Sunday, April 5, 2015

Essential electrical services: fixture maintenance and low voltage systems


Essential electrical services
We provide electrical services to Rogue Valley to homes and businesses.

An important service is lighting & fixture maintenance. This includes retrofits, along with installing interior and exterior lighting services. You can receive a safety inspection and ideas on reducing your power bills with the Energy Trust of Oregon. We are certified with that Trust to show you how to receive cash rebates.

Home and businesses have used our services to install and service low voltage systems. Typically we provide diagnosis, installation, and repair of low voltage wiring including 120V home lighting, security cameras, and alarms. We can design a low voltage system that might include computer systems, or protection systems.

Learn more about our services - click here to visit our web site.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Lighting retrofit benefits - what are they?

Lighting retrofit benefits - what are they?
At Aztec Electrical we are here to assist your lighting retrofit projects to maximize the short term and long term energy benefits.

Tax Incentives and Rebates
The Energy Trust of Oregon provides cash incentives and rebates for qualifies energy projects. At Aztec Electrical we are a Trade Ally - qualified to help you determine the best lighting project for your home or business that meets the Energy Trust specifications.

Improved Safety
High quality lighting can improve facility safety, reduce quality incidents, improve productivity and increase occupant satisfaction. Newer technologies often have better lighting-quality characteristics, such as improved color, reduced flicker and greater light output.

Reduced Energy Costs
Energy-efficient lighting upgrades represent the highest return on investment (ROI) of any single-technology project, with an average ROI of 45 percent. These upgrades pay for themselves in as little as 2.2 years and the payback continues over the lifetime of the system through reduced energy and maintenance costs.

Improved Performance and Productivity
A recent study found that one in four workers experienced a loss in work time based on vision problems and discomfort caused by poor lighting. The study found improvements in the average office lighting system can result in a 3-5 percent gain in employee productivity.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint / Social Responsibility
By consuming less electricity, your facility can reduce its electrical load, thus reducing the demand and associated emissions from "off-site" power generation.


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

What is a lighting retrofit?

Rising electricity costs, environmental regulations and concerns about employee well being have businesses, consumers and government agencies looking for an energy strategy that will not only save money, but will add business value into the future.

A lighting retrofit is a simple way to make your building's lighting more energy efficient. Over time, these energy savings can be significant enough to not only pay for the equipment, but may produce a return on investment. Lighting retrofits not only improve the quality of light, but also result in less heat in the building envelope reducing HVAC run times. Combine this with increased longevity of lamp life and possible utility incentives to help reduce project costs, and you see the return of investments (ROI) can be significant.

With lighting accounting for more than 25 percent of the energy used in most facilities, increased efficiency can make a big difference to your monthly energy bill.

Some examples of lighting retrofit ....

  • Swapping out lamps and ballasts (energy efficiency coupled with improved lighting quality)
  • Retrofit fixtures that install in minutes. These simple installations allow you to use the existing fixture housing and wiring so ceiling tiles don't have to be removed. 
  • Upgrading the internal fixture components with energy efficient replacements can reduce your energy use by as much as 67 percent. 
  • Adding or upgrading lighting controls to improve the efficiency of current systems. Some controls are wireless.
Call or email us at Aztec Electrical to talk about a lighting retrofit at your home or office.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Energy Costs Reduced 67% In Parking Garage Using Retrofit

Energy Costs Reduced 67% In Parking Garage Using Retrofit
San Mateo County drives down electricity costs in parking garage with efficient T8 lamps and wireless lighting controls.

San Mateo County cut lighting energy use by 67% through a lighting retrofit with wireless controls at the parking garage serving the County’s administrative campus. With six levels and over 900 parking spaces occupied daily, San Mateo County’s County Center Parking Garage supports the commutes of hundreds of employees and visitors, and houses a fleet of County vehicles. Unfortunately, with most of their inefficient high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps operating 20 to 24 hours per day, seven days a week, paying the monthly $46,000 electric bill for this facility was no joyride.

Building type: 6-level parking garage

Size: 312,150 square feet, 904 parking spaces

Project: 279 HPS fixtures (150W) replaced with bi-level linear fluorescent fixtures (44-73W)

Annual energy savings: 248,200 kWh

Peak load reduction: 22.3 kW

Simple payback: 3.8 years

Send an email or call us at Aztec Electrical to learn more about an efficient lighting design that will help you save money and reduce your energy costs at home or at your business.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Lighting Maintenance Case Study & ROI

Parking Lot After LED installation
Parking Lot Lighting with LEDs: T.J.Maxx Plaza

CBT Development, the developer and property owner of a retail shopping center anchored
by T.J.Maxx in Manchester, New Hampshire, was incurring unusually high costs for parking lot maintenance from frequent lamp replacement and determined that poor power quality was the cause.

Already preparing to replace the plaza’s 25-year-old luminaires, the owner began looking for alternative lighting systems that might offer a more robust light source. During this search, the plaza architect learned about the U.S. Department of Energy GATEWAY Demonstration Program and the Commercial Building Energy Alliances (CBEA) LED Site Lighting Performance Specification and contacted Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to learn more about both.

The owner was particularly interested in occupancy sensors, which would offer the additional benefit of reducing energy use when the plaza is unoccupied, while still providing enough lighting for visibility. Because occupancy sensors are rarely used in parking lots, this installation presented a unique learning opportunity of significant interest to the GATEWAY program.

In this project, a total of 28 (twenty-two 400W [lamp rated power] high-pressure sodium and six 400W metal halide) luminaires were replaced with 25 LED luminaires (120 LEDs per luminaire) manufactured by BetaLED ®, with each luminaire controlled by an integral occupancy sensor that varies operation between high and low light output settings.

The LED product achieved an estimated payback in this installation of about three years, due to the combination of high electricity ($0.14/kWh) and maintenance costs incurred by the conventional products at this location.

At Aztec Electrical we will help you get your lighting retrofit project optimally designed and installed correctly. Click here to send us an email.


Friday, March 13, 2015

Lighting Retrofit Benefits

Lightinh Retrofit Benefits
A lighting retrofit is a simple way to make your building's lighting more energy efficient.

Over time, these energy savings can be significant enough to not only pay for the equipment, but may produce a return on investment.

Lighting retrofits improve the quality of light, and also result in less heat in the building envelope reducing HVAC run times.

Combine this with increased longevity of lamp life and possible utility incentives to help reduce project costs, and one can easily see the return of investments can be significant.

Rising electricity costs, environmental regulations and concerns about employee well being have businesses, consumers and government agencies looking for an energy strategy that will not only save money, but will add business value into the future. With lighting accounting for more than 25 percent of the energy used in most facilities, increased efficiency can make a big difference to your monthly energy bill.

Contact Aztec Electrical for questions or to schedule a free energy assessment of your building.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Energy rebate: home energy audit

Our team of courteous, experienced electricians will work with you to answer your questions and make sure your project gets done on time and on budget while respecting you and your home.

We can walk you through the process of obtaining an energy rebate from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

Below is a list of different home energy solutions to choose from.....

- Energy Efficiency
- Weatherization
- Heating
- Water Heating and Treatment
- Appliances
- Lighting
- Energy-Efficient Shower heads

Use our contact form to send us your question - click here.