Energy saving in lighting from T5 lamp retrofits — A case study

Energy Efficiency is one of the main focuses of research in Electrical Engineering at the present time. Lighting system carries a considerable amount of the total electricity usage in buildings. Hence researchers have been continuously thriving to achieve better efficiency in lighting, which means maintaining optimum lighting conditions using as less energy as possible. Using energy efficient lamps with higher luminous efficacy (lumen/watt) is an effective way to reduce the lighting load while maintaining optimum light levels, thus making the lighting system more efficient. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) undertook a large scale project to replace the university's existing installations of T8 lamps with more efficient T5 lamps. This paper presents an overview of the project, its scale, the estimated and actual savings from the project, and looks toward further studies in the future.