John Lewis in Cribbs Causeway Bristol approached Connected Light to aid in the updating of the lighting technology within their primary window displays. For large retailers like John Lewis these windows represent some of the most premium merchandising space on today’s high street.
The visual impact of a window display is essential. In the past it has often been the case that energy efficient and sustainable lighting solutions have to come second to high impact, high output lighting. However, we are now able to use technologically advanced, more efficient solutions which require no sacrifice to the light quality and lighting levels.
John Lewis’ existing window displays traditionally use high output lamps that burn a huge amount of energy in return for strong, crisp light. Halogen and metal halide lamps are typical of any retail window display. In contrast we were able to change this philosophy by using new LED and Eco Fluorescent light sources to create similar contrast ratios.
The track mounted LED Varios over the display enabled focused light to illuminate important features of the display from above. This was enhanced from below by Phillips Master LED spot lights retrofitted into existing fittings. At the back of the window display lower wattage eco fluorescent lamps wash the wall and reduce energy by nearly 10% over traditional fluorescent tubes.
In total the energy saving this solution achieved was nearly £600 per window per year. Combine the light usage with an average product lifetime of 45,000 hours then there will be no replacements required for nearly 10 years.
These window displays demonstrate how effective LED and other low energy solutions can be, by breaching new boundaries and applications. This now includes illuminating areas previously thought not possible due to the importance of having high impact lighting in primary retail space.
