It’s no longer a question of if, but when. When businesses and government will transition to LED. Even Super Bowl now since 2015 being lit with LED technology. I thought you may be interested in a new case study on how Cree LED lighting is helping one business improve its operations and economics across the board.

Consequently, energy represents 30 percent of a typical gas station’s costs. Also is a property’s single largest operating expense. Not to mention that high-quality illumination can help distinguish one facility from its competition.

So by upgrading their light fixtures to Cree LED luminaires, 4 Sons Food Stores, Inc. was able to cut each of its 21 store’s energy bill by about a third. Thereby saving thousands on maintenance costs.

Additionally, each location was able to secure between $8,000 to $16,000 in utility rebates thanks to Cree’s high quality solutions. That one-for-one replacement to maintain compliance.

In conclusion, the full case study is attached.

Finally, Cree helps organizations. That’s from gas stations to hospitals. They clearly are approaching a zero-energy business. Furthermore and improving their environments with LED lighting.

A bright idea: LED light bulbs yield big savings in energy | McClatchy

One way the United States could slash its electricity use, dependence on fossil fuels and emissions of heat-trapping gases is really quite simple: better light bulbs. The Department of Energy is backing research and development aimed at getting light-emitting diodes into common use in homes and businesses at a price that saves money. Hurdles remain: Costs are still high, the quality of what’s on the market varies and not all the technical issues have been worked out. Energy experts are confident, however, that this new lighting is the future and that energy savings will be enormous.

Lighting consumes 22 percent of electricity in the United States. The DOE predicts that solid-state lighting. All which uses semiconducting materials to convert electricity into light, and includes LEDs — has the potential to reduce energy use for lighting by one-third by 2030. That’s the equivalent of saving the output of 40 large (1,000-megawatt) power plants, the greenhouse gas emissions of 47 million cars and $30 billion.

LEDs already light universities from Miami to Anchorage, Alaska, streets in many cities and an increasing number of businesses that need lights on all the time.

“In your home, lighting may be 10 percent of your bill. But in an office building it’s probably 40 percent, and so if you reduce your lighting energy consumption by a large fraction, the savings will be huge,” said James Brodrick, who leads the DOE’s solid-state lighting program.

A fact sheet from Brodrick’s office says this about LEDs: “In the coming decade, they will become a key to affordable net-zero energy buildings, buildings that produce at least as much energy annually as they use from the grid.”

The technology is advancing quickly, and costs will continue to drop, Brodrick said. The DOE tests LEDs and sets performance and efficiency guidelines under its Energy Star program.

Even so, LEDs already are used to light offices, hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

The DOE says LED has better performance capability than fluorescent lighting. Also in the next few years, they’ll continue to improve after that. They’re now comparable with fluorescent fixtures in efficiency.

So DOE says its Energy Star LEDs last two to five times longer.

Chuck Swoboda, the chairman and chief executive officer of Cree Inc. of Durham, N.C., a leading company in LED lighting, said that commercial use of LEDs would drive down costs, and that a lower initial cost plus the value of energy savings would make them attractive.

In addition, LEDs have other advantages:

1. They can be dimmed

2. don’t emit heat

3. don’t contain mercury — unlike compact fluorescents

4. and can produce warm-toned light.

Swoboda said that Cree was focusing on commercial sales now because that market was bigger than the residential market and commercial users got quicker paybacks from reduced energy and maintenance costs.

Cree also announced that it had an LED PAR 38 bulb designed for stores and museums. One that uses 12 watts of power instead. Um that’s instead of 50 to 90 watts for a halogen bulb.

Felicia Spagnoli, a spokeswoman for Philips Lighting Electronics North America, said commercial users could make up for the higher costs of LEDs in as little as a year or two.

Philips is also working on many kinds of LEDs. One including one to replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb that’s scheduled to be available next year, she said.

Derrick Hall of RE/Construct Inc. in Asheville, N.C., said that residential customers weren’t asking for LEDs because of the high upfront cost. Still, he’s hearing of some nonresidential customers who are looking into LEDs for the energy savings.

LEDs are much better than other lighting options, Hall said. The quality of the light is “far superior,” they offer big energy savings and there’s no cost to society for dealing with mercury, he said. Mercury, a neurotoxin, is found in small amounts in compact fluorescent bulbs.

Swoboda said that some of the biggest commercial users for LEDs now were fast-food restaurants. All because LEDs’ light makes food look appealing.

A McDonald’s that opened in July in Cary, N.C., is lit almost entirely with daylight and LED lights. Ric Richards, the franchise owner, said the restaurant used 78 percent less electricity than a traditional one.

And the quality of the light?

“Awesome,” he said. “The restaurant has great ambience.”

Richards estimated that the upfront costs of the lighting would be paid back in two to four years with lower electricity bills.

In Washington, the Pentagon is installing LED lights in a large renovation.

In conclusion, Mark Buffler was an official in charge of technology in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He said in a report that switching from conventional florescent to LEDs would conserve large amounts of energy. Like 240,000 kilowatt hours annually. Thereby saving money on maintenance and mercury disposal.

Finally, we all know that light emitting diodes (LED) bulbs save energy. So this story clearly shows examples of why LED bulbs are effective in saving companies and people energy costs.