Cree LED Revolution Blog

Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution

Posts Tagged ‘color’

Benjamin Moore Paint Store Gets Cree LED Lighting Makeover

Friday, August 12th, 2011


In a paint store, color is everything. But it’s hard to make color samples stand out when exposed T-12 fluorescent tubes are lighting the way.

At the Benjamin Moore paint store in Staunton, Virginia, store owner Lesley Merritt was used to dealing with the store’s outdated lighting. When a fluorescent tube began flickering or burned out, she would guide customers to another spot in the store so they could inspect color samples in better lighting.  

But she doesn’t have to do that anymore thanks to the recently installed Cree LED lighting. Lesley replaced 28 T-12 fluorescent tubes with 18 long-lasting Cree CR24 LED Troffers. The troffers feature Cree TrueWhite Technology®, which is Cree’s patented technology that delivers highly-efficient light with high color accuracy, while maintaining color consistency over the life of the product. 

“Although we sell paint, color is essentially what we sell. So for colors to look more accurate and more vibrant here in the store is very helpful,” Lesley said.

Not only is the light quality improved, but the store is reducing its energy consumption, as well as the time and money it spends on lighting maintenance. By replacing 28 T-12 fluorescent tubes with 18 Cree CR24 LED troffers, the store is reducing its lighting energy consumption from 2,240 watts down to 792 watts.

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The CR24 LED troffer is designed to last a minimum of 50,000 hours. That means the store could leave the lights on for eight hours a day, seven days a week for more than 17 years without having to replace.

“In the past six years, all of the fluorescent tubes have been replaced at least once,” Lesley said. “Some have been replaced more frequently due to flickering and poor color quality. Usually we dealt with the flickering and the colors not matching for a long time before we would decide we were going to pay somebody to change the bulbs. I’m really looking forward to the new Cree LED lights not needing to be changed for a long time.”

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After: 18 Cree CR24 LED troffers line the ceiling

There’s another perk to the new LED lights too: Lesley can’t hear them. The first day Lesley flipped the switch on the LED lights she said she couldn’t believe how quiet the store was compared to the constant hum of the fluorescent tubes.

Watch this video to get an inside look at the transformation of this store:

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, LED Businesses | 3 Comments »

How can grocers make their fruits and veggies pop? Hint: It involves LED lights

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

The ladders at a Michigan-based grocery chain are being used a lot less these days now that the produce sections are lit with Cree LED lights.

Up until a few months ago, employees at the three Value Center Marketplace stores used to haul out the ladder every couple of weeks to replace the burned out 90-Watt Par 38 spotlights that lit up the fruits and veggies, according to store owner Ron Fariada.

But earlier this summer, Ron replaced the energy-wasting incandescent lights in the produce sections at all three of his stores with energy-efficient Cree LRP-38™ LED lights. His new LED lights consume only 11 Watts of energy and provide beautiful, warm light that helps make the color of the store’s fruits and vegetables pop.

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“It’s just worry free,” Ron said. “I’m not going to have to worry about changing any bulbs for years. There was an upfront cost, but you’ve got immediate savings as far as power.”

When Ron opened the first Value Center Marketplace in 1989, he was committed to offering the freshest quality foods and the best in family value. More than 20 years later, Ron now runs three of the grocers just outside Detroit, Michigan.

In all, he replaced 50 incandescent lights at each of stores with Cree LRP-38 lights, for a total of 150 LED lights.

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Ron said he expects a two-year payback on his LED lights when he takes into account the energy savings and maintenance savings. The produce lights in his stores are on for about 12 hours a day, seven days a week. And since the LRP-38 LED lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, Ron could continue to save energy and money for another nine years before he needs to consider replacing the lights.

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Already he’s noticed that when he walks under his new LED lights, the area feels cooler than when the 90 Watt incandescent spotlights were lighting up the area.  Ron said he also expects to see HVAC savings.

The produce at Ron’s stores is hand-picked daily from the local farmers market. And now, it can truly shine under LED lights.

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, LED Businesses, Places Rocking LED Lights | 2 Comments »