Megaman has extended the comprehensive Economy Lamp range of LED lamps that have been designed to offer the perfect alternative to their CFL counterparts, using only a fraction of the power with no sacrifice in performance, output and quality of illumination. The Economy 15,000 hour lamp range, represents unbeatable value and provides a myriad of options to cater for the requirements of most domestic and leisure installations.
This extended range introduces the new Gold Filament range of classic and globe shaped lamps that have been designed for use in decorative applications, including restaurants, bars and other hospitality areas. These visually striking lamps have been designed with a 2200K colour temperature to provide an extra warm illumination for mood lighting. All lamps in the Gold Filament range are 3W and dimmable available in Classic, 95mm Globe, 125mm Globe and ST58, providing endless design possibilities. The lamp life across the range is an impressive 15,000 hours with 210 lumens.
No lamp range would be complete without the popular Candle lamp and the Economy Range includes 3.5W and 5.5W opal, both with an even light distribution of 330º and the 5.5W opal 4000K that also provides a 330º distribution but differ in its cooler appearance. Megaman’s LED Candle lamps are infinitely suitable for use in chandeliers and decorative fittings plus a host of other applications.
The Classic lamps in the range are available in 5.5W, 11W, 9.5W and 9.5W in 4000K/6500K colour variants that produce a ‘daylight’ effect for crafting and art use. All Megaman Classic LED lamps have an intelligent heat sink design and an even light distribution of 330º. A 10.5W Classic Shatterproof has also been included in the range, featuring a polycarbonate cover that makes it suitable for use in areas where glass covered lamps are not an option.
To complete the range, Megaman has included Globe, Golf Ball, G4 and G9 lamps, plus a revolutionary new LED tube in 9.5W, 18W and 22W that is compatible with traditional magnetic ballasts, offering a real alternative to traditional T8 fluorescent lamps.
The Economy Lamp range from Megaman carries a 2 year warranty and are manufactured using the same expertise that has made the Megaman name synonymous with reliable, energy efficient lighting that uses the very latest technology.
Visit us today to explore the Megaman LED range: www.novelenergylighting.com, or call us for quotations: 0208-540-8287
The Philips MASTER LEDtube has now been extended with a complete portfolio including the new 6ft addition to the range.
Whatever you need, the Philips MASTER LEDtube portfolio has it all. From best energy efficiency to the best light output for the most demanding applications.
A simple switch, our LEDtubes come in a choice of lengths and colour temperatures, with the option of rotating end caps and three value ranges.
Watch the Installation guide for Philips MASTER LEDtube based on Electro Magnetic ballast:
Watch the installation guide for Philips MASTER LEDtube based on High Frequency Electronic Ballast (HF)
Whatever you
need, the Philips
MASTER LEDtube portfolio has it all. From best energy
efficiency to the best light output for the most demanding applications.
A simple switch,
our LEDtubes come in a choice
of lengths and colour
temperatures, with the option of rotating end caps
and three value ranges.
Choose the right
LEDtube for your application. Your lighting requirements will vary
enormously depending on where and when it will be used. Use our new
selector tool to find the right LEDtube every time.
Use our energy
saving calculator for a quick and easy comparison on the savings you
can make on maintenance, labour and energy by installing MASTER LEDtube.
How much will you save by switching?
Big businesses will soon have to audit their energy consumption and come up with ways they could cut it. Actually doing anything about it, however, is down to them.
Colin Lawson of Lux reports: The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Esos) came into force in July 2014, and requires that all large organisations (defined as those with more than 250 employees) face their energy consumption head-on by conducting regular audits and setting out how they could use less. The scheme presents a significant opportunity for businesses to streamline operations, increase their competitiveness and boost the bottom line – although there is no obligation for them to implement any recommendations from the audits.
We’re now at the halfway point in the rollout of Esos – organisations that registered their eligibility for compliance back in December 2014 are now taking steps to ensure their audits are completed by December of this year. Indeed, the most forward-thinking companies may already have their compliance in the bag.
