The Financial Burden of the Department of Energy's July 14th 2012 Ban on inefficient Fluorescent Tubes impacts American Businesses, Homeowners, Governors, and Mayors across the whole country. See CASH for CLUNKERS Lighting for information on the multi-million dollar incentive program.
| Population | Percentage | Burden of the Ban | |||
| United States of America (By Population) | 311,000,000 | 100% | $18,750,000,000 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| California | 37,253,956 | 11.98% | $2,246,018,248 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Texas | 25,145,561 | 8.09% | $1,516,010,510 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| New York | 19,378,102 | 6.23% | $1,168,293,931 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Florida | 18,801,310 | 6.05% | $1,133,519,494 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Illinois | 12,830,632 | 4.13% | $773,550,965 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Pennsylvania | 12,702,379 | 4.08% | $765,818,670 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Ohio | 11,536,504 | 3.71% | $695,528,778 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Michigan | 9,883,640 | 3.18% | $595,878,617 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Georgia | 9,687,653 | 3.12% | $584,062,681 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| North Carolina | 9,535,483 | 3.07% | $574,888,445 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| New Jersey | 8,791,894 | 2.83% | $530,057,918 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Virginia | 8,001,024 | 2.57% | $482,376,849 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Washington | 6,724,540 | 2.16% | $405,418,408 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Massachusetts | 6,547,629 | 2.11% | $394,752,552 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Indiana | 6,483,802 | 2.08% | $390,904,461 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Arizona | 6,392,017 | 2.06% | $385,370,800 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Tennessee | 6,346,105 | 2.04% | $382,602,793 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Missouri | 5,988,927 | 1.93% | $361,068,750 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Maryland | 5,773,552 | 1.86% | $348,083,923 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Wisconsin | 5,686,986 | 1.83% | $342,864,912 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Minnesota | 5,303,925 | 1.71% | $319,770,398 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Colorado | 5,029,196 | 1.62% | $303,207,154 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Alabama | 4,779,736 | 1.54% | $288,167,363 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| South Carolina | 4,625,364 | 1.49% | $278,860,370 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Louisiana | 4,533,372 | 1.46% | $273,314,228 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Kentucky | 4,339,367 | 1.40% | $261,617,785 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Oregon | 3,831,074 | 1.23% | $230,973,111 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Oklahoma | 3,751,351 | 1.21% | $226,166,660 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Connecticut | 3,574,097 | 1.15% | $215,480,125 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Iowa | 3,046,355 | 0.98% | $183,662,882 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Mississippi | 2,967,297 | 0.95% | $178,896,523 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Arkansas | 2,915,918 | 0.94% | $175,798,915 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Kansas | 2,853,118 | 0.92% | $172,012,741 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Utah | 2,763,885 | 0.89% | $166,632,938 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Nevada | 2,700,551 | 0.87% | $162,814,570 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| New Mexico | 2,059,179 | 0.66% | $124,146,644 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| West Virginia | 1,852,994 | 0.60% | $111,715,876 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Nebraska | 1,826,341 | 0.59% | $110,108,983 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Idaho | 1,567,582 | 0.50% | $94,508,561 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Hawaii | 1,360,301 | 0.44% | $82,011,716 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Maine | 1,328,361 | 0.43% | $80,086,073 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| New Hampshire | 1,316,470 | 0.42% | $79,369,172 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Rhode Island | 1,052,567 | 0.34% | $63,458,621 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Montana | 989,415 | 0.32% | $59,651,226 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Delaware | 897,934 | 0.29% | $54,135,892 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| South Dakota | 814,180 | 0.26% | $49,086,415 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Alaska | 710,231 | 0.23% | $42,819,393 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| North Dakota | 672,591 | 0.22% | $40,550,100 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Vermont | 625,741 | 0.20% | $37,725,543 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| District of Columbia | 601,723 | 0.19% | $36,277,512 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Wyoming | 563,626 | 0.18% | $33,980,667 | ||
| Top 10 Metropolitan Areas | |||||
| Metro Market | Population | Percentage | Burden of the Ban | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| New York-Northern NJ-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA | 18,897,109 | 6.08% | $1,139,295,157 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA | 12,828,837 | 4.13% | $773,442,745 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI | 9,461,105 | 3.04% | $570,404,240 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 6,371,773 | 2.05% | $384,150,301 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 6,230,000 | 2.00% | $375,602,894 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 5,946,800 | 1.91% | $358,528,939 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 5,582,170 | 1.79% | $336,545,619 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 5,564,635 | 1.79% | $335,488,445 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 5,268,860 | 1.69% | $317,656,350 | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |||||
| Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | 4,552,402 | 1.46% | $274,461,535 | ||
Independence LED has provided this content as a convenience to the members of our Authorized Reseller Network to help clarify the details in speaking with civic leaders and business owners and operators about the ban on T12 fluorescent tubes that started on June 14th, 2012.
