The Hub Hornby has just finished replacing all of their interior dichroic halogen lights with LED equivalents.
LED lights used to be seen solely on electrical appliances as standby lights. LEDs are known for their low power usage, longevity and robust construction but their usage was restricted to low ambient light situations as their light output was limited.
Of late LED lights have found their way into Christmas decorations and torches. Previously their use in commercial indoor and outdoor lighting situations has been almost nonexistent due to cost, availability and low light output.
The lights installed at The Hub Hornby are the latest generation of high light output LEDs and utilise the same socket so expensive hardware replacements were avoided. Instead of using 50W of power the equivalent LED lights use only 10W. Other benefits include increased lifetime, 25,000 hours compared to 3000 for the halogen lights plus they are only warm to the touch when running compared to the high heat generated by the older style lighting. This reduces the energy used by the Centre’s air-conditioning system.
Centre Operations Manager, Kiri Thomson, says “Whilst these lights represent an initial upfront investment our calculations show that on power savings alone they will pay for themselves in under a year. Previously just about every week we were replacing blown bulbs. Many of these lights are in very high locations and so there was a high cost just to physically get to the light. The savings to the environment will not only come from reduced power consumption but also reduced emissions from electricians vehicles that won’t need to visit the Centre as often.”
The Hub Hornby is the only New Zealand shopping centre with Enviro-mark Silver accreditation.
