Dealing with the Downlight: Australian Residential Lighting Discoveries, Challenges and Future Directions

Historically, Australia’s lighting energy consumption was estimated at between 8% and 15% of the average household electricity budget. Whilst tungsten-incandescent bulbs have been largely eliminated as a result of the introduction of MEPS, Australians have a love affair with 12V halogen downlights - hardly better in efficiency terms. Unfortunately, the extent of this obsession was unknown until recently. In 2010, to fill this knowledge gap, the Australian Government completed two studies:  For the first time, a residential study comprehensively audited Australian home lighting stock. Completed for 150 homes nationally, data on room characteristics, lamp input power, and technology attributes were recorded.  The REMP Pilot covered five Melbourne homes. This monitored a representative crosssection of lights for each house every minute, and the total lighting energy at each switchboard. A rich dataset was generated, allowing for analysis of lighting user interactions, and illuminating the holy grail – lighting hours of use. In the 2000’s, 50 Watt downlights began to dominate the lighting makeup of Australian homes. Due to their narrow beam angle, many are required to light a space, producing increases in lighting energy consumption and cost. In 2011, the Australian lighting industry suggested a lamp power limit be introduced – 37 Watts per lamp, and in 2012, a MEPS was altered to enact this change. The makeup of Australian residential lighting is again changing. LED technologies are rapidly transforming the marketplace and our homes, particularly for downlights, which is reducing overall energy consumption, but generating new policy challenges for lighting in Australia.