The switch from metal halide to LED technology at the manufacturing plant of Penn Elcom is saving the company a whopping 70% in ongoing electricity running costs.
Flightcase and loudspeaker component manufacturer and steel fabricator Penn Elcom has converted all the lighting fixtures in its St Leonards-On-Sea, East Sussex, UK factory and offices to energy efficient, low carbon LED light sources which have been supplied by CLD Distribution, also based in East Sussex.
The switch from metal halide to LED technology at the plant is saving Penn Elcom a whopping 70% in ongoing electricity running costs.
Based on a 253-day working year, with the production lines running 24 hours a day, Penn – which distributes its products worldwide – was using around 272025 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity before the new installation. Now, that figure has been dramatically reduced to 68,006 kWh, representing a saving of over £18,000 a year and nearly 100 tonnes of carbon.
Lamp specialist CLD Distribution offers a comprehensive and innovative range of high quality architectural, commercial and industrial LED light sources aimed at installations in multiple sectors, including factories like Penn’s, all types of public spaces, buildings, offices, retail outlets, to name a few.
CLD has collaborated closely with lamp manufacturer Osram for several years to produce superior light sources, and has a specialist team of LED consultants on hand to assess and assist with organisations and companies wanting to increase the energy-efficiency of their operations and reduce their carbon footprints.
Penn Elcom approached CLD to advise on a solution which has brought many other benefits, including a better quality of working light, and a massive decrease in long-term running costs such as maintenance. The LED sources are extremely robust and have an impressive longevity of over 50,000 hours (compared to about 8000 hours for metal halide lamps) and so will rarely need replacing.
The new LED installation is the extension of a wider energy-reduction scheme at Penn Elcom being implemented by chairman Roger Willems. This was activated in 2011 when the office and factory heating was transformed from traditional gas to renewable sources.
“I am absolutely delighted with the results of the new lighting scheme,” he enthuses. “It is important for businesses to improve their sustainability. Apart from the great value this also brings, my 60 staff can all benefit from increased light levels – in some areas by 250% due to the output of the LEDs – and a far greater quality of light in their working environments.”
It is a well proven that light can contribute significantly to people’s feelings and perceptions of well-being and happiness. With a colour temperature of 6000-6500K, the new LED sources provide a natural daylight hue that is far more comfortable to the human eye than the 5200K of the metal halide sources.
Rob Platt, MD of CLD Distribution comments: “Penn Elcom wanted to reduce their energy consumption and continue providing good working light levels, and it was extremely satisfying to be able to help them achieve both these goals.”
The majority of the light sources installed at Penn Elcom are from CLD’s 100W High Bay LED range. These offer an easy-maintenance, lead- and mercury-free option, they are retro-fittable for quick and easy installation, and are a direct replacement for metal halide and sodium high bays in the same style. They have an instant start/stop and are manufactured using Osram LEDs and a custom heat-sink for excellent heat-management.
CLD’s LED High Bays have an estimated lifespan of 50,000 hours and a Lumen Maintenance of 70 (L70). As they are capable of instant switch on/off, in combination with motion sensors, they can provide big energy savings when spaces are unoccupied, a feature not possible with the previous technology.
