Whether it’s floodlights or bathrooms, function rooms or your beer cellar, community sports clubs often require significant amounts of lighting, both indoors and outdoors.
We don’t need to tell you the energy costs associated with this can quickly accumulate, making lighting a prime area to target for cost and energy reductions.
The good news is switching to LED lights provides a simple and effective solution that won’t take a big bite out of your budget while offering substantial savings in both areas.
Not convinced? In this article we’ll share our three key benefits of LED lighting:
Efficiency
Lifespan, and
Versatility.
1. Exceptional energy efficiency
LED lights are remarkably energy-efficient compared to traditional lighting options such as incandescent or halogen bulbs. LEDs use significantly less energy to produce the same level of brightness.
In fact, LEDs are estimated to be around 80-90% more energy-efficient.
How?
With LED lights, the majority of energy they use is utilised for producing light, with only a fraction lost as heat.
If you’ve ever changed an old-school incandescent light bulb shortly after turning it off you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about - those things get hot. All that heat they produce equals wasted energy - with LED bulbs that’s a thing of the past.
As a result, your club could make substantial energy savings simply by switching to LED lights.
2. Long lifespan = lower costs
There’s an impressive lifespan on offer with LED lights with a typical bulb lasting up to 25,000 hours - that's nearly three years if left on continuously!
In contrast, traditional light bulbs might typically last around 1,500 hours.
This longer lifespan means fewer replacements are needed, resulting in reduced maintenance costs for your club. When you factor in the cost of replacement bulbs and the labour required to change them, the savings can be significant.
But aren’t they more expensive to buy?
The initial cost of LED bulbs has come down a lot over the past couple of years, so while you’ll make a small investment upfront, you’ll benefit from repayment through lower energy consumption, often within as little as 3-4 months.
Here’s a quick comparison of the running costs which sums it up nicely.
| Halogen GU10 Bulb | LED GU10 Bulb |
Cost per bulb | £1.90 | £4.28 |
Power | 50 watt | 5 watt |
Lifetime hours | 1,500 hours | 25,000 hours |
kWh of electricity used over 25,000 hours | 1,250 | 125 |
Cost of electricity @ £0.15 / kWh | £187.50 | £18.75 |
Bulbs needed to last 25,000 hours | 17 | 1 |
Total bulb expense | £32.80 | £4.28 |
Total cost (purchase and running for 25,000 hours) | £220.30 | £23.03 |
3. Versatility of LED lights
LEDs are available in a range of sizes, styles, and colours, making them a flexible solution for various lighting needs around your sports club.
Whether it's floodlights for the outdoor playing area, spotlights for the indoor court, or ambient lighting for the club bar or social areas, LED lights can deliver the necessary illumination with less energy consumption.
Do these benefits come at the cost of brightness?
The short answer is no.
In days gone by a bulb’s brightness was measured using wattage, but since the introduction of LEDs the wattage metric has become redundant. Instead, we measure brightness in lumens.
The wattage of an LED light bulb now simpy represents energy usage e.g. the lower the wattage, the less energy used (and paid for).
It requires only 8 watts for an LED spotlight to produce an 800-lumen output. A halogen spotlight requires a 60-watt bulb to produce the same output. In other words, you get the same level of brightness for a fraction of the energy cost.
Key takeaways
The transition to LED lighting offers an effective way for your sports club to reduce both energy consumption and costs. Despite the slightly higher upfront cost of LED bulbs, the long-term savings and sustainability benefits make it a winning choice.
Is your sports club ready to make the switch and enjoy the benefits of LED lighting?
Contact Chris at chris@tjbservices.co.uk for more advice on how your club can reduce energy consumption.
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