I just stumbled on an article that claims that Federal Buildings leave lights on all night long. In some cases monthly electric bills were over 1 MILLION DOLLARS. Is there a good explanation for why the lights are left on? Or is this really a WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS?
If there is a valid reason, it might be good to curb the bad press….If not…well…last one out please turn off the lights!
View the entire article here.
Agreed! Plus, besides the waste of taxpayer dollars, people should consider the environment as well! Don’t forget that most electricity plants are coal fired! It takes about one pound of coal to generate one kilowatt hour. That means increases in:
Yeah it bugs me that it our building it’s impossible to turn all the lights off, you flip the switch and about half the lights stay for basically no reason.
That is a task we have taken on at our IC recently. One issue is safety. Second are scientists here working late. And third, our cleaning staff uses the light system to know when they have cleaned a room or not. We have put occupancy sensors in rooms or halls where we can but for the rest of the lighting we are still dependent upon individuals to shut them off. We upgraded to T8 lighting a year ago and have decreased our electricity use 3.5% and 5% in the last two years respectively. We also installed solar panels on our roof. We are considering timers and having ‘hall monitors’ to help out.WE are currently doing an energy audit to find out what is plugged in and is it plugged in appropriately and safely for now. We will launch new initiatives based on that data. Bottom line: it is wasteful. Lights are only the beginning.
Our hallway lights are wired on for security camera’s. That way people can not turn them off and sneak down the hall.
Now the use of Windmills and other solar lighting is great!
Natural light can be a pain. Things would be bright untill a cloud moved overhead. Then things got dark for ten min or more before “high noon” bright sunlight again.
Our hallway lights are on a sensor. They go on when there is movement in that area and then go off again after a set amount of time. It seems to work well and I’m sure it saves money.