See CASH for CLUNKERS Lighting for information on the multi-million dollar incentive program.
Independence LED www.IndependenceLED.com is a U.S. Manufacturer of high-efficiency linear LED lighting. Since moving its manufacturing from China to Boyertown, PA, Independence LED has experienced over 300% growth in sales. Customers range from industrial distribution centers to Fortune 100 companies and from independent business owners to national retail and service chains. In 2011, the Company won the Green Business of the Year Award from the Main Line Chamber of Commerce. For Technology, Photos, and Videos see the Independence LED Boot Camp.
The IMPACT and OPPORTUNITY from the DOE Ban on Inefficient T2 Fluorescent Tubes
A major change in the rules for lighting technology will directly affect many commercial and industrial businesses and institutions in the United States. If you have the older, T12 fluorescent tubes in your workplace, you have just 30 days to prepare for this fundamental change as T12 fluorescent tubes will no longer be manufactured in the United States or imported from offshore manufacturers. The DOE estimates there are almost 1 billion T12 fluorescent tubes currently operating in America’s building infrastructure.
T12s waste energy, create toxic mercury & PCB’s in their waste stream, provide poor quality light and have very high operational costs. Independence LED Tubes are three times more energy efficient and last three times longer. International powerhouse brands have made these Fluorescent T12 Clunkers for years, and since lighting is not separated out on electric bills, the wasted energy has gone largely undetected for decades. The major brands now offer more efficient T8 and T5 Fluorescent Tubes and “eco ballasts”, but these alternative fluorescent options still use about twice as much energy as the LEDs, have a shorter life and require the purchase of new ballasts, adapters or completely new fixtures. To learn more about the value of switching directly to LED linear lighting, read our White Paper: The T12 Fluorescent to LED Tube Retrofit Advantage
Independence LED Lighting is offering U.S. business owners coverage on the cost of proper disposal and recycling of their existing T12 fluorescent “Clunkers” and ballasts as an offset to the purchase price of American Made Independence LED Tubes. T’12’s have mercury and their ballasts have PCB’s which are harmful to the environment and must be processed according to strict Federal and State regulations. The program is capped at $10 Million in “Cash” offsets.
Creating Jobs this Summer and Saving Businesses Millions of Dollars.
President Obama has reached a key understanding. On December 2nd, 2011, the President wrote a Memorandum, “Upgrading the energy performance of buildings is one of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce energy costs, cut pollution, and create jobs in the construction and energy sectors.”
See the full White House Memorandum Dec 2011.
Why Act Now?
LOOK UP. If you are at work, outside of a home office, you probably will see fluorescent tubes that have dominated commercial lighting since the 1950s. The T12 fluorescent are the older style wide tubes that are about an inch and half in diameter. T12s are “Clunkers” in that they waste energy and have toxic mercury vapor. The common 4’ Tube uses 45 Watts with the ballast factor compared to a 15 Watt LED Tube. The T12s also die off within 20,000 vs the 60,000 hour life of the LED Tubes. Replacing them creates jobs…NOW. The jobs range from Energy Auditing to Installation and from production of replacement products like U.S. Made of LED tubes to the “Ripple Effect” of the entire supply and delivery chain. See the ‘MADE In AMERICA Panel’ for a breakdown of the job creation opportunity. Given that the T12 ban is on almost 1 billion tubes, this is a potential employment launch pad for the American Energy Revolution.
How Many T12s are out there?
Page #35 of the Department of Energy DOE January 2012 Report identifies:
2,385,399,000 fluorescent tubes in American ceilings:
48.1%: T8s totaling 1,148,222,000 Tubes
39.5%: T12s totaling 941,335,000 Tubes
12.4%: T5s or Miscellaneous totaling 295,842,000 Tubes
With almost 1 billion Clunker T12 fluorescent tubes in American ceilings, the hunt is on to reduce waste!
