- Believe it or not, Gary,
I once spent six months touring around Scotland
looking at vapor proof fittings
in wastewater and freshwater treatment plants.
- Wow, I've known you for three years,
I probably would say, yeah, I could believe you did that.
- Yeah, but it was probably a little bit
premature at the time.
- Right. - That was a while ago.
But now, I think actually there's a great value proposition
to move all those legacy fluorescent fittings over to LED.
And if you haven't done that already,
well, you should have done.
But hopefully, today, we're gonna take
a really deep dive into it
so you can understand some of the numbers behind it.
And, I think we've got a great product here from Lumineux
in the top of this Typhoon fitting.
- And when I got it out, I was super excited,
'cause I saw words that I was familiar with
'cause I go back a few years as well.
I saw four foot, I saw five foot,
and I saw six foot, as well as single and twins.
Got all excited 'cause I'm thinking
of those fluorescent tubes that you're talking about.
- Yeah, and I think that's where Lumineux
are aiming this at.
It is that retrofit market
where we think in terms of old money, what we're replacing.
So I think, first,
we should take a deep dive into the numbers.
Before we look at numbers,
let's look at some important letters.
Energy labeling requirements.
Now the system has all changed.
Products that used to be an A,
could be anywhere now when it comes to LED.
This product is a C.
But when we look at the wider market
and alternative fittings available,
we see them all the way down at F,
which makes a massive difference
in the running cost per year.
- [Gary] This is always one of my favorite part
of any video,
'cause it always comes out as a value proposition.
I see you using the five foot twin fitting there
as our example.
- Yeah, so this is the one that has handles everywhere.
I don't know whether it's the water industry standard
or not.
But people sometimes struggle
when it comes to the value proposition
because you're trying to compare apples with oranges
when it comes to moving to LED.
So remember, a TH tube,
if you looked at the data sheet,
gives out just over 5,000 lumens.
So then a twin, do the math, Gary.
- [Gary] Yeah, it's about 10,000, isn't it?
And I'm looking at that fitting there,
and that says 6,800 in a bit.
- Yeah, so let's look at where that comes from,
and compare the real efficiency that we get from it.
So we'll start with our twin 58 watt fluorescent fitting.
And so, obviously, two tubes in there would be 116 watts,
looking at the data for the tube.
However, we've gotta factor in some control gear losses.
And I'll be generous and say it's got electronic gearing,
so we're losing 5% of the power in the ballast.
So that gives us for that twin 58 watt, 122 circuit watts.
- [Gary] Okay, so that's what it's actually using
in order to illuminate the fitting?
- That's it, so that's the wattage.
Then look at the lumens side of it.
So two TH tubes at 5,200 lumens each,
gives us 10,400 lumens of light
coming from the source tubes themselves.
- Okay. - Yeah.
However, this is where the lighting industry
used to be fantastic in confusing us.
You take what is quite an efficient lamp,
and put it inside the fixture.
Because you've got reflectance in there,
you've gotta get that light through the diffuser,
you actually lose quite an amount of light.
So there's a figure quoted called the light output ratio,
which for a twin 58 watt, was typically 65%.
- [Gary] Wow, it takes a moment, doesn't it, to sink in.
We're it's 65%.
And then, as I jump down a line,
I see 6,700 and a bit.
That's very similar to the 6,800
I quoted at the start on the box.
- Exactly, so that's where we get that number from.
So then if we do the maths on that,
our 122 watts, and just, 6,760 loops
actually comes out that the efficiency
of the fluorescent fittings is only 55 lumens per watt.
You know, not really that efficient
when you think a halogen lamp
is typically 20 lumens per watt.
That's the potential.
So then let's do, to get the energy labeling,
you'd typically look at the consumption per 1000 hours.
So we dial that through.
That is 122 kilowatt hours per year,
which at the current energy prices we're at,
and this could change
depend on when you're watching the video,
I don't suggest it's going down anytime soon,
but we are paying 40 pence a kilowatt hour.
So this unit here, 48 pounds 80
per 1000 hours to run that twin 58 watt workhorse
that's absolutely everywhere.
- [Gary] And everyone's eyes dropped down
to see a very smaller number.
So how can you get to that considerably smaller number?
- Okay, so we'll look at this.
So this twin five foot is 43 watts in LED terms
and the math is dead easy,
is 43 kilowatt hours per year.
So that's, yeah, we're saving 2/3 of the energy
moving to LED, and only 17 pounds 20.
So depending on where you're using that,
and how much it's gonna cost to do your retrofit,
you could be on to a winner.
- Continuing on the theme of this video,
which is you wearing an anorak, Gordon,
I've been on farms on those cold mornings,
and I see those fluorescent light fittings on,
and the layout, but it seems terrible to me.
- Yeah and that is another
problem with fluorescent technology.
It has a sweet spot in terms of its output,
which is usually at room temperature.
And as soon as you move away from that,
particularly at the colder end,
the light output drops significantly.
And you might be on a project
that actually has been designed
to take that into account.
- Right.
- So it's always worth just checking
what's the actual real lux level
that's needed in that application,
and then working that back to see what you actually get.
You may actually be able to drop, in some instances,
from a twin down to a single in Lumineux terms.
And obviously, bag some additional energy savings.
- [Gary] However, regular viewers to the channel
are probably now shouting at the screen,
what about just retrofitting it with an LED tube,
and leaving the existing fitting there?
- Yeah, so LED tubes are great.
Obviously, you do get an energy efficiency gain
by doing that, and there's probably some good reasons
to do that if it's a real challenge to replace the fixture.
