LED Retrofits Increase Convenience Stores Bottom Line

Stewart's Shops recently completed an energy efficient lighting retrofit project at their corporate headquarters in Saratoga Springs, New York. Stewart's Shops operates 328 convenience stores in Upstate New York and Vermont. The annual savings from the lighting retrofit and replacement program is projected to be almost $78.000 per year. Based on these savings the lighting retrofit project will have a very quick payback period of less than sixteen months.

The existing lighting was replaced with more energy efficient T8 and T5 fluorescent lighting and LED lighting in all of the cold storage and freezer space. The ability of LED lighting to outperform other lighting options in cold temperatures was a key to the success of this project. “The ice cream freezer was the latest phase in a larger energy-efficiency project we've been working on with SmartWatt Energy for the last couple of years,” explained Gary Drake, President at Stewart’s Shops. The new energy efficient lighting will save 783,481 kWh of electricity per year. Stewart's Shops owns all of their real estate holding so these savings are important because they fall directly to their bottom line.

LED lighting provides many benefits for convenience store owners. In addition to energy and maintenance savings, LED lighting provides more uniform lighting and illumination that contribute to a better presentation of store products. This is especially important for food products in refrigerated cases and can lead to increased sales. LED lamps also produce less heat than fluorescent lamps which will lessen the load on the store's refrigeration system. LED’s work very well in the cold and last over 50,000 hours in a cooler and almost 100,000 hours in a freezer. 


RedBird LED, offers a number of high quality LED Linear Replacement lamps that are featured in convenience stores across the country. For more technical information on LED lighting please call 678-733-2473 or visit the RedBird LED website.

Grocery Store, Tesco Is First Zero Carbon with LED Lighting

LED lighting has been used in a new Tesco store, which has become the world's first zero-carbon supermarket.

The outlet in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire was opened this month and uses LED bulbs to light the inside of the store in an environmentally-friendly manner, with all power and light coming from the facility's renewable fuel energy generator.

This combined heat and power plant allows the store to have no carbon footprint and export back extra electricity produced to the national grid, while the structure of the shop itself is made from sustainable wood.

Chief executive of Tesco Sir Terry Leahy described how it is hoped that the whole company will be zero carbon by 2050, but from now until then the key to combating climate change will be collective action.

He added: I believe it's no co-incidence that [the store] has opened here in the UK where many of the innovations which make its construction and operation possible were designed and manufactured."

Another application of LED lighting to be announced recently is the Royal Australian Navy Collins Class submarine, with some of the bulbs set to be explosion-proof.ADNFCR-1785-ID-19599490-ADNFCR

RedBird LED, based in the US has launched a new website for Grocery Store LED Lighting. Please visit the site for more information.

Redbird LED Launches New Website for Grocery Store LED Lighting

RedBird LED an Atlanta based designer and manufacturer announces the launch of a new website, Grocery LED Lighting. The website is an information source for grocery and convenience store facility managers, design and construction professionals and energy managers. There are many advantages to retrofitting Grocery stores with LED Tube Lighting. Grocery store lighting is important for the customer shopping experience and consumers have responded positively to LED lighting.

Grocery stores that have retrofitted their stores with LED lighting are enjoying tremendous energy savings and reduced maintenance costs. LED Tube lights are especially important in refrigerated cases. LED Lights operate much more efficiently in cold environments. For more information please visit the Grocery LED Lighting website