This is Chris Matt, Managing Editor of Print & E-Media with Maintenance Solutions magazine.

Today's tip is maintenance tips for lighting systems.

Comprehensive maintenance of lighting systems can provide hidden treasures for institutional
and commercial facilities. Managers can schedule technicians not the commissioning agent
to perform several key procedures to ensure the optimum performance of the lighting system,
including:
Use correct replacement lamps. While all four-foot fluorescent tubes might look alike, they
can have different performance characteristics.
Clean fixtures annually. A fixture's output can diminish by 10 percent a year just from dust
accumulation, even in a relatively clean environment.
Verify other replacement components match the original. New ballasts, transformers and
drivers at least should have the same performance characteristics.
Ensure all ballasts have a published ballast factor. Maintenance and engineering managers
can use it as a multiplier to determine whether a lamp actually will produce the predicted
amount of light.
Check dimming pre-sets periodically. This step can help verify they meet original
performance requirements.
Check scene pre-sets to assure they meet original requirements. Dimming systems have
pre-sets that, once set, rarely need changing. If that is the case, locking them either
mechanically or electronically will prevent system problems.

Design engineers are busy people, and using shorthand techniques to turn out
specifications is widely accepted. But there's a danger in applying quick and
easy methods too often. If we're not careful, they become the accepted norm,
without any real reason.
One particularly significant example of this is the use of 0.8 as the maintenance
factor (MF) when calculating LED lighting specifications. In fact, this has become
something of an elephant in the room where lighting design is concerned the
problem is there, and we all know it. But we have yet to tackle this issue headon.
Maintenance factors deal with the fact that lighting installations will gradually
reduce the amount of light they provide over a number of years, due to lumen
depreciation, dirt, failures and so on. The MF is a percentage of the total light
output at the start of the installation life, to which the output may eventually
fall. It tells you how much you need to increase the light level at the start, in
order to stay above the required level over the lifetime of the installation.

Thus, if the required light level over the lifetime of the project is 500lx, and the
maintenance factor is set at 0.8 (or 80 per cent), then in order to maintain
lighting at the level required, an initial 625lx should be installed to the space.
Here are the 10 things every lighting professional needs to know about
maintenance factors:

1. Maintenance factors are recognised as crucial by the

industry
Maintenance factors are an important consideration in the planning of lighting
installations. The Society of Light & Lightings Code for Lighting states that: The
lighting scheme should be designed with an overall maintenance factor
calculated for the selected lighting equipment, environment and specified
maintenance schedule.

2. An MF of 0.8 is not suitable for every project

Although 0.8 is a useful rule of thumb, its an arbitrary figure, and there is no
reason why it should be used on every lighting installation project. Every project
is different so the maintenance factor should be altered to suit the
circumstances and the lighting technology being used.
If we consider what the key elements that go into the MF are, then we see a
number of factors make up the final figure. The formula for the overall
maintenance factor for indoor lighting is:
MF = (LLMF x LSF) x LMF x RMF
LLMF : lamp lumen maintenance factor
LSF : lamp survival factor
LMF : luminaire maintenance factor
RMF : room maintenance factor
SMF: surface maintenance factor

3. The lamp lumen

important for LED

maintenance

factor

is

particularly

Factors such as RMF and SMF are affected by the location of the luminaires
whether an industrial warehouse or an office, for example. This would in turn
affect the LMF in terms of dust-build up, which has an effect on light levels.
Pollution levels for the luminaire and space can be viewed in the same way for
LEDs as they would be for fluorescent lighting dust and dirt will affect the
quality of output from both.

However, with LED lighting the LLMF is particularly significant, and so is its
impact on the overall maintenance factor. LEDs have a very long service life in
fact, it is highly likely that an office would be refurbished before the LED lighting
required replacement.

