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Illumitex, founded in 2005, is a trusted solutions provider in American-made horticultural and industrial LED lighting, offering superior products and services from highly skilled growers and horticulturists.
Educational articles can be found at www.illumitex.com/horticulture
Growers need to accurately predict the economics and cost of ownership for one lighting system over another. The simple payback calculation determines how many years are needed until the two systems are equivalent to each other regarding cost and when cash positive savings begin.
Initial Cost Difference
The initial cost difference indicates the difference in upfront capital investment for each system of light fixtures including additional costs for installation. For example, the Power Harvest uses a fan for cooling. Other LED systems may require water cooling and a recirculating system (pumps, lines, filtering, etc.) that will add to the cost of installation. Depending on the building and space, there may be additional infrastructure or wires required for one system over another.
Annual Cost Savings
The annual cost savings involves several parameters related to the annual energy consumption and maintenance required for each light system. A benefit of LED lights is the longevity and lack of maintenance required over their lifetime as well as the decreased amount of energy needed for light generation and HVAC cooling.
Simple Payback Time
The payback time is application-specific and will depend on the growers’ crops, photoperiod and electricity rate. In a recent whitepaper published on Illumitex’s website, the NeoSol DS has a payback of 1.91 years and the Power Harvest W 10 is 1.53 years.
