Monday, May 12, 2008

Remove Your Torchières

Hiding in the corner of many an executive office is an energy black hole; the Torchière. A Torchière is the name of that floor lamp with the Halogen bulb that everyone bought years ago because it was cheap and provided pleasing, ceiling reflected, indirect lighting.

These popular, now very dated floor lamps, burn up an astonishing 500 watts of electricity. That is the amount of wattage that is used by 40 compact fluorescent bulbs (CFB). Just the simple act of removing these energy vacuums and replacing them with lamps that use CFB’s will create dramatic savings on your electricity bill.

Incremental steps like this one quickly add up and get everyone in the mindset of seeking out ways that their department can take part in your energy reducing plans. After you have removed your Torchières, all the lighting in your building can be rethought.

With your lighting audit complete and upgrades made, your Facilities Manager will be able to replicate this audit and upgrade procedure throughout the diverse energy consuming systems in your building.

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