Long-life fluorescent light produced by radio-frequency excitation rather than a traditional ballast.
The most unique feature of induction lamps is their long lamp life – 100,000 hours, which has made them popular in hard-to-access locations such as bridges, tunnels, or high-ceiling areas. With no cathodes to wear out, the lamp life is longer than for other fluorescent lamps. The use of "self-cleaning glass or coatings" on fixtures could reduce the need for cleaning which would make the most of long-life and reduced maintenance claims.They work well as the ambient temperature drops below zero and offer instant start with no re-strike issues. The white light is similar to other fluorescent lights, and available in at least three many color temperatures.Some induction systems are dimmable.
A radio frequency generator is used to induce the current that excites the phosphor to produce light. The generators have lives of about 60,000 hours, so that is the point when maintenance must occur in spite of the longer lamp life.Still, this is a long enough interval to make this more expensive productviable in some markets. Like other fluorescent products, they do contain some mercury, but in a stable, recoverable form.
In years past induction lamps were considered too expensive for most applications. They require dedicated fixtures and cannot be retrofitted into other existing fixtures. Induction lamps have a high conversion efficiency, color rendering index (CRI), and S/P ratio, meaning that a 400W High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamp can be replaced by a 200W induction lamp with ballast. While providing only 19% fewer "Visually Effective Lumens (VEL) the induction lamps consumes only 204 input Watts (versus 460 Watts for the HPS lamp and ballast). This results in a 56% savings in energy use. Even with these impressive savings, induction lamps are in direct competition with LEDs.
Status:
Baseline Description: 400 Watt High-Pressure Sodium Lamp Baseline Energy Use: 2015 kWh per year per lamp
Assume a street lighting, parking lot lighting, or warehouse application with 12 hours/day of annual energy use (assume 365 days per year of operation). The HPS lamps and ballast requires 460 Input Watts. Annual energy use is thus: 0.46 kW x 12 hours/day x 365 days/year = 2,015 kWh/year.
"Typical" Savings: 56%
Savings of 56% as taken as a 400W HPS lamps can be replaced by a 200W induction lamps and ballast with in increased in visually effective lumen (VEL) corrected fixture light output.
Energy Use of an Emerging Technology is based upon the following algorithm. Baseline Energy Use - (Baseline Energy Use * Best Estimate of Energy Savings (either Typical savings OR the high range of savings.))
The US DOE Building Technologies Program 2010 "U.S. Lighting Market Characterization" lists 65.8 million HPS lamps used in all sectors, with the majority being employed in outdoor applications. The average wattage of these HPS lamps is 204. As the baseline energy savings are based upon replacement of a 400 Watt HPS lamp, the number of equivalent 400W lamps in the Northwest will be computed. Total lamps equivalent = 0.04 (% of lamps in the Northwest) x 65.8 million x 204/400 = 1,342,320
Regional Technical Potential of an Emerging Technology is calculated as follows: Baseline Energy Use * Estimate of Energy Savings (either Typical savings OR the high range of savings) * Technical Potential (potential number of units replaced by the Emerging Technology)
Simple payback, new construction (years): N/A
Simple payback, retrofit (years): N/A
Cost Effectiveness is calculated using baseline energy use, best estimate of typical energy savings, and first cost. It does not account for factors such as impacts on O&M costs (which could be significant if product life is greatly extended) or savings of non-electric fuels such as natural gas. Actual overall cost effectiveness could be significantly different based on these other factors.
ALG, 01/01/2011. Fluorescent Lamps-Induction Lamps Advanced Lighting Guidelines
Stan Walerczyk, 05/16/2011. EHID & LED for Exterior, Hibays, Etc. Lighting Wizards
WSUEEP, 04/01/2013. Energy Experts Q&A: Induction vs. Street Lighting Washington State University Extension Energy Program
Econolux, 01/01/2012. Econolux Induction Lights versus High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lights Econolux Industries
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