Decc wants companies to face up to their energy use
Of course, some organisations still view the procedure as an exercise in tick-box compliance. But the conversation has largely moved on from general awareness of Esos legislation to making the most of the opportunities it represents. Compulsory energy audits mean companies have no choice but to acknowledge their energy consumption, and it’s likely that once confronted with stark evidence of the potential savings to be had – UK businesses stand to save up to £1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) – many companies will at the very least want to explore some of the easier energy-efficiency wins.
A survey carried out by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reveals that, when asked, ‘How much of a priority is energy efficiency for your business?’ 91 per cent of respondents said ‘high’ or ‘quite high’.
Low-hanging fruit:
Lighting, while not necessarily a big win compared to other energy-saving technologies, represents some of the ripest low-hanging fruit available to organisations wanting to implement Esos recommendations – it’s affordable, quick to implement and offers a strong return-on-investment in the face of rising electricity costs (which have doubled for businesses over the last decade, according to the Carbon Trust).
Indeed, with up to 40 per cent of a building’s electricity use accounted for by lighting, it’s little surprise that official Esos guidance lists some standard lighting measures among its energy-saving suggestions. The mention of measures such as LED lighting, occupancy sensors, daylight sensors, maintenance plans and basic employee engagement suggests that the government still believes the potential of energy-efficient lighting remains under-exploited, and that it sees Esos as a chance to push more companies into implementing these fundamental steps.
“Compulsory energy audits mean companies have no choice but to acknowledge their energy consumption”
As an industry, we have a responsibility to help communicate the many benefits of energy-efficient lighting to our market, not just for complying with Esos, but as a long-term measure of cost-effective sustainability. And of course, taking energy-saving needs into account provides clients with a better value product, which is good news for customer satisfaction levels and business competitiveness. Everyone stands to benefit.
Dispelling myths:
But while for many in the industry swapping outdated lighting for new low-energy offerings is a no-brainer, it’s important to remember just how swiftly technology in this arena has changed in recent years, and to be mindful of some of the lighting myths that continue to linger in the minds of decision makers.
What were once specialist solutions are now mainstream options available to a wider range of organisations at more affordable prices. Customers have greater choice, and will need support in making the right lighting investments for their needs.
Crunching the numbers:
While once the conversation focused on CFLs, LED lighting has come to the fore, saving around 75 per cent energy use while offering the same, if not brighter, light output as halogen lighting. And, according to the Carbon Trust, new LED fittings (as opposed to retrofit LED lamps) have the potential in the UK to reduce electricity bills by more than £300 million and reduce carbon emissions by more than a million tonnes over the next three years.
But, these facts may be unknown to the decision makers responsible for implementing Esos recommendations.
The benefits available to those seeking to address their energy consumption through efficient lighting are ample, matched by the many opportunities the lighting industry has in the face of the Esos legislation. The term ‘low-hanging fruit’ is used a great deal these days, but if Esos regulation indicates anything, it’s that there’s still a sizeable market for these energy-saving measures, and the lighting industry is well positioned to benefit from it just as much as the companies undertaking the audits.
Call us today to discuss your site needs, Tel: 0208-540-8287. We can conduct a lighting survey to assess LED retrofit opportunity, to provide costs and energy (& CO2) savings. We are also able to arrange energy efficiency financing, where loans are repaid from energy savings.
We supply a wide range of LED lamps, tubes, and fittings, and can source bespoke LED products to suit.
Novel Energy Lighting Ltd.
sales@novelenergylighting.com
Megaman have launched their new product catalogue for 2015. With 20 years of experience in the industry, Megaman low energy lighting continues to lead the field in product design and performance. The product range has moved almost fully to LED and away from CFL as new technologies supersede old.
Megaman have also launched a brand new range of stylish fixtures, including integrated LED fittings, recessed downlights, track fittings, battens and LED panels – for applications such as retail, hotels, restaurants, homes and offices. The extensive range of interior and exterior light fittings are designed around LED lighting, promoting energy efficiency and delivering high performance lighting effects in commercial and residential applications.
Megaman are also proud to announce the introduction of some new innovative technologies, including:
Dim to Warm – a comprehensive range of lamps that smoothly dim down from 2800K to 1800K, simulating the characteristics of halogen.
Perfect White – LEDs that intensify and brighten the colour white, perfect for retail lighting.
