Installers can generate new business and make energy and cost savings with LED technology, says Ashwin Lal, director of Teesside-based Visual Security Systems.
Security installers and managers are increasingly turning to LEDs for use in a whole new area: general site lighting. The move is being driven by the energy and cost savings that can be achieved using LED lighting. These savings are potentially huge, and with energy prices rising they will become increasingly important. Security system designers have become very familiar with the savings that LED lighting can offer, thanks to their work with CCTV illumination (both Infra-Red and White-Light). Due to their inherent low power consumption, LED technology from specialist lighting manufacturers offers users benefits such as significant energy savings, longer life (ten years), lower running costs and zero maintenance compared to alternative lighting.
Trend
The trend now is to take these benefits beyond security โ and the potential for new installations and cost savings in the general White-Light market is immense.
We are now seeing installers, who have previously proved their competence to customers by delivering complex, specialist security systems, being trusted to specify and install general lighting too; this is something that installation company Visual Security Systems have gained a significant level of expertise in over the past few years.
Green project
Perhaps the most impressive example has been the recent transformation of external lighting at the University of North Tees Hospital UK, where its old unreliable and energy-hungry lighting was upgraded to new Raytec energy efficient LED technology. This project is one of the first on this scale in the NHS, and the results are impressive. Based on power consumption and life time of the Raytec LED products, the Trust is set to save an estimated 40 tonnes of CO2 per year. With 70 per cent power savings the trust will also recoup up to £8000 a year on running costs and maintenance and £80,000 over the next ten years, in addition improving the quality of lighting in its car parks and other key areas.
Most importantly, the whole project was conceived and delivered by security people.
Visual Security Systems have worked with Raytec for a number of years in supplying IR LED lighting for various CCTV projects, including North Tees Hospital itself. With the growing popularity of White-Light LED technology in the security industry, Visual Security Systems saw the opportunity for improved performance and savings from the hospitalโs exterior general lighting system proposed a full upgrade to the trustโs Head of Facility Management, Richard Speight.
LEDs
Visual worked with Raytecโs White-Light division and design team to create and present a detailed lighting design and energy saving report for the potential new solution, and were invited to put in a trial system so that the benefits could be evaluated. The trial was successful and the full installation was given the go-ahead based on the savings made. In one year this trial alone recouped £1142 a year on electricity and maintenance costs, as well as saving five tonnes of CO2 on only three lighting points. As a result of expanding into the general lighting market, Visual Security Systems have significantly increased their expertise and now have the practical and technical knowledge needed to target new business in this new field.
Old versus new
The North Tees project provides a great illustration of how these upgrades can work. In this case the installer presented the Trust with a practical way to reduce the high running and maintenance costs from their 95 old external lights, which were not only energy hungry but also unreliable. The 250W and 400W metal halide car park lighting had a high rate of failure and the 70W sodium lighting surrounding the hospital ring roads had poor, dull colour rendition and was very slow to start. Crucially the lighting was uneven and created a dark and unsafe environment for the people and vehicles on site. In a project where safety and security was paramount, Raytecโs energy efficient, reliable and quick-start White-Light illuminators including the new RAYLUX Urban (multipurpose down lighting range) proved an ideal solution to create a safer more evenly lit environment for general area illumination or commercial lighting requirements. The cool white colour rendition of the new units along with the even light spread allowed the site camera system to achieve better surveillance images during the hours of darkness. As well as visible White-Light deterring crime, excellent CCTV images are crucial for judicial purposes.
