In the modern business world, companies strive to be cost-efficient without compromising on the quality of the workplace. An important aspect of the workplace that is often overlooked is lighting. Traditional fluorescent lighting in suspended ceilings can not only be expensive to maintain, but also have a negative impact on employee wellbeing and productivity. Fortunately, LED panels offer an attractive solution that is both energy-saving and conducive to a pleasant working environment.
A Replacement with Benefits
Replacing old-fashioned fluorescent lighting with LED panels in your office's suspended ceiling offers numerous advantages. First, LED technology provides significant energy savings. LED lamps consume up to 50% less energy than traditional fluorescent tubes, resulting in significant cost savings on the company's energy bills.
Moreover, LED panels have a much longer lifespan than fluorescent lighting. While fluorescent tubes need to be replaced regularly, LED panels last up to 50,000 hours, significantly reducing your maintenance costs. This means you not only save money on buying new bulbs, but also on the labour costs associated with replacing the bulbs in the ceiling.
Quality of light and working comfort
Besides the financial benefits, LED panels also offer superior quality of light compared to fluorescent lighting. LEDs have a higher colour rendering index (CRI), meaning they show colours more naturally and vividly. This not only improves room aesthetics, but can also boost employee productivity and well-being. With brighter and more pleasant light, employees can concentrate better and reduce fatigue and eye strain.
Moreover, LED panels also offer the possibility of adjusting the light temperature. Warm and cool light settings allow you to adjust the atmosphere in the office space according to employees' needs and activities. Warm light can create a calming atmosphere in meeting rooms or relaxation areas, while cooler light can increase alertness in workspaces where concentration is crucial.
Savings in Practice
Let's take a closer look at the potential savings.
Suppose an office with traditional fluorescent lighting in a suspended ceiling uses 20 90-watt fluorescent fixtures, which burn for an average of 8 hours a day for 250 working days a year. By replacing these fluorescent lights with LED panels of similar brightness (e.g. 36 watts), the following savings can be made:
Energy savings: 20 fluorescent fixtures x (90 watts - 36 watts) = 1,120 watts saved per hour
1,120 watts x 8 hours = 8960 watts per day
8960 watts x 250 working days = 2240000 watts (or 2240 kWh) per year
Cost savings:
If we assume an energy cost of €0.30 per kWh, the savings in energy costs would be 2240 kWh x €0.30 = €672 per year.
Maintenance cost savings
Because LED panels have a lifetime of 50,000 burning hours compared to the 20,000 burning hours of fluorescent lighting, maintenance costs can be significantly reduced. This means buying fewer replacement lamps and less labour costs for replacing the lamps.