The lighting upgrade market has been diminishing as LED adoption reaches the late majority stage. Another market is emerging, however, as less efficient early-generation LED installations continue to age. 

In this type of upgrade, older LED products are replaced with newer, more efficient options ranging from high-efficiency TLEDs to new luminaires and advanced lighting controls. Many older installations may be experiencing LED mortality modes—high lumen depreciation, color shift and burnouts—and are ripe for replacement.

It all comes back to savings

As always with retrofits, it starts with energy savings. Consider the DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) technical requirements for solid-state lighting, which establishes a baseline performance for LED products to be listed for qualification by many commercial lighting rebate programs. Comparing DLC 3.1 (2015) to DLC 5.1 (present), 4-foot TLED products saw a 20% improvement in efficacy (lumens/W), 2x4 troffers a 29% improvement and high-bay luminaires a 50% improvement. The savings are higher for products going back to 2011.

Key applications include early LED adopters—outdoor, parking garage, linear and high-bay—supported by the traditional payback sweeteners of high energy rates and long operating hours. Besides energy savings, today’s LED products provide other potential benefits, including enhanced lighting performance and quality, longer life, color tuning, compatibility with advanced lighting controls and luminaire field-adjustability (light output, optics and color temperature). Lighting control options range from discrete devices to luminaire-level controls to building-based systems that can integrate with other systems such as HVAC for even deeper energy savings.

This energy savings potential is attracting the interest of commercial lighting rebate programs that traditionally have not supported LED-to-LED upgrades outside of custom incentives. For many years, lighting has led rebate programs as a high-volume, low-cost source of energy savings. But as LED adoption saturates the majority of general lighting applications, with the remainder more challenging to switch out, rebate programs are taking a fresh look at LED-to-LED upgrades.

“LED-to-LED rebates are still in their early stages,” said Randy Young, director of marketing and data solutions for BriteSwitch, Kingston, N.J. “Most of the 27 programs that currently support LED-to-LED debuted within the last year. We expect that number to grow.”

“Generally, this strategy is gaining ground,” said Leora Radetsky, senior lighting scientist DLC. “We expect to see more programs offering LED-to-LED rebates and growing prescriptive offers with bonuses or potentially with additional control requirements to get the incentive.”

Avista, which services customers in Idaho and Washington, offers a TLED-to-TLED conversion of $3 per lamp for a 3–4W reduction and $5 for a 5W+ reduction. Puget Sound Energy in Washington offers a TLED-to-TLED rebate as long as there is minimum savings of 5W per lamp. And Minnesota’s Xcel Energy offers $3 per TLED, $30 per troffer and $75 per high-bay luminaire. Another avenue is midstream rebates, which are realized at the point of sale as discounts from the distributor.

As a first responder to system failures, electrical contractors are well positioned to take advantage of this potential trend.

“The first wave of LED installations is reaching end-of-life,” Young said. “These customers already understand the value of LED lighting, including energy savings and reduced maintenance, so it’s not as difficult to sell the second time. They’ve already bought into the benefits of LED. The key is helping them understand what’s changed—contractors need to explain that even though it’s still LED, the new options are significantly better.”

Tips for project evaluation

“Always check the energy efficiency program information on their website for confirmation that the LED-to-LED conversion is eligible for rebate [or] deadlines, and if any bonus rebates are available for adding controls,” Radetsky advised. “Since LED-to-LED savings can be less predictable than traditional rebates, the incentives may be offered on a custom basis, which is calculated based on existing lighting and actual energy savings.”

She outlined a simple process to evaluate projects. Is the existing LED installation older than eight years? Are there performance issues in the space such as low output or inconsistencies in color appearance? Are lighting controls installed? What are the operating hours and cost of energy? What is the existing wattage? (This may require opening up each luminaire type to identify the model number, rated light output and input watts.) Is there a rebate that will help incentivize the owner to invest in the project?

“Then work with local distributors and manufacturer representatives to select products that not only consider the energy benefits, but also additional opportunities to right-size light output based on what the application requires,” Radetsky added. “And of course, add controls for better energy savings and more user flexibility.”

stock.adobe.com / Johanna