The following article about Miller Lighting Products appeared in the June 27th Phoenix Business Journal by Patrick O’Grady.

A Phoenix lighting supply company is pushing forward with new technologies in hopes of illuminating a path to money and energy savings.

Miller Lighting Products Inc. (www.millerlightingproducts.com) is branching out to help customers craft more eco-friendly options to decrease the energy used and increase brightness. The new line of Miller Eco Lighting Products (www.millerecolighting.com) includes ubiquitous compact fluorescent lights, new light-emitting diodes and induction lighting, which traces its history back to the late 1800s. The products represent the latest evolution in energy-saving techniques available for adoption by businesses.

Efficient lighting will last years instead of months while lowering the amount companies pay to keep them on, said Gil Miller, the company’s president.

“The issue right now is, they’re expensive,” he said.

Fitting a company with better lighting can be challenging. The cost of the newer lights might be more than what companies are used to paying, but the return on investment can make up the difference quickly, Miller said.

“These might retail for $30 to $50,” he said of some of the smaller LED lights. “But we’re going to replace 50 watts with 3 to 5 watts.”

Lowering the wattage brings energy bills down. Once the lights are paid for, those savings can be applied to a company’s bottom line year after year, Miller said.

The family-owned business has operated for 33 years, but only recently started retrofitting companies’ lighting systems.

It’s a change in the market that will see equipment sell for higher prices as early adopters of the technology jump on board. But as the prices drop, Miller representative Tom Herman said he expects the new light models to follow the same trend as compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, which have dropped dramatically in price since they were introduced.

“You go to the store and buy these compact fluorescents (for a few dollars), and two years ago they were $20 apiece,” Herman said.

Switching to CFLs can save a business up to 75 percent on electric bills, and induction and LED lighting offer similar options, said Wayne Dobberpuhl, a senior engineer with Arizona Public Service Co.

Dobberpuhl is the project manager for APS Solutions for Businesses, a program that offers an array of techniques to help businesses lower their energy consumption, ranging from upgrading their heating and cooling systems to changing their lighting. The program offers daylong seminars on ways to conserve energy and lists recommended technologies that have been tested by experts for various applications.

“I think companies are more into it because they’re trying to be more green, and they’re trying to save money,” Dobberpuhl said.

Both APS and Salt River Project offer rebates for choosing energy-efficient lighting and for making other improvements to lower energy consumption. The programs offered by utilities have helped the lighting industry in general as businesses realize they can save money in the long run by using different products, Herman said.

One example is a 400-watt induction light that can replace the 1,000-watt lights currently used in parking lots and garages, Miller said. And at between 80,000 and 100,000 hours of life for each light, it’s equal to getting about 9 to 11 years of continuous use, he said.

Changing lights is an easy step, and in the face of ever-increasing energy bills, it gives companies another option to lower their costs — or at least keep them level, said Rocky Bakal, manager of Miller’s Eco Lighting team.

“The fact is, electric bills have gone up 26 percent in the past three years, so you have to conserve,” he said.

Miller Lighting Products Inc.: www.millerlightingproducts.com.

Arizona Public Service Co. Solutions for Business: www.aps-solutionsforbusiness.com/projectcenter.

Salt River Project PowerWise Business Solutions: www.srpnet.com/energy/powerwise/business.

LIGHTING FACTS

Businesses have several options for lights, all of which can save energy depending on the application:

Induction lighting: Invented in the late 1800s by Nikola Tesla, it uses electromagnetic fields to generate reactions within the bulb to produce light.

Light-emitting diode: Also known as LED, this technology creates white light through semiconductor material.

Compact fluorescent lights: Also known as CFLs, these are a twist on the standard tube fluorescent lights that can be manufactured in a variety of forms for numerous applications.