Darcie DeFoe (38 posts)
The Surprising Impact of Lighting Redesign
Primary issues with the old lighting, aside from being inefficient and expensive to operate, included cones of light and many shadows within the arena area. The customer began working with The Retrofit Companies to have a new lighting system designed and installed. Consultants from The Retrofit Companies designed a system where interior and exterior metal halide and incandescent fixtures were replaced with new LED fixtures.
October 23, 2016Linear LED & Other T8 LED Resources
There’s a giant world of information about LED linear tube options, energy efficient lighting, and how to get the most from your retrofit project, but do you really have the time to seek it all out? If you’re like most any professional we’ve met, the answer is no. We give you concise, accurate information in order to make informed business decisions.
September 23, 2016How Does Hazardous Waste Clean Up Work?
Do you have a room, closet, or cabinet used for chemical storage? Maybe your business has a few old cans of paint, or an entire warehouse aisle of miscellaneous products that sit half-unused year after year, and you’re not really sure how to start getting it all cleaned up safely and responsibly?
September 23, 2016Understanding LED Maintenance Challenges
This article discusses reliability of LED lighting, understanding lamp life with respect to useful lamp life, and how to understand variables in product quality across brands. It concludes with some overlooked maintenance factors for LED: cleaning, controls, and proactive troubleshooting.
August 23, 2016Understanding LED Linear T8 tubes
Even when you have the correct combination of linear LED tubes and existing ballast or wiring configuration, simply grabbing an LED tube and installing it may change lighting levels drastically, undoing the original success of a well-designed lighting solution.
August 23, 2016T8 LED Lighting Retrofit Introduction & Safety
Are you considering a lighting upgrade and have you investigated replacing your T8 fluorescent lamps with T8 LED linear tubes for energy efficiency? This is a wonderful leap in the lighting world, affording lighting designers, facility managers, and other contractors the ability to essentially retrofit existing fluorescent fixtures with LED linear tube options.
August 23, 2016Recharging your Knowledge of Recycling Batteries
Since the mid-1990’s TRC has gained expertise in the safe transportation of wastes ranging from toxic gases to Mercury containing lamps. Our recycling trucks have transported everything from old light bulbs to lead paint. This expertise and knowledge of waste handling and disposal regulations have helped our clients simplify the disposal and recycling process for all types of Universal and Hazardous waste.
August 23, 2016Exterior LED Lighting Upgrade
This hotel had inefficient metal halide and incandescent lamps lighting the exterior of their building, with many burned out lamps. The result was a poor quality light that demanded a fair amount of attention and money to maintain. Business managers decided to take action and develop a plan for their exterior LED lighting upgrade with help from The Retrofit Companies.
August 23, 2016CRT TV and Monitor Recycling
In the electronics recycling industry, waste processing changes over time as methods improve or markets shift. CRT recycling used to be what is known as a ‘closed loop process’ where old leaded glass tubes were recycled into new ones; however, new technology does not use leaded glass tubes.
August 23, 2016Has your old, unused material become Explosive?
UPDATED MARCH 2017 We are often asked to properly dispose of hazardous wastes that have collected over many years, for schools and all types of businesses. These are chemicals and products that were used for maintenance, or in a lab or classroom at one time, that have outlived their usefulness. These products often spend many years in a back room, storage […]
July 23, 2016Pros and Cons of T8 LED REPLACEMENTS
A couple weeks ago we shared a video showing how a T8 LED replacement bulb can catch fire if it is incorrectly installed. Because we have committed to being a vendor neutral company we thought a good approach to understanding this technology, and to help guide your decision making, would be to provide the perspective from many different angles, […]
April 23, 2016Pre-Paid Recycling Program
TRC is stepping up our services with RecyclePak®, an easy, pre-paid recycling solution for small quantities of Universal Waste, such as fluorescent lamps, batteries, ballasts, batteries, and mercury waste. Simply select the container for your waste type, and it is delivered to you. With one payment you receive a shipping container, mailing label, on-site pickup, recycling […]
April 23, 2016Instant 400 watt reduction with LED retrofit
This recent lighting retrofit case study comes from a larger project completed by The Retrofit Companies. We thought this was not only a visually impactful set of before & after photos, but energy use was reduced over 400 watts for each fixture replaced!
