RS Components takes dim view on high lighting costs

03 September, 2007

New lighting and controls has halved energy consumption for lighting in the RS Components warehouse at Corby.

The quality of lighting has been significantly improved and energy costs halved in the main distribution centre of RS Components at Corby by upgrading from high-pressure sodium to Venture Lighting’s pulse-start metal-halide lamps and Ventronic dimming system. The original lighting system was 25 years old and used traditional high-bay luminaires with 400 W sodium lamps. Constant failures of lamps and control gear prompted RS Components Engineering to issue a design brief to its preferred electrical contractor Elmac Engineering, which devised the solution. The performance of the new lamps is such that 90% of initial lumen output is still delivered after 10 000 h of operation, and running costs will be half that of a conventional 400 W installation. The luminaires use only 87% power in full operation, owing to the economy-mode setting of the Ventronic system. The new installation delivers an average of 250 lx on the horizontal plane and 350 lx in the vertical plane using luminaires mounted at 15 m. 20 narrow-angle microwave detectors provide a trigger input to the dimming ballasts. Profile 2000 made the luminaires to include Venture high-output pulse-start lamps connected to bespoke gear trays, with Ventronic ballasts mounted nearby. 94 of these luminaires have been installed in the 10 aisles of the warehouse for large items. The microwave detectors monitor activity in the aisles and switch the luminaires to half power when an aisle is not occupied. Lamps achieve full brightness within 2 s, enabling a constant 41.4 kW load with sodium lighting to be reduced to 18.8 kW when the metal-halide lamps are running at minimum power. The success of this installation has encouraged RS Components to consider a similar system in another warehouse area.New lighting and controls has halved energy consumption for lighting in the RS Components warehouse at Corby.

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