Act now on the installation of energy efficient lighting is the message to UK businesses from Energys Group following recent increases to the cost of both energy and fluorescent lamps.
The announcement from Energys Group, a specialist in low-carbon retrofit technologies, comes at the end of a month which has seen significant rises in the cost of energy. This is coupled with warnings from lamp manufacturers of price hikes of 20–35%. Further lamp price increases are planned for Q4 and next year’s Q1.
The rise in lamp prices is a result of a shortage of phosphors, a sub-group of rare earth elements (REEs), which are used in fluorescent lamps. China, which controls 95% of the world’s supply of REEs, has reduced its export supply, in order to protect its diminishing reserves. This has had a dire impact on fluorescent lamp manufacture, forcing prices up.
Richard Stirrup, Chairman of Energys, comments:
“It is vital that companies act now to install low carbon lighting solutions. This news should not be seen as a warning against fluorescent lamps. However, we believe prices for both energy and lamps will only rise. We are therefore advising customers to avoid further delays in their decision making process and start the upgrade to newer, efficient lighting now.
“The combination of phosphor shortages and unstable energy prices is creating a big problem for UK business, but retrofit energy-efficiency solutions can offer some relief from this unexpected financial burden.”
Quicker Paybacks
Taking into account lamp price increases and rising electricity prices, payback periods on all of Energys’s lighting solutions have dropped dramatically – by as much as 25 per cent. On an energy-efficient lighting conversion project that previously paid for itself in three years, customers can now expect payback in just two years and three months.
The problem for UK businesses is worsened by the volatility of global energy markets, which has led to a rise in wholesale energy costs. This has driven up electricity prices – by as much as 60% in some cases. With organisations facing an unprecedented cost burden to keep the lights on, Energys Group is providing a range of solutions.
Energy-efficient lamps with long life-spans provide the best defence to price increases in both electricity bills and replacement lamp costs. Good quality T5 lamps have a life expectancy of over 20,000 hours, and organisations can expect to use up to 65% less energy by using T5 lamps. LED lamps, meanwhile, can last for 50,000 hours, which is a staggering six times longer than existing CFLs.
Energys Group’s award-winning retrofit converter, ‘Save It Easy®’, allows energy-efficient T5 lamps to be slotted into the existing, old-style fluorescent light fittings. The Save It Easy® 2LED Replacement Lamp also allows for replacement of 2D CFLs with LED equivalents in the existing fittings.
