Exit signs and your $$$

pastors and exit signs

Pastors Tyler and Neal, "basking in the glow" of the exit signs.

Jonesville UMC found from their recent energy audit that a simple way to save energy and money was to change their exit signs from regular light bulbs (2 - 25 watt bulbs per sign) to LEDs (1 watt each).  It's just not something you generally think about. The energy audit made Jonesville realize that exit signs run continually...that's 365 days a year, 24 hours per day or 8760 hours a year.

Jonesville had 20 exit signs throughout the church. This simple change was equivalent to turning off 19-50 watt bulbs. The change was as simple as unscrewing the old bulb and screwing in the new and took all of 2 hours to do the entire church!

This one simple change has a big energy stewardship impact:

  • fewer problems for people with asthma - prevents the emission of about 9 pounds of nitrogen oxide, the main ingredient in ozone or smog, which is especially harmful to people with asthma;
  • less acid rain - prevents the emission of about 27 pounds of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain; and
  • less mercury pollution - especially damaging to pregnant women and children
  • prevents global warming - prevents the emission of about 7 tons of carbon dioxide, the principal global warming gas.

And this translates to an annual saving of $900 a year - this year and EVERY YEAR FROM NOW ON!

They're also labor-saving: the LEDs have a lifetime of 100,000 hours...therefore the next change is in 2015!

The cost of the LEDs was $12 each or a total of $240. Jonesville will be reimbursed $200 (the cost of the Energy Audit) from NYSERDA. This is just one of 7 cost-effective measures identified by the Energy Audit.

LED exit signs and the LED bulbs for your existing exit signs can be found on the web.

Call (518-399-7733) or email Ed Bennett if you'd like to know more. Email Ed at "name@nycap.rr.com" BUT replace "name" with "ebennet1" (without the quotes).

NOTE: The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA) Energy Audit Program offers audits for a small fee that is refundable if audit-recommended measures are implemented. For more information, call 1-866-NYSERDA.