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March 30, 2008
Lutron Energy Saving Calculator
I have been using Lutron products for years and have attended a few Lutron training seminars, so I knew that dimmed lights save energy and extend the life of a bulb. But I never saw their energy savings calculator. Give it a try here.
On the lower right of the page you can change the room or settings. Under the settings button you can change the type of bulb - incandescent or halogen, the number bulbs and the average number of hours that lights are on. After making the settings you sliding the dimmer up and down will show you the percent the lights are dimmed, the percent energy savings, how long the bulb should last and the amount of money saving by dimming the lights over a five year period.
I selected:
- incandescent bulbs
- 10 bulbs
- 100 watt bulbs
- used 6 hours per day.
Dimming these 10 bulbs to 50% resulted in:
- a 40% energy savings,
- the average bulb should last 10 years,
- and the five year savings in bulbs and electricity is $559.36 (based on a $.10 per kWh and $1.75 for bulbs).
Did know how much money can be saved by dimming lights? Do you install any dimmers in you houses? Lutron, and other companies, sell everything from simple, inexpensive dimmers to whole house lighting systems.
Posted by Bob Gatton at March 30, 2008 11:06 AM
Comments
I knew that dimming lights could also save on
electricity costs---But until you posted this
I wasn't sure how much. I am glad that I have
installed 4 of these (in bathrooms as well as
hall and dining room), I had these installed in
2003. I am glad to have done this. Thanks for
imput---Anna
Posted by: Anna at April 2, 2008 10:32 AM
I have always been told that dimmers do not save on anything because the light is still on and using the same amount of energy whether you dim them or not. Is there any truth to this or it it true about certain dimmers?
Thanks!
Posted by: Kathy at April 2, 2008 12:55 PM
Is this based on an electronic dimmer?
Posted by: James at April 2, 2008 2:55 PM
Kathy, James,
Older dimmers that used resistors did not save energy. The energy that was not used by the bulb was dissipated as heat. For instance; with an old resistor based dimmer, if you dimmed the lights by half, 50% of the electricity would go to illuminating the bulb and 50% would be dissipated as heat.
The energy savings on Lutron's calculator is based on an electronic dimmer.
From lutron.com FAQ section:
A dimmer works by interrupting the current flowing into the filament (the current is interrupted too fast for our eyes to see). When less current flows into the filament, the filament doesn't get as hot, and it produces less light.
Q Does a dimmer save energy?
A Yes, a dimmer does save energy. When the dimmer interrupts the electrical current flowing through it, essentially no power is being consumed.
Link to their FAQs:
http://lutron.com/CMS400/page.aspx?id=17327&mn=1921
Posted by: Bob Gatton at April 2, 2008 3:17 PM
