Brighter light for feed storage

Upgrading lighting to Philips LED CoreLine Highbay fittings in two animal feed stores at Royal Portbury Dock has delivered annual energy cost savings of over £27,000 with an estimated return on investment within 1.4 years.

Opened in 1977, Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol and is operated by The Bristol Port Company. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the Avon and handles a wide range of goods including motor vehicles and bulk cargoes.

The Bristol Port Company has a strong commitment to sustainability and minimising its environmental impact. Therefore, when it became necessary to remove bus bars in its animal feed stores the company decided to take the opportunity to also upgrade the lighting. To that end, Ashfield Electrical Services (SW) Ltd was asked to propose a solution that would reduce energy consumption while also improving the lighting.

Ashfield’s John White recalled: “It was clear that LED lighting would provide the best solution so we consulted with Bristol-based lighting specialists Lighting Services to explore the options available. When installing LED lighting our first choice is always Philips because of the quality and reliability. For Royal Portbury Dock we proposed using Philips LED CoreLine Highbay fittings and took samples to the client for their approval. They were also very pleased with the cost of ownership projections and the potential energy and carbon savings.”

Tony Ludlow of Lighting Services added: “The LED Coreline Highbay is an ideal energy-efficient replacement for traditional high bay lighting using HID light sources. As well as providing a whiter light and improved light levels with lower energy consumption it avoids the problems associated with extended warm-up times for HID lamps.”

The 220m long stores are configured with a broad roadway, capable of accommodating three lorries side-by-side, running through the centre of the store with bulk handling bays on either side. They were previously lit using 250W high pressure sodium (SON) high bay fittings, 100 in total, sited either side of the roadways. When gear losses were taken into account, this amounted to an installed electrical load of 27,500W.

These have now been replaced on a point-for-point basis with 108W Highbay LED fittings, resulting in a 61% reduction in installed electrical load, with an increase in lighting levels of around 20%. Because of the dusty atmosphere the Highbay fittings are IP65 rated.

In addition to the savings in energy consumption and carbon emissions The Bristol Port Company will also benefit from reduced maintenance costs, as the new fittings have a projected lamp life of 50,000 hours, compared to 12,000 hours for the previous SON lamps.

“With higher light levels and a whiter light the new fittings have created a much brighter environment which has received positive feedback from many of the people working in the stores,” John White concluded.