Ingenium BLU – Bluetooth enabled LED lamps which use Bluetooth technology to connect to and control our lighting.
Visit Novel Energy Lighting to view our range of Megaman LED products
Virgin Trains: LED lighting at stations is as much about customer satisfaction as it is about energy
The LED Express: Virgin Trains East Coast will have soon upgraded the platform and concourse lighting at nine stations. As for the trains themselves, watch for new LED lighting in 2018, when a faster fleet from Hitachi (mock-up pictured) starts riding the rails.
‘I can see clearly now the LEDs have come.’ With apologies to song writer Johnny Nash and singer Jimmy Cliff, that is the tune that passengers on Virgin Trains’ new East Coast franchise are starting to sing now that a £1.5 million platform and concourse lighting overhaul is well under way with energy efficient LEDs.
Picking up where the line’s previous owner left off, Virgin is ripping out the old lighting at nine stations that it manages from as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed on the Scottish border down to Peterborough, and is also upgrading the lighting at its maintenance depot at London’s King Cross station.
The UK government started the job last August when it still owned and operated the Edinburgh-to-London mainline service, then called East Coast. A joint venture of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and transport firm Stagecoach won the franchise in November, and began operating it at the beginning of March.
The newly branded Virgin Trains East Coast is committing £140 million in upgrades to the line, an amount that should help buoy the £1.5 million lighting project, which is already complete at the Durham and York stations.
Round up the usual benefits, and more
While Virgin expects the lighting to achieve all of the standard LED benefits such as reduced energy and maintenance bills and the elimination of mercury-containing fluorescent lights, it is equally emphasising that the new lighting marks a big improvement in light quality.
Doncaster diodes: A new LED light on the platform one recent morning in Doncaster.
And that translates into big improvements in customer satisfaction and safety, which passengers are alredy reporting in early surveys.
‘It’s really important to stress that whilst new LED lighting comes with obvious environmental benefits in terms of energy costs and the life of the fittings, we’ve also been very keen to stress the customer satisfaction and safety benefits,’ said Tim Hedley-Jones, Virgin Trains East Coast’s major projects director. ‘Replacing lighting is just as important as refurbiishing a facility or putting in a new facility at a station in terms of how a customer feels at that location.’
Tangible intangibles
Noting that customer satisfaction is ‘a bit of an intangible’, Hedley-Jones elaborated on what makes successful night lighting.
‘What we find is that once we’ve done the replacement of the lighting, effectively you’re replicating a daylight scenario at the station,’ he said. ‘That’s been the anecdotal feedback from people – it is a much clearer environment at the station…It’s about how someone feels when they’re at a station. We all know how good we feel generally when the sun shines or when we’re out in the daylight.
‘So I think its about sort of getting into some of the slightly harder to pin down aspects of human behaviour that respond well to high levels of light and to things being bright. We’ve also been doing a painting programme at some of our stations. So when you combine a bit of lighting with improved painting, you really get a feel good factor amongst customers…So customer satisfaction is a really important aspect of doing this project. It’s not just about being a good environmental custodian.’
Safe talk
The safety aspect is easier to pinpoint.
‘We have customers at our stations who perhaps may be carrying lots of luggage, or they may be older people, or people with young children,’ he noted. ‘Quite often they find that stations can be slightly dark, or perhaps the way to go is not clear. What we find is that once we’ve done the replacement of the lighting, again, you’re effectively replicating a daylight scenario at the station. So again there’s a real safety benefit to stop people tripping over or having accidents because they didn’t see something.’
Virgin expects to wrap up all nine stations by the end of the summer. It is close to finishing at Peterborough, Newcastle, Grantham, Doncaster and Newark, and will then move on at Berwick and Darlington. It is not upgrading lighting at a few of its smaller stations, or at Wakefield, a new station that already has modern illumination.
Virgin is refraining from installing high levels of intelligent lighting system in which, for example platform lights would remain off when not needed, and turn on when sensors detect people on the platform, because such systems could confuse train drivers.
‘These are places which are operational bits of the railway, where we have to be very careful about sort of having lights flickering on and off if there are trains coming through and obviously there’s signalling and things like that,’ Hedley-Jones explained. ‘So in this case it’s not necessarily appropriate for there to be that sort of a facility on the concourse or the platforms.’
