Many lights in a worship building are only used a few hours each
week. Not so the exit signs! Since they burn 24/7, and your building probably
has more than you may know before you go around to count them, they are well
worth changing. Say you have twenty incandescent exit signs burning 30 watts
24/7. At a conservative 10 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), each sign will cost
over $26 per year. Add in replacement bulbs, and it may total over
$29/year/sign which, for twenty signs, is $580 per year plus the labor of
replacing burned-out bulbs. That’s a lot.
There are three ways to go, each equally energy efficient. The
first is to buy retrofit LED bulbs to replace the incandescent
ones. That is the easiest, and if you have no rebate available from your
utility company it may be the least expensive at $5/bulb. At 1.2 watts each for
two bulbs, your annual energy cost per sign is reduced to about $2, or $42 for
all twenty: a savings of about $538 per year, or more if your electricity rate
is higher. The bulbs may be warranted for five years, saving replacement and
labor costs.
The second route is to purchase new universal-mount LED
exit signs, at the same wattage as the bulbs. Many utility companies offer
rebates on these or even offer them through an on-line store. For instance,
Duke Energy offers signs for $8.48. They come with complete instructions for installation.
A third, more stylish but more expensive option is the acrylic
edge-lit exit sign, which is clear except for the lettering.
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