#79 Save lighting costs with David Emslie

Do you want to save lighting costs? David Emslie shows us how easy it is when you apply the latest technology business lighting solutions. But, even with a proposition that is a "no brainer" for the client David still finds marketing the solution one of his biggest challenges. David talks us through both his solution to save lighting costs and his answer to the marketing challenge. David Emslie provides lighting solutions. He started Novalux LED four years ago. He noted the lighting industry was ripe for massive change. New technology was 5 or 6 times more efficient than existing products. The opportunity to help businesses save lighting costs is huge. Nova = new Lux = light. Very clever! Save lighting costs with David Emslie from Novalux LED Ltd. LED lighting is still relatively new. White light is now available in new products of commercial lights. Everything from offices to football stadiums. There is a lot of businesses who simply have not realised the benefits. In 2015, the UK market penetration of commercial buildings was 7%, with forecasts of demand rising to 75% by 2020. That is an awful lot of lights. There is an enormous opportunity to build a significant business. The life of bulbs is far longer. LEDs often have a 5-year warranty, with a 50,000-hour lifetime (20 years). Compare fluorescent tubes burning out every year or so. So, they are vastly better value and energy saving. David works out the PAYBACK point. Normally for solar it is within 10 years. LEDs are no longer than 3 years. David discussed a client making a payback in 11 months. The potential to save lighting costs is huge. So why aren’t people clamouring to install LED lights into their businesses? People aren’t aware. People are only starting to add this domestically. Old lights produce way too much heat! LEDs operate at a much lower temperature. The filament and halogens and floodlights operate on a heat basis. David says they are NOT lights they are heaters. The energy they generate comes out as heat. Halogens operate at 240 centigrade – 2.5x boiling point. So, old technology are heaters with a side-effect of light. LEDs have electronic components deliberately designed to create light. It is a light source with a small amount of heat as a side-effect. Massively more energy efficient. Too many lights on in summer, it gets fantastically hot and stuffy. So, you need air conditioning. Which means you are using more energy to take away the heat generated by old fashioned lighting. What’s a typical lighting scenario for a small business? Say, an office with 50 people and a small warehouse or retail unit at the front. Maybe their electricity bill is £30,000 a year. By fitting LEDs, you could reduce this by £12,000. To complete the install, it would probably cost around £25,000. So yes, there is a capital outlay. From an investment point of view, the business would realise a saving of around £12k for 15 years = £180k for and investment of £25k or an ROI above 7 at least. Isn’t there a compelling case to save lighting costs? Of course, but businesses still need to find the capital. David has 6 different finance companies who are queuing up to lend to businesses looking for this investment. Example, lease on job £600 versus an immediate saving of £1,000 per month. So even with financing, businesses can immediately realise a saving. No deposit, no capital, make the change and start saving money. No brainer? - Yes, But there are some common issues Not heard of it Is this a scam? (Of course not!) Too good to be true. Existing lights are not broken so I don’t need to change them. There is a significant marketing challenge. The proposition is really appealing. So, what does David need to do to create momentum with his audience? People don’t call him to say they are ready to invest. When he approaches them, they are taken with the argument that they save money, energy and carbon.