Sensors would be more appropriate in areas like toilets or back offices, but the 9 station upgrades are focused only on concourses and platforms. Wakefield, the new station, already includes sensors in those areas, Hedley-Jones said.
As for the trains themselves: Watch for improved interior lighting in 2018, when a new fleet of trains from Japan’s Hitachi are due to come into service (the same trains shoud come online on First Great Western service in the south and west in 2017). Those will include LEDs from LPA Excil. If they allow lighting levels to tone down and warm up according to the time of day, then passengers might just find they have something else to sing about.
Royal Philips has, through its Lighting Division, completed the upgrade of 10 ships for Europe’s leading holiday cruise company, Costa Cruises. More than 300,000 Philips LED lights have been installed to enable a massive 60% reduction in the energy used to power each ship’s lighting. By James Hunt:
Philips has installed MasterLED spots and CoreProLED tubes installed on 10 Costa Cruises’ ships – saving large amounts of fuel, money and carbon emissions.
Costa Cruises
This interior shot of Costa Fascinosa shows just how much lighting there is in a modern cruise liner – the energy savings can be big using LED lighting.
Costa Cruises & AP
In modern cruise ships, lighting systems account for up to 25% of the total energy consumption that is not used for propulsion. Therefore, any reduction in electricity consumption for lighting reduces the vessel’s operating costs, as well as reducing the environmental impact.
Electricity aboard these big cruise ships is provided by the diesel engines and generators – no direct drive to the screws these days. Typically, Costa Cruises’ ships are powered by diesel-electric power plant comprising four to six 12-cylinder four-stroke medium speed diesel generating sets (usually by Wartsila with electric propulsion motors by GE of around 21MW coupled to fixed-pitch propellers – though some ships use azipod thrusters instead).
A typical output, depending upon the actual ship, might be around 70 – 80MW (over 100,000 BHP). As well as providing propulsion, these main generators provide power for all shipboard consumers from propulsion motors to hotel functions, such as lighting and air conditioning.
Regardless of the propulsion system used, fuel consumption cost is always a big issue with cruise ships and Costa, for example, has reported a reduction of around 11% in fuel consumption, and with reduced CO2 emissions too. The company has already experimented with LED lighting combined with automatic lighting-control that adjusts light levels to match sunlight intensity.
Slashing carbon emissions
It is here, of course, that Philips comes in, with its over 300,000 LED lights being installed in ten of Costa Cruises’ ships. This lighting renovation enables total annual savings of 30,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions.
It is only relatively recently that the shipping industry has had to meet increasingly tough emissions targets, and the switch to energy efficient LED technology is the latest step towards Costa Cruises’ goal to slash its CO2 emissions according to targets it set out in its Sustainability Report published in 2014.
LED spots and tubes
Philips’ MasterLED spots and CoreProLED tubes installed on these ten cruise ships emit excellent quality white light that does not irritate or tire the eyes. Moreover, the LED light sources last far longer than the older conventional lamps (up to 40,000 hours), so maintenance costs are reduced, while the lighting itself is bright and warm and provides an inviting atmosphere for passengers.
Philips completed the re-lamping of three ships back in 2013, with the lighting of the remaining seven ships completely renovated by December 2014. Philips is also involved in the LED lighting renovation of Costa Cruises’ headquarters in Genoa, Italy.
Cruise ships operate with big fixed costs, so Costa Cruises’ aim as an operator is always to maximise efficiency. Fuel is one of the biggest costs, and prices have soared over the last few years (the fall in price in 2014 is unlikely to be sustained for long) so the company is keen to keep associated expenditure under careful control.
A sustainability boost
Commented Stefania Lallai, Costa Cruises Sustainability Director: “This initiative between two companies engaged in providing solutions for the mitigation of the impact on the environment represents another step forward by Costa Cruises in the field of sustainability. The lighting project with Philips is an important initiative undertaken to lower the CO2 impact generated by our fleet and to reduce energy consumption on board.”
Philips has long had an important emphasis on sustainability. For example, we reported only a few days ago that in its continued sustainability drive, the company had increased its sales of ‘Green Products’ to 52% of total sales and has achieved its ‘Green Innovation’ target a year ahead of schedule (read about this by using the link at the bottom of this web page).