January 23, 2016Case Study: Test Fixtures & Exterior Lighting
For this exterior lighting project, the client is a company with facilities located nationwide. Their savings goals take into consideration the entire network of facilities, but we can see in this single project area how much of an impact that an HID to LED retrofit can make, visually and in energy savings.
January 23, 2016Lighting Redesign Using LED Technology
A lot of the time, we judge lighting projects on the very dramatic before and after photos we see. That’s certainly a very interesting and immediate way to judge success of a project, does it look better afterward? Well, not all projects look dramatically different before and after, even in the case of this lighting redesign. However, the results for this project are dramatic and easily measured.
October 23, 2015Case Study: Exterior LED Lighting
Well designed lighting will create inviting spaces around the exterior of your business, such as statues, monuments, green spaces, or other landscaping highlights that are lit during non-daylight hours. By completing these projects, you can address an area that is essentially running half of every day.
August 23, 2015How a Single Variable Can Ruin a Lighting Project
it’s important to do your homework for every project, to look at photometrics, understand the products that are being specified in your project, and know how they will perform in real life. This knowledge is paramount to project success.
July 23, 2015What does it mean to be “Vendor Neutral?”
The primary benefit of a vendor that is product or manufacturer neutral is that they are able to use the technology best suited to your needs at any time. They are not limited by a specific product provider or set brands in order to shoehorn a solution into your lighting retrofit project.
May 23, 2015The History of Retrofitting : Industry Insight from TRC Founder
Steve Kath, TRC’s CEO and Founder, will be sharing his experiences in the lighting industry here in a series we’re calling The History of Retrofitting. Keep an eye out for Steve’s features. He’s starting off his series by recounting some of the energy-efficiency technologies that were popular almost 30 years ago, some that worked and some that did not. For more insight on lighting history, keep reading.
May 23, 2015Why Invest in a Lighting Audit?
Energy-efficiency is a direct path to savings and makes a positive impact to the bottom line for many businesses, but you may be wondering “What’s the point in investing in a lighting study,” or investment grade audit?
December 23, 2014Case Study: Hallway Lighting Retrofit
Deciding to take control of their maintenance costs by upgrading their hallways was a pretty simple decision for this school. An area with aging fixtures and astronomical replacement costs was a great target to start saving. The major problem? Fixture lenses were brittle, easily broken, and no longer manufactured meaning they cost a ton to replace.
October 23, 20149 Signs You Should Invest in LED Lighting
Deciding to invest in energy-efficiency is a decision that every company or business must come by on their own. Oftentimes, an investment in energy-efficiency will yield more than a return on investment. Let’s look at 9 signs that could be telling you it’s time to consider investing in LED Lighting
October 23, 2014Lighting Before and After – Manufacturing Facility
Due to the nature of their business, Northern Iron & Machine required a fixture that would handle a more than 100 degree Fahrenheit ambient temperature. They wanted to redesign their lighting system with a long-term solution for optimum efficiency and minimal maintenance.
March 23, 2014My T12 Lights Still Work – Why should I replace them?
Since 2005, starting with T12 magnetic ballasts, T12 lighting technologies have been slowly phased out. On July 14, 2012 the manufacturing of T12 lamps ceased for distribution. Along with the final phase out date came the end of some of the sweet-spot utility rebates that were being offered to utility customers who upgraded from inefficient T12 lighting to something better, like T8 or T5 lamps and ballasts.
February 23, 2014How do I get a rebate for my lighting project?
