

[wizer]

Is there another way to test?

 

[9fingers]

I'm desperately trying to find ways of reducing it. Lights seem to be the issue. It's starting sink in with wifey and she's turning lights off. But we have lots of halogen light fittings, so the energy efficient bulbs don't fit.

There is one big fallacy over these high efficiency lamps. The waste heat from conventional bulbs help heat your home. if people switch over to the high efficiency ones they they will need to get the heat from another source.

Bob

 

[motownmartin]

Does it stay at that reading or does drop after a while?

 

[BMac]

Wizer,

You might already be doing this but running the hot tap beside the washing machine as it is loaded will run off the cold water 'dead leg' (as my plumber described it) and your machine will immediately take in hot water thus stopping it acting like an immersion heater before it starts washing. Our washing machine is outside in a building close to the house and this tip has reduced my electricity bill substantially.

 

[wizer]

this is the meter I'm using

http://www.efergy.com/store/product_inf ... ucts_id=30

It stays at that reading for at least 10mins

Brendan, makes sense, will try that.

 

[motownmartin]

I'm desperately trying to find ways of reducing it. Lights seem to be the issue. It's starting sink in with wifey and she's turning lights off. But we have lots of halogen light fittings, so the energy efficient bulbs don't fit.

There is one big fallacy over these high efficiency lamps. The waste heat from conventional bulbs help heat your home. if people switch over to the high efficiency ones they they will need to get the heat from another source.

Bob

I don't think its as bad as that, my heating bill didn't go up, mind you I had a new boiler so couldn't compare properly.

 

[9fingers]

Is there another way to test?

Not easily with any degree of accuracy.

Either voltage and current waveforms need to be sampled at many points throughout the mains cycle and the true power calculated or the older fashioned way was by heat measurement using a bolometer.

Bob