Thanks to LED lights Science North and a Sudbury Charities Foundation is finding going green saves money. So did consumers this Christmas.
Every festive season Science North partners with the Sudbury Charities Foundation to present the Festival of Lights, this year at Market Square downtown.
This year the event included 300 light displays which normally use a lot of electricity. Last year, for example, the power bill was approximately $2,000. This year, half of the light displays were re-roped with energy efficient LED light strings.
“The initiative resulted in huge energy savings for Science North, and significant cost savings for the Sudbury Charities Foundation,” said Jeff Baron, director Technical Services, in a Science North press release.
“It is a great feeling to be helping the environment, but at the same time, it is a great accomplishment to have raised additional money for the charity through the savings,” said John Querny, president of the Sudbury Charities Foundation.
Unlike incandescent lights LEDs use a semiconductor crystal chip that emits light when an electrical current passes through. Since there are no filaments and no moving parts to break, LEDs last longer and use less energy. Consumer Reports has found that LED systems save homeowners $10 per every 300 hours used, lasting up to 100,000 hours.
LED lights have made great strides recently with consumers. Michelle Novack, manager of the Canadian Tire Store in the South End told Northern Life in November 2005 that the amount of isle space remaining for conventional Christmas lights was shrinking dramatically whereas LED display space was skyrocketing. Consumers said they were switching because the LED were safer-not hot to touch and used far less energy, said Novack.
This Christmas Northern Life visited the Home Hardware Store on Bouchard St. Owner
Brigette Michel-Finlay said the LED technology was improving dramatically with better colours and the fact that new bulbs can be screwed into old light strings.
“That is a great help for consumers who don't want to commit to buying new light strings next Christmas,” said Michel-Finlay.
