High Efficiency Fluorescent Lighting
Installing more efficient fluorescent lighting by combining T8 lamps with electronic ballasts (dimmer) will significantly lower a commercial building’s lighting costs. An electronic ballast is much more efficient than a magnetic ballast because it operates at a much higher frequency (20,000–40,000 cycles compared to about sixty cycles per second respectively). Because it operates at such high frequencies, an electronic ballast has a higher light output and also does not flicker.
T8 lamps have a smaller diameter than traditional fluorescent T12 lamps (one-inch diameter compared to 1.5-inch respectively) and as a result, are much more efficient. The only problem with T8 lamps is that they require special ballasts and can only be used with new fixtures.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL's are a technology which has been around for many years now and is a technology that is still very underutilized in today's world, especially with the way that the prices of these bulbs has dropped over the years. If every home in America replaced just one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent it would save enough energy to light over 2.5 million homes for one year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions, which would roughly be the equivalent of 800,000 cars. Compact fluorescent bulbs use only a third (if not less) of the energy used by an incandescent bulb while providing the same amount of light. These bulbs also last for roughly ten years compared to an incandescent bulb's lifetime of only around six months. CFL's generate about 70% less heat as well, which makes them safer around the home and will also somewhat reduce air conditioning costs. Compact fluorescents also fit in the same sockets as incandescent bulbs, so replacement is as easy as changing a light bulb.