London hotel takes action to reduce lighting costs

To achieve a significant reduction in lighting costs, the 4-star Riverbank Plaza hotel in London has installed lighting sensors from Steinel. When the hotel was built about a year ago, sensors were not installed. However, to save energy and reduce costs, the management consulted lighting experts, who advised that installing sensors and energy-saving lamps would significantly reduce costs. Steinel worked with the hotel’s chief engineer, Dave Bell, to provide a solution. Sensors with high-frequency or PIR sensor technology have been installed in many areas — including all public rooms, meeting rooms and back-of-house areas where staff may not switch off lights at the end of their shifts. Sensors in the staff areas enable lights to be automatically switched on and off when needed. Alternatively, the twilight threshold can be adjusted as required. The RS Pro 1000 sensor lights have concealed sensors and offer greater precision and speed than infra-red sensors. They operate luminaires with two 18 W low-energy lamps and two separate electronic ballasts. They offer bidirectional networking using wireless modules that plug into the luminaires. There are 32 channels, so buildings with complex network groups can be easily set up. To further improve running costs and energy consumption, Steinel’s sensors have been used with Megaman’s GU10 7 W energy-efficient lamps. These compact fluorescent reflector lamps provide a low-energy alternative to 30 W halogen lamps and have 15% longer life. These lamps are installed in bedrooms and bedroom corridors. Dave Bell tells us, ‘Installing the sensors has resulted in many savings other than electricity costs. It has also extended our lamp life, which means they are not having to be replaced so frequently, reducing maintenance costs and undue waste.’

Related links:

• www.steinel.de