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ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHTING
Recently, Players Indoor Sports Center has invested in new
lighting that has already resulted in significant savings.
Maxine received a letter from the city that the facility's electric
bill, which was already very high, would increase. She had already
been contemplating replacing her current lighting system with
energy-saving LEDs.
"For five years, we've had people coming in. When we were
building, the lights were not available."
New lights would, of course, be a huge investment–somewhere
in the neighborhood of $100,000. Maxine wasn't sure whether
the facility was ready for such an investment. After learning the
electric bill would increase by a full 25%, however, she decided
the investment was necessary.
The facility contacted 10 different companies–most of them
electricians that could get LEDs–and obtained several estimates,
which varied widely. "The cost was all over the map," says
Maxine. For a job that, in the end, totaled $120,000 and included
the parking lot lights, the facility received quotes for $200,000,
as well as quotes that estimated the lights themselves at
$60,000 and installation at $70,000. The estimates from
electricians getting their lights off-the-shelf represented a high
installation cost.
Players Indoor Sports went with Cireon, now a USIndoor member,
which custom built lights for the facility. The company also helped
finance the project.
"Of my $120,000, only $10,000 was installation. They weren't
tough to install. Literally, it was take one out, put one in; take
one out, put one in."
Representatives from Cireon brought test lights for the facility's
small field. They adjusted the spread of the lights, made sure
they were strong enough and bright enough.
"They were trying to use the same connections instead of adding
a whole new row of electric. If this were a new building, they
would have the lights closer together, but when we built this
building, the city said we could only use a certain amount of
electricity. The metal halides drew so much, we had them placed
far apart; it wasn't great to start with."
Because the fields at Players Indoor Sports are covered by nets,
other adjustments needed to be made.
According to Maxine, when facility operators are looking at
LED lighting systems, they need to be careful. They need to
investigate whether the lights need to be customized. If the lights
shine through a net, they need to be far enough away for safety,
yet close enough to the field to prevent dark spots. "They don't
shine in big, cone-shaped circles like the metal halides do. These
come down in kind of a square, and if they're not placed just right,