This is a dramatic eye opener, and for perspective imagine if 40% of the cars on the road got less than 10 miles per gallon or had an equivalent emissions rating from the 1970s today.
Why is it such a Big Deal?
According to the DOE, over half of our U.S. electricity consumption is for buildings. Plus, lighting accounts for 30% -35% of all commercial electricity use, per the Electric Power Research Institute. See the EPRI Report.
The ban will cost $18.75 Billion:
For the common 4’ length, each legal T8 fluorescent replacement tube is $2 to $3, but the old T12 ballasts need to be replaced to match the new tubes. The legal ballasts are $10 to $15, and they can run two tubes. The equipment burden averages to $8.75 per tube. With ten minutes of wiring installation, the labor burden averages $10 per tube. With about 1 billion T12 tubes, per DOE data included in the T12 White Paper, the burden of the ban reaches $18.75 billion - a tough challenge in a recession.
4’ T12 Fluorescent to 4’ LED Tube Retrofits:
Sample Scenario with an Electricity Cost of $.10 per kWh and run time of 24/7:
This would mean that Parking Garage LED tubes, Exit Stair LED tubes, Hallway LED tubes, or Warehouse LED tubes, could each save $26.28 per year over a T12. This savings comes from taking the Annual $39.42 Cost to Operate a Single 4’ T12 45 Watt Tube and subtracting the 4’ LED 15 Watt tube which only uses $13.41 of electricity per year. By comparison at $.20 / kWh, the annual Cost to Operate a Single 4’ T12 45 Watt Tube is $78.84, while the 15 Watts LED Tube only costs $26.28 to operate per year. This yields a savings of Savings of $52.56 per LED Tube retrofit.
Example of New York City Rebates:
Utility - Con Edison for qualified LED Tubes like the Independence LED ‘Eagle” series.
Rebate on Annual kWh Saved: $.13 for 24/7 operations: Rebate Calculation: T12 45 Watts to LED 15 Watts = 30 Watts Saved x 8,760 Annual Hours /1,000 = 262.8 Annual kWh Saved. 262.8 Annual kWh x $.13 = REBATE: $34.16. T12 LED Rebates are an excellent way for New York City Property Owners and Managers to make the retrofit of LED Lighting more affordable. For 8’ Tubes the savings and rebates almost double!
Highlights on the Energy Policy Act and DOE Fact Sheet
The AMENDMENTS to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 include SEC. 123 which identifies the Energy Conservation Requirements for Certain Lamps. Given the complexity of the Amendments, the March 23, 2011 FACT SHEET released by the DOE identifies the Impact of the Amended Energy Conservation Standards on General Service Fluorescent Lamps.
“These amended standards have a compliance date of July 14, 2012 for manufacturers or importers of covered general service fluorescent lamps.”
The DOE goes on to explain, “The amended energy conservation standards, which are performance-based, do not explicitly prohibit the sale of T12 diameter lamps. Based on DOE’s analysis, however, most commercially-available T12 lamps are too inefficient to meet the amended standards and can no longer be manufactured for distribution in commerce after July 14, 2012. The DOE also recognizes that the ballast factor is a key cost and, “if a consumer replaces an existing T12 system with a more-efficient T8 or T5 diameter system, he or she may need to purchase a new ballast or fixture.”
The cost of new fluorescent tubes and new ballasts along with the associated labor costs compound to serves as a key financial driver to retrofit with efficient LED Tubes. This approach to leapfrog over the slightly better fluorescent options delivers savings in excess of 50%.
Each of the following general service fluorescent lamps and incandescent reflector lamps
manufactured after the effective date specified in the tables listed in this paragraph shall meet or exceed the following lamp efficacy and CRI standards:
Lamp type; Nominal lamp wattage; Minimum CRI; Minimum average lamp efficacy in Lumens per Watt
2-foot U-shaped; >35W; 69 CRI; 68 lm/W
2-foot U-shaped; ≤35W; 45 CRI; 64 lm/W
4-foot medium bipin; >35W; 69 CRI; 75 lm/W
4-foot medium bipin; ≤35W; 45 CRI; 75 lm/W
8-foot slimline; >65W; 69 CRI; 80 lm/W
8-foot slimline; ≤65W; 45 CRI; 80 lm/W
8-foot high output; >100W; 69 CRI; 80 lm/W
8-foot high output; ≤100W; 45 CRI; 80 lm/W
