Compact fluorescent lamps

In terms of cost, heating and lighting represent half of the total energy costs of the hotels.

Lighting is one of the largest areas of electrical energy consumption in hotels, as in many other kinds of buildings. Depending on the category of hotel, lighting can account for 7% of total energy consumption and up to 40% of total electrical energy consumption.

Lighting must provide adequate levels of illumination for hotel activity and create a pleasant environment and a sense of comfort throughout the building.

Several types of energy efficiency lighting and affordable lighting technology exist, such as Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and less powerful light emitting diodes (LED).

Only 20% of the energy for incandescent and halogen lights is converted to light; the remaining 80% is lost as heat. Efficient lights such as fluorescents, CFLs and LEDs are able to convert energy to light much more efficiently and with less lost through heat.

 The lighting load in hotels that are mainly equipped with incandescent lamps can account for a significant part of their total electricity use. Thanks to important advances in lighting technology, energy-efficient alternatives are available for nearly all lighting applications.

The principal energy-efficient lighting options used in hotels include compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), fluorescent tube lamps and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Compact fluorescent lamps: CFLs are direct replacements for incandescent bulbs and can therefore be installed in most light fixtures that are designed for incandescent bulbs.

The key characteristics of CFLs are:

• Energy efficiency: CFLs use ~70% less energy than incandescent bulbs for the same light output. CFLs also produce considerably less heat and so reduce air conditioning loads
• Service life: Good quality CFLs should last 8,000 to 10,000 hours, or about 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Thus, in addition to saving energy, the use of CFLs significantly reduces the need to purchase and install replacement lamps.
• Lamp aesthetics: CFLs come in a wide variety of types and styles, and can meet the functional and decorative requirements of most light fixtures.
• Light quality: Although earlier CFLs produced only a cool white light, which made them mainly suitable for backof-house applications, manufacturers now also offer CFLs that produce a warm yellow light that is nearly indistinguishable from the light produced by incandescent bulbs.

Cost effectiveness: CFLs are expensive (typically € 5 to 10 /each) compared to incandescent bulbs, but will save a considerable amount of money when taking their life and wattage into account.

Service life: Good quality CFLs should last 8,000 to 10,000 hours, or about 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Thus, in addition to saving energy, the use of CFLs significantly reduces the need to purchase and install replacement lamps.

Cautions and comments:

• Purchase only CFLs produced by reputable manufacturers or that have a proven track record in the local market.
• Ensure that the CFLs you purchased were designed for the correct frequency of electricity. For example, buying cheaper lamps in bulk from the US (60Hz) to operate in Barbados (50Hz) will cause the lifetime of the bulb to be dramatically shortened.
• Install CFLs preferentially in light fixtures that operate for long periods of time (more than 6 or 8 hours per day) for the highest financial savings and shortest payback periods.
• When possible give preference to compact fluorescent systems that have separate ballasts (base units) and lamps (i.e., CFLs with a modular lamp/ballast configuration, or CFLs that have a remote-mounted ballast). These systems are more expensive but have a lower lifecycle cost compared to integral lamp/ballast CFL systems because the separate and reusable ballasts can last for 3 to 5 lamps replacements.
• Since ballasts are affected by high temperatures, use only CFLs that have remotemounted ballasts in poorly vented light fixtures that are equipped with higher wattage lamps.
• Never install standard CFLs on a lighting circuit that is controlled by a light dimmer. Dimmable CFLs are available, specifically designed for such applications.
• CFLs contain mercury and should be disposed of in an appropriate manner.

Choose energy-certified products: in some countries, there are product certifications that indicate quality energy savings, such as the Energy label in Europe (as defined in Commission Directive 98/11/EC). Buying labelled products (e.g. lamps with class A of the EU Energy label) is a good way to be sure the hotel is investing in the latest high-performance equipment.

Environmental benefits

CFLs use ~70% less energy than incandescent bulbs for the same light output. CFLs also produce considerably less heat and so reduce air conditioning loads.