4. Service life is key to the calculation in terms of energy

use and cost
When specifying LEDs it is therefore very important to indicate the service life
used in calculations because it will lead to decisions on the initial light level and
the number of installed luminaires. This will greatly affect the amount of lighting
required and therefore have an impact on both capital and operational costs.
The power and lifetime of an LED is generally expressed as something like:
L80 B10 50,000 hours at 25C. Here, L is the service life; B is the gradual failure;
and h is the hours of service life referred to.

5. The products may outlive the scheme theyre installed in

Having an accurate LLMF in order to find the correct maintenance factor for a
lighting project has other benefits in terms of planning for client requirements.
For example, with such extended LED lifetimes available, clients may want to
consider if they need a 50,000-hour life in their lighting system.
Why plan for 12 to 15 years of operation, if the client is only taking on a sevenyear lease for an office space? By changing this value, the LLMF will be altered
and the amount of light and number of luminaires could be greatly reduced. This
will save the client money in the short- and long-term.

6. Comparing like-with-like is very important for designers

and end users
One of the main challenges for those who plan lighting installations is that it is
difficult to compare like-for-like when specifying.
For example, we find office luminaires that may be L80 B10 50,000 hours at
25oC all the way down to L70 B50 30,000h at 25oC. Whats more, the lack of
consistency in comparative figures makes it difficult for clients to make a clear
comparison.
Clearly, a lot of information needs to be gathered together in order to formulate
an accurate maintenance factor.

7. New standards can help with comparisons

Some very useful sources of information have been developed for use across
Europe to help lighting specifiers find the right figure quickly. One of these is the
ENEC+ organisation which is developing standards for the validation of the
lifetime and performance of LED-based products. The aim is to give users of the
products confidence that what they are specifying and purchasing will perform
as stated. The ENEC+ mark will also standardise the use of L and B factors,
making direct comparisons much easier.
Another organisation that has carried out in-depth research in this field is ZVEI, a
European body for the electrotechnical and lighting industries. It has produced a
guide to reliable planning with LED lighting.

8. Just because the MF is above 0.8 doesnt mean its wrong

Clients are right to be suspicious of high maintenance factor figures. But just
because its higher than 0.8 doesnt make it wrong.
Designers at the early stages of a project, whether new-build or refurbishment,
often work without all the information. Some intelligent approximations are to be
expected. However, with a standardised method for verifying LLMF and LSF
available, and also guidance on how to compare these directly, there is no
reason to use 0.8 because it has always been done that way.
Too often, designs that use an accurate maintenance factor of 0.88 can be
returned with a request to use 0.8, even though that is an incorrect figure. This
encourages the practice and should be stopped.

9. Poor design and overspeccing wastes the benefits of LEDs

As the SLL Code for Lighting points out: The MF has a great impact on energy
efficiency. If we specify too much lighting at the start of a project because of
inaccurate maintenance factors, then the client will pay for that heavily through
their electricity bills.
It has often been said that in the world of energy saving, lighting is the lowhanging fruit could this be because it has been over-specified too often and
for too long?

Jamie Yates leads business development for LED lighting at Trilux

10. We can all make things better

Manufacturers like Trilux are working to provide clear information on its products
by engaging with projects such as ENEC+ and ZVEI. Designers should move
away from applying 0.8 universally and treat each project as a one-off. And
clients need to look carefully at the costs for lighting and make their
requirements clear. Over-specifying is already a problem in other areas of
building services such as pumps and fans. There is no need for lighting to take
the same route.
Your business should practice basic maintenance strategies between professional visits including:
o

Cleaning dust off fixtures, lamps, and lenses every 6 to 24 months. Tip: Never clean an
incandescent bulb while it is turned on. If the cloth is damp, the cooling effect of the liquid may shatter
the hot bulb.
Replace lenses if they appear yellow.

o
o

Clean or repaint small rooms every year and larger rooms every 2-3 years because the dirt
collected on these surfaces could reduce the amount of light they reflect.
Consider group light replacement. Common lamps lose up to 30 percent of light output over their
service life. Replacing all the lamps in a lighting system at the same time saves labor, keeps
illumination high, and avoids stressing ballasts with dying lamps.