Eligible “projects” can range from installing a high-efficiency water heater in your home to completely revamping the HVAC system in your factory. In this case, we’re going to discuss rebates for energy-efficient lighting upgrades because we think they are one of the most important efficiency measures you can take.
January 23, 2014Lighting a Building Exterior: Secure, Efficient & Well Designed
Are you positive you aren’t over-lighting, wasting energy and polluting the night sky with extra light? There is a fine line to stride when it comes to designing the best exterior lighting system for your building.
October 23, 2013
Preparing A Hazardous Waste Management Plan
Disposing of Hazardous Waste is a time consuming, detail oriented process. Many of the chemicals listed above are not common recycling items. If you are unfamiliar with the chemicals you need recycled, it is likely that you are unfamiliar with the handling, packaging, and transportation regulations to dispose them.
September 23, 2013Mercury Spills & How To Safely Handle Mercury Waste
Because of the dangers mercury waste poses to the environment and the health of others, the Department of Transportation has regulated how it must be transported. The main focus when transporting mercury is containment. There are some packaging and handling guidelines in effect to help prevent spills.
July 23, 2013Understanding Mercury Waste & Mercury Recycling Process
While we have found safer uses and have been able to reduce the amount of mercury required to create a viable product, as is the case with fluorescent lamps, that does not mean it is any less dangerous. The harmful effects of mercury are still present and it must be handled, stored, transported and recycled carefully.
June 23, 2013Four Things You Must Know to Responsibly Recycle Your Electronics
When you are finished with a computer you should make sure your information is no longer accessible and that the hazardous materials in the equipment are properly handled. This is why it is especially important to responsibly recycle e-waste with a trusted, certified recycler.
June 23, 2013MUST HAVE: Hazardous Waste Recycling Resource Guide
We’ve compiled this helpful Hazardous Waste Recycling Resource Guide as a way to keep some important reference information at hand when you are looking to learn more about hazardous waste disposal in Minnesota.
May 23, 2013Fluorescent Lamp Recycling: Small amounts of mercury, big hazard
Many states have required recycling of all fluorescent lamps. While it is not yet a nationwide law, the EPA recommends that all types of fluorescent lamps be disposed of as if they are a hazardous waste.
May 23, 20137 Great Energy Saving Tips You Can Use Today
We talk a lot about how businesses can start saving energy and resources by retrofitting their lighting systems. This can seem like a humongous project if you aren’t a business owner, or if you aren’t the person at your company who is responsible for finding this type of savings opportunity.
May 23, 2013Safety & Savings: Parking Ramp Lighting Retrofits
There really should be a funnier punch line to the joke, “how many lighting contractors does it take to change a light bulb?” – But in all honesty, every single lighting contractor you talk to will likely have a different answer for how to save energy and reduce your overhead.
April 23, 2013Parking Ramp Lighting Retrofit Case Study
This client qualified for more than$23,000 in utility rebate incentive when they upgraded. They now have better light quality in their facility, increased safety for their patrons, and they are saving money and resources at the same time!
April 23, 20135 Ways to Control Lighting for Maximum Energy Savings
These five ways to control lighting for maximum energy savings are all relatively easy to implement alongside your lighting upgrade to increase savings, but most of them can also be installed or carried out after a lighting project is completed.
April 23, 2013When Are Your Fluorescent Lights Being Discontinued?
While the discontinued products may no longer be manufactured, they can still be sold until existing supplies are gone. In the meantime, consumers are likely to pay a premium for the lamps themselves, but also more in utility costs because these technologies use more energy. If you are using these lamps, it’s a great time to consider lighting efficiency projects.
March 23, 2013Warehouse Retrofit Case Study: Why more lights aren’t always better
In today’s business climate, consumers require their products and materials faster than ever. Factories and manufacturers must meet this demand in all industries while keeping employees safe and continuing to provide quality products. How then, can a factory or a manufacturer remain competitive, contain costs and retain productive employees, all while being lean and green?
March 23, 2013