- Yeah. - You know, asbestos ceilings
and things like that always pop up,
that people don't wanna touch.
But, you're still putting something
that's more efficient,
in what could be an inefficient body
in terms of those old fixtures.
And you're still gonna suffer
from that 65% light output ratio.
- Absolutely, so really the process should be,
if you can, to actually replace the fitting
to get the maximum amount of benefit.
- Yeah, we always get that most benefit
going for a brand new install
of the most efficient fixture you can get.
And these ones are, 'cause like you said,
the 160 lumens per watt actually leaving the fitting.
But you've put 'em to the trial, Gary, haven't you?
You've had a little test to see
what they're like to install,,
because obviously, time is money
when it comes to installing to get that value proposition.
What did you find out?
- So for this install,
I thought I'd give Rick a little bit of a break,
and I'd do the install work.
Come out of retirement.
And it is really cold at Lineside Studios.
So it was quite nice to be moving a bit quicker
and keeping that warmth up,
as we replaced our magnetic fittings here at the studio.
So how it comes,
we've got the bracket that will hold it on the ceiling.
We're gonna hang the fittings that I'm going to install.
And we've also got a gland here.
And this is something a little bit different.
I noticed on the photographs
that we saw earlier in the presentation,
that the actual cables
are coming in the end of the fittings.
And what's great about these Typhoon ones,
is they've got a threaded insert at the end.
So a stuffing gland can go in, and I'm gonna do that.
So a loop in and a loop out system.
I'm removing the old fluorescent light fitting,
obviously, we just hang, simply, the new one up.
And I'm going to use these Walraven clips
designed to go onto a purlin or girder.
Using Ken's hammer,
so everybody knows that's a really old hammer.
Couldn't find the ones that we usually use
around Lineside Studios.
Sometimes these fittings come like a Meccano set.
The good news is, this one is fully assembled,
the gear tray is retained with these straps.
Hanging the fitting up,
now I've gotta make a decision on what happens
to the cabling system that's already in place.
And on inspection,
I haven't got a permanent line connection in there.
And one of the fittings I'm gonna install,
is an emergency one.
So I'm gonna take out my steel wire armored cable,
love your comments on this.
And I'm gonna put a TUF sheathed cable in,
so no armoring within that cable.
And I'm gonna bring it in from one end
and I'm gonna go out the other end.
And the one that I've brought in now
brings in my permanent line, switching line neutral
and a protective conductor.
I'm just gonna fold out the gray conductor out the way.
I'm not gonna use it.
I'm gonna make my connections
into the push fit connections within the fitting.
And I'm gonna oversleeve the black conductor
as my switching line.
I'm gonna continue the feed onto the next one.
This time I'm not gonna take a permanent line through.
It probably would be a case that you would normally carry
that permanent line connection through
in case you've got several fittings
and every third one, say, is an emergency fitting.
I've only got one more fitting to go too,
so I'm gonna use a standard three core cable
in order to make those connections.
And then that's it really.
It's nicely easily connected
by coming in each end of the fitting.
I can now put my cover on
and use those clips to hold it back into place,
before then looking at energizing the circuit.
- Yeah, well, notice on the box here, Gary,
this, obviously, we've stepped up in IK rating
'cause our we're existing fluorescent ones
were I'd say IK0.
- Yeah. - 'Cause we just had
the glass tube in.
These are IK08,
which obviously means that they're tough
for that intended application, IP65, as you'd expect.
- Yeah.
- But a lot of that is down to how you install them.
It's interesting, a lot of the water treatment plants
seem to prefer coming in the end.
- [Gary] Yes.
- [Gordon] Well, obviously, you can drill out the back
and mount the conduit systems, if you wanted to as well.
- And I think it's the first time I've had a fitting
in with that threaded insert.
It was so easy.
Gland's already got a little low ring on it.
Obviously, the gland goes in and yeah,
it's fitted itself, really.
- Yeah, and cheeky, not using the armored cable,
meant you could use the supply glands
that come in the little accessory pack there.
And there's actually two of them as well, which is good.
- [Gary] Yeah, it's that massive debate though, innit?
We put armored cables in loads of locations
that never get interfered,
ladder racking, cable tray, basket,
maybe even on a bit of a roller tray.
What actually ever gets near it?
- That's it.
And another feature I like is, yeah,
is that additional terminal in there
that you can loop through even if this,
so this version here
is emergency. - Is emergency, yeah.
- If you're taking it through,
you can loop that wiring through.
When it comes to emergency, these are self-testing
which is obviously, a great feature.
You don't need to put in the,
your little key switch there
to do your weekly and your monthly test that everybody does.
Yeah, obviously. - Yeah.
- You've, obviously, got the status LED in there.
That flags up if you've got a battery fault.
And it gives you a little indication
it's actually doing its test that it should do.
Obviously, you still have to do a visual check
to look at the LED to get that status
- [Gary] And self-test mode as a standard.
And when it's in emergency mode,
the whole gear tray is illuminated
with over 400 lumens of light output,
which makes it easier
for your emergency light and design calculations
- That's another great feature.
They also do occupancy sensor versions as well,
because obviously, the most efficient light
- [Gary] Is one that isn't on.
- Yeah, exactly.
So in a lot of applications, plant rooms, things like that,
you need a lots of light when people are doing maintenance.
But when you're, obviously,
not in the room, you don't wanna leave the lights on.
- You certainly don't.
However, we've looked at, obviously, what replacements,
okay, fluorescent light fittings
because they're still using
those four, five and six footers.
However, it might be that you are looking
at high bay lighting and looking to save money,
energy, and control there.
And you can do that
by watching the video on screen just there.