# Lighting audit's



## Bkessler (Feb 14, 2007)

Any tips, tricks or guide lines to doing lighting audits. I want to be able to start figuring out lighting costs in commercial buildings as quickly and easily as possible. I would figure roughly I need to figure out total wattage, how long they get used and how much their average price per Kwh. How naive and ignorant am I or is this all there is?


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## Lighting Retro (Aug 1, 2009)

Those are the main components to any audit. Existing inventory of lights, how long they run, and a bill copy to show Kwh rate out the door with taxes. 

To help determine existing fixture wattages a chart like this might be helpful:

http://www.harrislighting.com/media/5586/harris common system wattages.pdf

another link 

Most of what you want to do can be done easily in excel


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Bkessler said:


> Any tips, tricks or guide lines to doing lighting audits. I want to be able to start figuring out lighting costs in commercial buildings as quickly and easily as possible. I would figure roughly I need to figure out total wattage, how long they get used and how much their average price per Kwh. How naive and ignorant am I or is this all there is?



I thought lighting audits were easy. 
You walk in and flick the switch. 
If they work hand him an audit bill. 
If they don't work, hand him an audit bill and call an electrician.

Sorry, had to stop writing and help my wife make a cheese cake for shop holiday party. 

But when you do your audit, you could also add the energy conservation audit to it. Air handlers on timers or automation controls, ect. 
Our local utility did that 10 years ago and used siemens building automation products to update all our building.


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## rdevarona (Feb 23, 2010)

Bkessler,

We created a lighting audit form that reminds us of most of the details we want to capture during an audit. Beside the basic customer details, we capture the name of utility company (in order to check for for available rebates) and what type of activity is done in the space (determines appropriate light levels). For each area in the facility, we then capture the following:

Area name or description
Existing fixture type (400W MH, etc)
Quantity (counting up the working and non-working fixtures in separate bins helps make more accurate savings assumptions)
Dimensions of space including height and distance between fixtures - this helps us design lighting layouts to prove that the recommended replacement fixtures will provide the required light levels.
Operating hours for the area
Lighting circuit voltage - this can change the price of the fixtures
Notes - These could be existing light level average in the area, what types of lifts are needed, if there are any obstructions that have to be worked around, what type of power connections the existing fixtures have, if occupancy sensors should be deployed for further savings, etc.

You should also take a look at how the circuits are controlled. In order to go after any of the EPACT tax deductions, the fixtures have to have bi-level switching. This means that the space has to have at least two levels of lighting not counting off. There's a lot of room for debate on what constitutes bi-level switching, but it pays to see if there would be added cost to the project in order to meet this requirement. This can be accomplished by having two contactors to control the lighting where each one turns off alternating rows of fixtures or by having occupancy sensors on the fixtures. The benefits are huge, though. Up to $0.60 per square foot in tax deductions if the project qualifies.

We take all this info and plug it into a spreadsheet we've built that spits out the ROI and project cost numbers.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

rdv


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