Lighting Maintenance Policies

A lighting maintenance policy is a set of written procedures designed to serve as a guideline, not only for
everyday maintenance practices, but for optimizing lighting systems on a year-round basis.
Elements of an effective maintenance policy include:
o
Blueprints of the facility
o
Fixture and lighting controls schedule
o
Equipment and service provider sources and contacts, including utility contacts
o
Fixture cleaning and relamping schedule with service tracking log
o
Procedures for relamping, reballasting, and cleaning fixtures
o
Procedures for the adjustment of controls and occupancy sensors
o
An overview of proper lamp and ballast disposal

Replacing Lights and Fixtures

Replacing lights and fixtures is an essential part of lighting system maintenance. There are two types of
replacement: spot and group replacement. Spot replacement is replacing lamps as they burn out, and is
the most commonly used technique in traditional maintenance programs. Group replacement is replacing
a set of lamps all at once.
Lighting maintenance can play a large role in reducing energy use. Worldwide Energy offers a variety
of maintenance options.

ghting in commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) buildings is often the largest
single user of electrical energy. The purpose of buildings is to support the work and
leisure activities that they were designed to house. Lighting enables them to fulfill
this mission. Lighting systems convert electrical energy into light energy effectively,
efficiently, and safely. A lighting systems ability to make this conversion over the
life of the building goes beyond design and initial installation. Lighting systems
must be maintained and upgraded if they are to continue to meet the customers
needs. This article addresses the need for an effective lighting maintenance
program.Lighting design assumes regular maintenance

Lighting systems are designed assuming that they will be maintained on a regular
basis. No matter how good the original design, luminaires, and installation are, the
quality and quantity of light will deteriorate with time. Lighting designers and
manufacturers assume that the lighting system will be maintained in accordance
with their design assumptions and recommendations. These assumptions are
factored into the lighting design in three ways: lamp burnout, lamp lumen
depreciation, and luminaire dirt depreciation.

Each of these three light loss factors is considered recoverable, because an effective
lighting maintenance program can mitigate its impact.

Lamp burnout (LBO). The purpose of considering LBO is to compensate for burned
out lamps that will not be changed out for long periods of time while the activity
that is carried out in the space continues. If the facility has a good lighting
maintenance program and burned-out lamps are replaced soon after they are
reported, then lamp burnout should not be a design factor.

Lamp lumen depreciation (LLD). The light output of a lamp decreases gradually
over its life; LLD addresses this loss in the lighting system design. Lamp
manufacturers can provide LLD information about each type of lamp. LLD is an
important factor when developing a lighting maintenance program for a CII facility.

Luminaire dirt depreciation (LDD). LDD is intended to compensate for light loss
caused by dirt buildup on both the inside and outside of a luminaire. Lighting fixture
manufacturers can provide information on LDD for their fixtures. Those luminaires
that are susceptible to dirt buildup will require more frequent cleaning to maintain
the design light level than others do.

Mismatch between design assumptions and actual maintenance

There can be a mismatch between the designers assumptions about maintenance

and the facilitys actual lighting maintenance program. If significant, these
differences can have a material impact on both the operating cost and performance
of the lighting system. The lighting designers assumptions regarding maintenance
of the lighting installation will determine the number of luminaires used, which
directly impacts the lighting systems operation and maintenance cost.

If the lighting designer assumes a better lighting maintenance program than the
customer will implement, fewer luminaires may be called for in the design and the
needed quality and quantity of light will not be maintained over time. Burned-out
lamps, dirty fixtures, and old lamps will result in significantly reduced light output
that can impact employee productivity and morale. On the other hand, if the
customers lighting maintenance program is better than what the designer
assumed, the lighting system may be overdesigned. This increased number of
lighting fixtures will not only result in greater first cost than necessary but also
increased energy and maintenance costs over the life of the lighting system.

Routine lighting maintenance

Routine lighting maintenance is aimed at overcoming the impact of lamp burnout,

lamp lumen depreciation, and luminaire dirt depreciation. It consists of two
activities: cleaning and relamping.

