Lighting

The education building of our church ( erected 1965 ) uses 82 #60 watt ( incandescent ) bulbs. Been considering replacing them with fluorescent. Would it be worth the trouble $ wise by doing so?

For 82 fixtures? Ummmmm...Yeah. Absolutely.

Why not try CFL's (compact fluorescents) first? They'll fit right in place of the 60W A-lamps and you can keep the old fixtures.

Yes.. thats what I was considering.. 82 bulbs is right at 4920 watts.. Both are rated 60 watts, but being fluorescent was curious what the energy savings would be comparing the two?

A 60W equivalent CFB actually draws probably in the 15W range to put out the same amount of lumens. If you actually got 60W CFB, they would be significantly brighter than what is there. So, going with 60W equivalent bulbs, you'd save about 3/4 of th epower, and they would last probably 5x longer. Note, check the color temperature of those you buy...there can be a signficant difference in the color they output, plus, they do take a few minutes to reach that full brightness and if the building is not heated part of the time, some of them won't light if it is too cold. Most (but not all) cannot be used on a dimmer, so keep that in mind as well.

Yes, look at the packages. Both are NOT rated at 60 watts.
One IS 60 watts, one is the equivalent of 60 watts.

With a 15 watt CFL, you reduce your energy by 75%. This adds up. Just the reduced heat output can be significant is the place is air conditioned.

CFL cost a lot more than incandescents, but last a LOT longer, so that and the energy savings, they will pay for themselves over their lifespan.

I must say I'm learning a lot here..... Thanks for all the input..

If it works in your configuration you would be better off replacing half of them with 30 watt compact flourescent bulbs and turning off or disconnecting the rest. You get more light per Watt with the larger bulb and the cost is less for fewer bulbs.

If you are in an area where the electric company give deals on compact flourescents they are quite inexpensive.

http://www.energyfederation.org/estarlights/default.php/cPath/2050_25_44_786

http://www.energyfederation.org/estarlights/default.php/cPath/2050_25

Your local power co probably has a rebate program and there are performanced based lighting contractors that could get those fixtures changed over to one or two lamp fluorescent fixtures without any cost to the church.

Those 80 fixtures could probably reduce to 25 (4' x 1 lamp) fluorescent fixtures using about 6 amps/hour as opposed to the 40 amps/hour you are using now or .72 kilowatt /hrs compared to 4.8 kilowatt/hr.

If the lights are on for 50 hrs a week @ $.08 per kw that would equal $850.00 per year on just that one room. With any utility rebate that would be enough for a performance contractor to be interested in that job.

If you were in Colorado we could get that done for you.