In terms of Costa Cruises, the Head of Sustainability for Philips Lighting, Nicola Kimm, said: “Travel by sea already has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other forms of transport in the wider tourism industry.
‘’Think of cruise ships as self-contained mini floating cities, powered by their own energy supply. Switching from 50W bulbs to 7W LED technology increases energy efficiency by more than halving each ship’s electricity consumption required for lighting,’’ she pointed out.
There is, however, one Costa Cruises ship that won’t be benefitting from Philips LED lighting – the ill-fated Costa Concordia that sank in early 2012.
Lux Reports: Retailers are using light as a branding tool. Primark has opted for a bright feel while the opposite approach is popular with retailers such as Hollister and Desigual. Image credit: Primark
Building brands, driving sales, controlling costs, and preserving the all-important ‘look and feel’… who said retail lighting was easy? Here are the eight biggest trends influencing retail lighting in 2015.
1. Energy Saving LED Retrofits:
Retail was one of the first sectors to start dabbling in LED lighting, because of the big energy savings that can be made by replacing electricity-guzzling halogen spotlights. Major retailers are announcing big new rollouts nearly every day: Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Next, Walmart… but it’s still a small minority of stores that have switched to the new technology, and it’s mainly the bigger chains with significant resources and economies of scale behind them. In time, though, it seems inevitable that LED will be everywhere.
OUTLOOK: Loads of shops have already gone LED but there are plenty left – especially the smaller ones.
2. Branding with light:
With stiff competition from online shopping, bricks-and-mortar retailers are having to reinvent their stores as a place where consumers can experience the brands and the product. And they’re learning to use light as one of the most effective ways to become distinctive and recognisable – each in their own way. From Hollister to Primark, light is becoming part of what makes brands what they are.
OUTLOOK: This is a trend the lighting business is well placed to cash in on.
3. New colour technology:
Colour has always been key in retail lighting. Many buyers still assume that going LED means compromising on colour quality; but if you avoid the cheap rubbish, it doesn’t have to be so. Halogen has long been the benchmark for colour quality, but in fact many LED products are now outperforming halogen and the latest colour technologies use specially tuned light to keep whites clean while making certain colours even more vivid
OUTLOOK: LED spent a long time proving its adequacy. Get set for it to start fulfilling its real potential.
4. Lights that do new things:
What if lights could guide you around a shop and send you special offers when you’re looking at particular items? Well, now they can, thanks to super-accurate positioning systems powered by LED lights. It’s done by modulating light in a way the human eye can’t see, but that can be picked up by the cameras in shoppers’ mobile phones. The light from each luminaire carries a unique code, which the phone uses to pinpoint its position. EldoLED is already installing its Lux Award-winning positioning system at retail sites in the US, GE has several trials under way at retail sites in the US and Europe, and Philips is trialling its system at a museum in the Netherlands.
OUTLOOK: We’ve yet to see it in a real-life retail application, but we’re very excited about it.
5. The flight to quality:
We’ve all seen heartbreaking examples of poor-quality LEDs in retail. A well-meaning store manager has tried to save money on energy and maintenance, and now the shop is dim, all the clothes look washed out and the customers feel like zombies. Those days are coming to an end: the wild west of the LED market is being tamed, and even those buyers who had their fingers burned (literally or figuratively) in the early days are trying again, with a renewed focus on look and feel.
OUTLOOK: Some scepticism remains, but LED is winning new friends daily.
6.Overcoming the fear:
Retailers can’t afford to get the look and feel wrong, so LED rollouts tend to be nerve-wracking. There is always a certain risk when you invest in new technology. And with no real standards for LED lighting products, we might just have to embrace that risk. With warranties, funding and improved quality, it’s getting easier, but there’s still inertia – partly the result of bad experiences, uncertainty or mistrust over exaggerated energy-saving and lifetime claims made by manufacturers.
OUTLOOK: Lighting refits are never simple, but more and more people are at it, giving buyers confidence – and it’s getting easier by the day. 7.