Cleaning. Lamps, lenses, and reflectors should be cleaned on a regular basis in

accordance with manufacturer recommendations. The cleaning interval depends on
the rate at which dirt collects on these surfaces, which is determined by the design
of the luminaire and its operating environment. Paragraph 15-2.1 of National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) 70B recommends periodic light meter readings be
made and cleaning intervals be established when light levels drop between 15 and
20 percent corrected for lamp lumen depreciation.

Relamping. As lamps age, their light output decreases. Since each lamps life
expectancy is different, the number of burnouts and group replacement intervals
will vary. There are two general lamp replacement strategies: spot relamping and
group relamping.

Spot relamping. Spot relamping waits until a lamp fails before replacing it and is a
run-to-failure maintenance strategy when used exclusive of group relamping.
Basing a facilitys lighting maintenance program on spot relamping is not typically
the best strategy. Replacing only burned-out lamps when they fail is inefficient
because lamp failure is random and increases with age. This results in electricians

being continually on the move replacing lamps and disrupting the activity in the
space where they are working.

Group relamping. Group relamping involves the replacement of all similar lamps in
a building or area at about 70 to 80 percent of their rated average life. Group
relamping is a preventive maintenance strategy where lamps are replaced before
they fail and require spot relamping. Group relamping is often economical and
desirable in many commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Group
relamping balances the cost of disposing of a lamp that has remaining life with the
cost of replacing individually failed lamps on an ongoing basis.

Other factors to be considered

A number of other factors should be considered as part of an ongoing lighting

maintenance program. These factors go beyond routine lighting maintenance but
are extremely important. These factors include the repeated failure of individual
lighting system components, changes in the space being lit, out-of-tolerance system
voltages, and the operation of lighting controls. Effective lighting maintenance
programs should address all of these factors as well. Services the electrical
contracting firm can provide its customer to address these factors include the
regular review and analysis of the lighting system performance; the repositioning
and adjustment of accent lighting when space layout and lighting needs change, the
monitoring power quality and its impact on lighting, and maintaining and upgrading
lighting controls as required.

Keeping your customer up to date

Considering the lighting system as part of the overall power distribution system, it is
safe to say that no other part of the distribution system is so dynamic or visible. The
lighting system is high profile, both from an energy usage and aesthetic standpoint.
There is ongoing product innovation and improvement by lighting fixture and lamp
manufacturers. These improvements address the light quality, energy use,
maintainability, and flexibility of the lighting system. The electrical contracting firm
is the link between its customer and the lighting manufacturer. Through this
important link, the electrical contractor can assist its customer by calling attention
to advances in lighting equipment and technology that could benefit the customer

by reducing operation and maintenance costs or improving lighting quality, which

can increase employee productivity and enhance sales.

Developing a lighting maintenance program

Developing an effective lighting maintenance program requires a partnership

between the electrical contractor and the customer. One size does not fit all. The
electrical contracting firm should start with an evaluation of the customers existing
lighting system and lighting maintenance program. From there, the electrical
contracting firm should develop options based on the customers operations and
space usage. These options should include not only routine maintenance but also
lighting system changes and upgrades that will improve the performance and
effectiveness of the lighting system. In the end, the costs and benefits of each
option need to be quantified and presented to the customer for his or her
evaluation. There is no right lighting maintenance program for a particular
customer. Selecting a lighting maintenance program is like any business decision, in
that it is balancing a number of quantitative and qualitative factors and selecting
the best given current knowledge and circumstances. This is why the lighting
maintenance program should not be static. It should, instead, be reviewed and
reevaluated on a regular basis.

Acknowledgement

This article is the result of ongoing research into the development of service
contracting business by electrical contracting firms sponsored by the Electrical
Contracting Foundation, Inc. The author would like to thank the foundation for its
continuing support.

Dr. GLAVINICH is Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering at The

University of Kansas. He can be reached at (785) 864-3435 or
tglavinich@ukans.edu.