Lights of the Ozarks switch to energy-efficient bulbs
Kaitlyn Rush
Issue date: 12/8/08 Section: News
"The LEDs have little maintenance," he said. "We'll have to replace some due to vandalism or regular wear and tear, but when you take the number of days of the Lights of the Ozarks and the hours from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. and divide that by the life of the bulbs, you get 148 years."
The LED lights are brighter than the incandescent bulbs, helping the transition from more lights to fewer.
"There are fewer lights this year than there were last year, and that's not due to the economy," Bowen said. "It's because of renovations to the square. The lighting layout is different. Reduced costs are due to more efficient LED bulbs, and 90 percent of savings will show in the utility bill with 300,000 plus individual light bulbs."
The LED strands do cost more than strands of incandescent bulbs, but they pay off in the long run with efficiency. A strand of LED bulbs costs $11 for a 50-foot string versus $5 for a 68-foot string of incandescent bulbs.
"We spent $20,000 on lights this year," he said.
Bowen said most of the LED strands were bought locally at Walmart and Target, but the majority of the strands were purchased from a company in Texas.
In a KNWA interview, Connie Edmonston from the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department said, "A&P gave us $18,000 to help with the Lights of the Ozarks this year, Walmart gave $2,000 to get LED lights and a total of $80,000 from the city and others to help with the project this year."
"Local and private contributions made Lights of the Ozarks possible this year, regardless of the bad economy," Bowen said. "Walmart and the Chamber made private contributions to help.
"In the previous year, we have saved about $900 just by adding some of the new LED lights," he said. "And that is money off of the previous year without any LED lighting. Of the total cost of running time, the energy costs were nearly $6,000. That was only with about a quarter of the lights replaced at that time."
The LED lights are brighter than the incandescent bulbs, helping the transition from more lights to fewer.
"There are fewer lights this year than there were last year, and that's not due to the economy," Bowen said. "It's because of renovations to the square. The lighting layout is different. Reduced costs are due to more efficient LED bulbs, and 90 percent of savings will show in the utility bill with 300,000 plus individual light bulbs."
The LED strands do cost more than strands of incandescent bulbs, but they pay off in the long run with efficiency. A strand of LED bulbs costs $11 for a 50-foot string versus $5 for a 68-foot string of incandescent bulbs.
"We spent $20,000 on lights this year," he said.
Bowen said most of the LED strands were bought locally at Walmart and Target, but the majority of the strands were purchased from a company in Texas.
In a KNWA interview, Connie Edmonston from the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department said, "A&P gave us $18,000 to help with the Lights of the Ozarks this year, Walmart gave $2,000 to get LED lights and a total of $80,000 from the city and others to help with the project this year."
"Local and private contributions made Lights of the Ozarks possible this year, regardless of the bad economy," Bowen said. "Walmart and the Chamber made private contributions to help.
"In the previous year, we have saved about $900 just by adding some of the new LED lights," he said. "And that is money off of the previous year without any LED lighting. Of the total cost of running time, the energy costs were nearly $6,000. That was only with about a quarter of the lights replaced at that time."
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Katrina Arkwright
posted 3/09/09 @ 1:52 AM CST
Good scene, interesting post, thanks.
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