Justifying the spend:
It’s easy enough to prove the environmental benefits of an LED upgrade, but sadly that’s not always enough to persuade the finance department to approve the upfront expenses associated with a new lighting scheme. Imagine how much easier it would be if you could prove the correlation between better lighting and increased sales. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to separate the lighting from the myriad of other variables that influence people’s shopping decisions. As Simon Waldron, Sainsbury’s electrical engineering manager, told Lux: ‘The controllability of variables is missing. We need a standardised approach to proving the link between lighting and sales which at the moment can’t be applied.’
OUTLOOK: Don’t hold your breath for a concrete link between lighting and improved sales… but that won’t stop people looking.
8. Clients are smartening up:
Manufacturers have tried to fight LED specticism with product warranties. But the terms are usually written to protect them just as much as their clients – defining and limiting what they have to do if something goes wrong. In a lot of cases, what a warranty promises doesn’t go very far to resolving a client’s immediate problems. If your lighting installation doesn’t work, it’s not much help to ship them all back to China and wait for new ones. So clients are pushing for their own warranty terms. Like Sainsbury’s, which told manufacturers supplying kit for its ongoing LED rollout what their warranties had to say.
OUTLOOK: As trust and quality improve, and the market becomes accustomed to longer-lasting products, this issue may fade. But for now, manufacturers should expect to be kept on their toes.
Contact us for your new retail lighting project. We sell a range of LED fittings, fixtures, and lamps for the retail and hospitality sector. Call us on 0208-540-8287, or email: sales@novelenergylighting.com
The Down Hall Hotel, one of the UK’s most established country house hotels, has achieved considerable energy savings on lighting thanks to a simple retrofit to Megaman LED lamps. With Phase 1 of the project concentrating on the main function rooms, lounge and anti-lounge areas, the current estimated figures are 7736kw of energy saved per annum which equates to an annual CO2 saving of 4.21 tons.
Located in Hatfield Heath on the Hertfordshire/Essex borders, Down Hall was built in the Italianate style of architecture, which was a distinct 19th century phase in the history of Classical architecture and the hotel dates back to 1322 with luxurious interior and ornate ceilings, all set in 110 acres of parkland. The hotel has many high ceiling function rooms including the Prior Suite, and this was the first room to be considered for the new LED lamps.
With chandeliers and wall lights in constant use, the old Halogen 28W lamps were constantly failing which meant a scaffolding tower had to be erected each time to replace the lamps, taking up valuable maintenance time and causing serious potential health and safety issues. On review of the lighting it was agreed to switch the existing lighting to Megaman’s 5w candle lamps in warm white, which also offer dimming capabilities for changing the ambience of the room at different times of the day and evening. On completion of the Prior Suite, the staff at Down Hall were so delighted with the result that the other function rooms, namely
Rookwood, Lyndhurst, Harley and the lounge and anti-lounge, were also changed to the new LED lamps. Bob Parker at Down Hall commented “We are extremely happy with the new LED lamps which, apart from the energy savings achieved, actually look better and complement the existing fittings, plus they offer 50,000 hours life. The light output is excellent and staff are commenting that the new lighting has improved the whole ambience of the building. We are now in the process of putting Phase 2 into action which will include the Bridgeman Selwin Suites which is our main ballroom for wedding receptions”.
Novel Energy Lighting supplies LED lighting to the hospitality sector and can provide many references of hotels which have been retrofitted. We sell LED lamps and fittings, and can provide services such as surveys, lighting designs, and installation to help you start saving energy as quickly as possible.
Call us: 0208-540-8287, or email: sales@novelenergylighting.com for more information
Portfolio Update: We add the new Hawthorn IP22 range of slim LED round ceiling panels to our round panel and downlight collection today. These energy efficient panels are the perfect retrofit for old halogen or CFL downlights. Ranging in wattage from 6W to 24W with a variety of cut-out sizes they can be used to replace most ‘old technology’ downlights. Available in 3000K warm white, 4000K natural white, and 6000K daylight. IP22 with a 3 year warranty.
Energy savings of over 50% are achieved, and with a long lamp life above 50,000 hours, they will continue to deliver cost of ownership savings for many years.
The Hawthorn range of panels adds to our already strong family of LED round panels, where we offer IP ratings from IP22 to IP54 to suit project needs:
