Lighting solution at bus maintenance facility

Saving energy and maintenance costs

State Transit - Sydney Buses recently installed an EELC lighting system to replace the standard ‘power-hungry’ high-bay lights used at its bus maintenance facility in Burwood. Replacing 75 standard 400 W high-bay lights with the EELC 1248A_3LT8 light fittings, the new system has reduced power consumption by approximately 100,000 kWh pa and provided significant maintenance-cost savings.

“Maintenance staff were very happy with the improved lighting and functionality of the [EELC] system, and management were impressed with the 110-tonne annual emissions reduction and the two-year return on investment,” said State Transit’s Regional Fleet Manager, Ken Dewhurst.

Currently in Australia, bell-shaped 400 W HID high-bay lights are the most common type of light fitting installed in industrial facilities including: factories, distribution centres, superstores, indoor sporting venues and other similar facilities. Although inexpensive to purchase, HID lighting can often make up a substantial proportion of a business’s annual electricity costs. Other drawbacks include long warm-up and restrike times, and rapidly diminishing light output over the life of the lamp. Depending on hours of operation, HID high- and low-bay light globes often require replacement after less than 12 months in service in order to maintain compliance with minimum light-level requirements.

The EELC range of light fittings is specifically designed for commercial and industrial lighting applications. It includes energy-efficient replacements for standard (HID) high- and low-bay lights and office fluorescent systems. The EELC high-output high bay with an average power consumption of just 285 W is claimed to be able to provide significant energy savings compared to an HID high bay.

Apart from the energy savings and carbon emission reductions, the EELC high- and low-bay lighting system can provide other benefits including: good light quality; fast start-up and restrike time resulting in improved functionality; long effective lamp life due to slower lumen depreciation; low maintenance costs due to lamps lasting longer; and increased expansion capacity due to reduced electrical load created by the system.

“It’s time Australia caught up with the rest of the world and ‘mothballed’ the 50-year-old inefficient HID technology still used in the vast majority of standard high- and low-bay lights. Viable energy-efficient alternatives have been available in the US and Europe for over 15 years and are now one of the most cost-effective investments Australian businesses can make,” said Energy Efficient Lighting Company CEO Mat Fear.