Industrial LED lighting upgrade case study

Project Payback

After an extensive high bay lighting technology search, the Tauro Blu LED high bay with tailored lensing delivers on energy savings and light quality for major food manufacturing group.

Savings

Energy: 70%

Electricity: 700,000 kWh p.a. kWh pa

Total: $143,000

Energy & maintenance over 10 years

Project Overview

Lighting energy costs account for approximately 12% of the Central Coast site's total electricity use. Existing high bay lighting was 400W metal halide technology. The site engineering team conducted trials on a wide range of high bay lighting technologies - plasma, induction and dome shaped LED fittings. Performance issues included high glare, power supply failures, low light output or higher energy consumption.

With ambient operating temperature of up to 60 degrees, a high bay luminaire with effective internal heat management was a critical performance requirement.

Testimonial

The introduction of a new light fitting that was relatively new to the market was somewhat of a risk for the business. However our confidence in enLighten Australia, their engineering expertise and their willingness to support the installation, ensured that we were able to take this step to improving the sustainability of our operations. The feedback from our plant personnel has been very positive and we are delighted with the overall result, not to mention the significant reduction in energy costs. We will be certainly recommending these products to others within our wider business.

Project Engineer Mechanical & Utlities

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The Solution

266 3-module (135W) Tauro Blu lights were installed in factory floor, pallet storage, dry goods & packaging line areas. Lighting design services were provided by enLighten Australia. A variety of lensing options were used according to the specific area of use & lighting need. The flexibility of the Tauro Blu light fitting allows for a consistent luminaire solution across all areas with the ability to change lensing due to ceiling height or specific application.

212 10-chip Chamaeleon LED lights replaced twin T8 fluorescent battens in electrical switch rooms, service corridors and spare parts storage areas.

Stage 2 of the lighting retrofit in late 2014 incorporated 38 LED Zorro area lights (165W, 200W and 230W models) replaced 250W and 400W metal halide lighting in the outdoor staff and customer car park. The light fittings were able to be mounted onto existing pole infrastructure via a connector supplied by enLighten Australia.

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Background

The food manufacturing site located on the Central Coast of NSW operates 24 hours per day across three production shifts and produces over 150 products in various formats.

The site has had a long history of energy savings activities, having participated in various Government energy saving programmes since the late 1990s. Within the office area, the former twin T8 36W fluorescent tube fittings were replaced with a single 28W T5 lamp fitting.

Lighting energy costs account for approximately 12% of the site's total electricity use. The site engineering team conducted trials on a wide range of high bay lighting technologies. The results are summarised below:

High bay lighting technology	Wattage	Issue
Dome shaped LED lighting	100 / 150 / 200W	Didn’t have the light output required. Power supply failures were common
Plasma (to replace 4x400w lights)	780W	Too bright, affected operator vision.
Induction	200W	Good light output, colour & intensity. Higher power usage than LED.

Given that the site’s ambient operating temperature reaches up to 60 degrees Celsius, a high bay luminaire with effective internal heat management was a critical performance requirement.

Enter the Tauro Blu LED high bay light

The engineering team were introduced to the Enlighten Australia designed & manufactured luminaire via energy consultants, Energy Action, who produce a monthly energy data report for the site. Energy Action assisted with a successful funding application for the lighting project via the former Australian Government’s Clean Technology Investment Program (CTIP).

The team ran a one for one replacement trial in Feb 2013 with 400W metal halide lighting being replaced by 3 module (135W) Tauro Blu lights in the warehouse & food production areas. A snapshot energy consumption was measured via a data logger placed on the jack chain opposite from the external power pack, together with measurements of light output at work plane.

Trial results

Average lux at workplane	>200 lux
Average reduction in energy usage per fitting	305 watts (69%)

Lighting upgrade project scope

Following the successful high bay lighting trial results, an order was placed for 266 x 3 module Tauro Blu lights. Lighting design services were provided by Enlighten Australia. The installation was carried out in stages between October 2013 & January 2014. The following lensing options were used according to the specific area of use & lighting need. The flexibility of the Tauro Blu light fitting allows for a consistent luminaire solution across all areas with the ability to change lensing due to ceiling height or specific application.

Area	Tailored Lensing (degrees)
Pallet Storage	60/120/60
Factory Floor	60/120/60
Dry goods area	120/60/120
Machine specific - packaging line	60/60/60

From left – Pallet Storage Cetus LED lights in background with existing 400W metal halide lights in foreground, Cetus light in factory floor & Workshop areas

An initial post installation, fault finding physical inspection revealed a 1.5% failure rate of LED drivers/ power packs, which were able to be easily retrofitted due to the Cetus light’s quick connector plug. The light’s design feature of an individual driver per module ensured that where there had been a driver failure, it was isolated to a single module, with light output continuing from the remaining two modules.

The Chamaeleon LED light

In electrical switch rooms, spare parts storage areas & service corridors, 166 standard and 56 emergency Chamaeleon LED lights were installed to replace existing fluorescent tube lighting. The award winning patented Chamaeleon light, also from Enlighten Australia, is designed for areas that are long-lit, including building common areas that have emergency lighting requirements.

The light’s dual circuit design allows for delivery of a standby level of light when an area is unoccupied (average 8.5W), which increases to full light output (average 30W) once a presence is detected via an integral microwave sensor. The Chamaeleon LED light can deliver up to 93% energy savings when replacing twin 36W T8 fluorescent lighting with no controls.

From left – Chamaeleon LED light in standby & full power modes in electrical switch rooms

Project results

The introduction of the Tauro Blu high bay and Chamaeleon light fittings was an integral part of the site's 2013 lighting upgrade project. The introduction of the Tauro Blu and Chamaeleon will represent a saving of approximately $143k p.a., delivering over 700,000 kWh in energy savings for the site.

At an investment of just $340,000 including installation & energy consultants, the projected simple rate of return over 5 years was greater than 30%.

Government CTIP Funding will contribute further savings to the project and the site expects to also make an application for Energy Saving Certificates (ESCs) in the near future.