The car dealership located in Central Florida has turned a costly maintenance issue into a competitive advantage.
Sun State Ford’s lights were going out, and management had a decision to make. Should the Orlando-based car dealership keep replacing its hodgepodge of high maintenance metal halides or switch to a standardized solution?
The answer was LED site lighting from Arkon Power.
“It was such a random mix of fixtures, it was hard to tell what was what,” Arkon Technical Manager Graham Brown said. “We were able to give them a more uniform look, along with a set of fixtures that wouldn’t keep failing at odd times.”
Once Brown and the Arkon team charted Sun State’s assortment of existing lights, they offered to replace 167 metal halides with 154 lower wattage LEDs. The decrease from 133,000 watts to 39,000 watts would represent a 70.67% reduction in total power usage, and because the cost of LEDs has come down in recent years, the decision to upgrade to the new technology was an easy one.
“It was costing us a great deal of money just to maintain the lights we had, and we had heard about LEDs and how long they lasted,” Sun State General Manager Linda Rakestraw said. “Not only are we saving on not having to replace anything, the lighting is bright and crisp, all the fixtures are the same and we are saving on our electric bill.”
Arkon was able to more effectively position Sun State Ford’s lights to highlight critical sections of the car dealership. On the front line, 320-watt streetlights were used. The balance of the lot was illuminated with 240-, 200- and 120-watt fixtures.
In addition to the energy savings, Arkon was able to save Sun State Ford a significant amount on the retrofit by reusing existing lighting brackets. The lighting solutions firm also upgraded the auto dealer’s wall pack lighting, service drive, new car delivery area and the building’s front canopy.
According to Arkon Director of Business Development Eleni Lelekis, lighting projects for car dealerships like Sun State Ford, which is situated near its competitors, are invaluable.
“We’ve done projects for a number of dealerships that are located on these high density auto sales strips, and they’re among our most satisfied customers,” she said. “If you don’t go this route, you are giving up a distinct competitive advantage.”
In Orange County, where Sun State Ford is located, Arkon’s products offered yet another advantage. Through the use of low profile back light shielding, light pollution was kept below the county’s stringent ordinances.
“The directional nature of LEDs already limits light pollution,” Brown said. “Our engineers were able to develop an elegant solution that kept Sun State Ford well within local regulations.”
Email sgibbs@arkonled.com to learn more about this or any of Arkon LED’s other projects.