Orlando-based Church in the Son wanted to improve its parking lot lighting. LEDs proved to be a revelation.
As a worshipper was leaving Orlando’s Church in the Son one night in December, her son asked if she needed an escort to her car. “No thanks,” she said. “They put out new parking lights, so it’s much brighter out there.”
It was music to Church in the Son administrators’ ears.
The house of worship had contracted with Arkon Power to replace its legacy metal halide parking lot fixtures several months earlier, and the project’s central goal was improving churchgoer safety.
“The first concern we had was that our parking lot was very dark,” said Carla Kong, Church in the Son operations director. “Our lights were old-school and yellowish, and we knew we wanted to go bright. Safety was our number one reason.”
With assistance from Arkon Technical Manager Graham Brown and his team, which completed a thorough photometric analysis, the church elected to replace its 37 400-watt metal halides with nine 320-watt LED street lights and 28 240-watt LED street lights.
The result is more foot-candles on the ground, daylight-like ambient illumination, and a decrease in power consumption. And while Kong says Church in the Son “at first wasn’t even thinking about” how much they’d save on their power bill, the nearly 40% reduction in energy consumption was “a nice bonus down the line.”
Arkon worked closely with an electrical contractor to complete the installation, and Kong said the project went smoothly from beginning to end.
“The attention and the follow-up process was very good,” she said. “The communication was great.”
Church in the Son was able to raise all the capital necessary for the installation from member donations, and Kong said all of the church’s parishioners have been happy with the results.
“Over all, we’ve accomplished everything we were looking for,” she said.
Email Info@ArkonPower.com to learn more about this or any of Arkon Power’s other projects.