Garden centres are a vital asset of horticulture, and are regularly frequented by thousands of gardening enthusiasts. They also play their own important role in the economy, especially in the UK, which has an estimated 2000 garden centres. But by their very nature, these buildings require ample amounts of lighting - and this uses more energy than you may think.
Why? Because there is a huge problem with conventional lighting that still hasn’t been stamped out, and it’s present in every sector. But in this case, the situation could be particularly dire. Garden centres rely on vast amounts of lighting, and as the cost of electricity continues to soar, they may be paying the price on their energy bills. While the industry on a larger scale continues to thrive and bloom – with a £24.2billion contribution to national GPD in 2017 – there’s a better, more beneficial way to move forward, and companies deserve to know about it. What’s more, one thing is becoming clearer each year: that energy itself has two costs, one being financial and the other being environmental.
So, what’s the problem with conventional lighting?
The first problem is due to the simple fact that your light bulbs may not be using their energy as wisely as they should be. You see, a conventional incandescent light bulb converts up to 95% of the energy that it uses into heat, not light. This is a huge problem – it means that half of what you are spending on lighting is actually being wasted in heat. And while this technology is being phased out, it’s still far too common across the wider market.
Consider the ripple effect that this may have in a garden centre, which may well necessitate specific temperatures due to its products or just for consumer comfort; what you’re spending on heat instead of light is wasting you even more money (and energy) via increased need for air conditioning.
The second problem is the combined impact of outdated technology and human error. Conventional lighting cannot detect occupancy, or adjust in accordance to natural light. People are forgetful and when they’re at work, preoccupied with other things. Every time a light is left on unnecessarily, or produces bright artificial light during hours wherein natural light is sufficient, the energy wastage can be exponential.
Eluma can reduce your lighting costs by a dramatic 80-90%
Meet Eluma. A cool, innovative solution to inefficient and outdated lighting.
The initial installation of Eluma alone can reduce your energy costs by up to 50% – just by replacing your old bulbs with the latest LED technology. In addition, these bulbs have an operating life of over 50,000 hours, promising reduced maintenance and replacement costs in the future. Remember that issue with the air conditioning that we mentioned? Eluma is the solution for this too, taking the strain off of this system and allowing a saving of more than 5% just in cooling costs.
We believe that intelligent lighting is very much the future. With Eluma, human error is a thing of the past. With occupancy sensors to automatically switch off applicable lights when no occupancy is dedicated, and Daylight Harvesting tools to switch off or automatically adjust their brightness in concordance with the level of natural daylight detected, no energy that is not required is used. This means further savings, without having to add to the daily workload of your employees, who have more than enough to do.
Case Studies
For more information on the dramatic impact Eluma can have on garden centre lighting costs, check out our work with Van Hage and how it led to 85% savings.