Thomas Edison's Schools Save $390,000 Annually.

The Edison, NJ school district underwent a complete upgrade of its lighting systems. 6,300 fixtures and 38,700 fluorescent lamps powered by 2,700 Advance electronic ballasts were installed throughout the 18 schools.

The schools annual savings have been over $390,000, of which $25,000 are in operation and maintenance savings. The project, was partially supported by $150,000 in annual rebates for 10 years from the local utility, saved 2,200,000 kilowatt-hours a year in energy, and produced a return on investment of 13 percent.

The upgrade brought classrooms and other spaces up to New Jersey's light level requirement, and reduced the school district's energy costs. The project not only paid for itself from energy savings, but it also generated a positive cash flow for the district.

Additional energy savings came from the replacement of inefficient exit signs lighted with an array of light emitting diodes. The LEDs totaled only two watts per sign so they slashed electricity consumption of the old signs which were lighted with two, 40-watt incandescent lamps.

Auditoriums in the high schools are frequently used as study halls and meeting rooms. They require 50 foot-candles of brightness and were illuminated by incandescent and quartz lighting fixtures that delivered one-tenth the desired light level. There were frequent lamp failures that required replacement using a cumbersome lift. For theatrical and entertainment events, low light levels and dimming down to 2.5 percent of maximum brightness were desired.

To resolve these multiple issues, energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures, reflectors, lamps and Advance dimmable electronic ballasts were installed. The new lamps have a rated life of 20,000 hours, and reduced both maintenance labor and lamp replacement costs. New Jersey's brightness standard was met and the lights can be dimmed to satisfy the event requirements. With more than a ten-fold increase in light levels in the high school auditoriums, total power consumption dropped by 49 percent in one auditorium and 52 percent in the other.

153 inefficient fixtures lighted one high schools hallways, each contained six fluorescent lamps. Retrofitted with two energy-efficient lamps per fixture, electronic ballasts, specular reflectors, and a new prismatic lens saved 80 percent of the energy and light levels doubled.

A formula developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculates that the energy saved by the district's lighting upgrade prevented the annual emission of 1,210 tons of carbon dioxide, 3 tons of nitrogen oxide and 8 tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.

There's no place better than Edison, New Jersey to have energy-efficient, well-lighted schools. The town, named for Thomas A. Edison, completed a major lighting upgrade project in its public schools. Edison invented the electric light bulb in the Menlo Park section of Edison Township, and the project coincided with his 150th birthday.