University of Stirling

Client: University of Stirling
Completion date: December 2022
HF divisions involved: Electrical

Brief project description: As part of their requirements to both maintain their sporting facilities and reduce their energy costs, the University of Stirling turned to our Electrical division to complete the switch from Fluorescent Lighting to green energy efficient LED Lighting for their indoor tennis court facility.

The electrical work required the rewiring of the main tennis court area that covered courts one to four so that the new LED light fittings could be installed.

While completing the LED Lighting Upgrade work, we also fitted a new Dali Control System. This allows the facility to control the lighting settings suitable for training sessions, club use and performance level events.  All of the courts lighting units are wired back to the main control unit which is located at the court entrance.

Project Challenges:
To ensure that the electrical installation work did not interfere with scheduled use, and to ensure that the University could continue to operate on their courts, we had to complete the electrical work in short windows on two courts at one time.  This meant that we would strip out the old lights on two courts, complete the rewiring and then install the LED Lighting System before then switch over to the other two courts.

As the tennis courts had recently been resurfaced, we had to ensure that the MEWPs (Mobile Elevated Work Platforms) did not damage the playing surface.  To guarantee this, we used Correx Sheeting and Plywood Sheets to disperse the weight of the MEWPs and ensure that no damage was done to the courts.

The benefits of LED Lighting

Switching to LED Lighting is a great way to reduce your business energy costs.  Now that the sale of CFL Lamps is banned (25th February 2023) and T5 and T8 Fluorescent Lamps will soon follow (25th August 2023), switching to LED Lighting is the logical answer.

Fluorescent lamps contain mercury which is a hazardous substance. Along with the inefficiency of halogen lamps, the RoHS has brought forward a directive to ensure that on these dates,
fluorescent lamps will no longer be available on sale in the UK. What little stock that is currently left on the shelves is gradually being withdrawn. The future lies in LED Lighting and its many benefits including:

1 – Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in lighting solutions are looked at in two ways.  Luminous efficacy and useful lumens.  This describes the amount of light emitted per unit of power (watts) by the light source.  Upgrading to LED lighting can result in 65% or more improvement in energy efficiency of your business facilities lighting.  If you are currently using outdated and energy inefficient lighting, this energy saving can be even more.

2 – Long Life

The components of an LED light and the way that they generate light means that they have a far greater lifespan than other light sources.  A traditional light bulbs filament will weaken over time which causes the bulb to burn out – LEDs don’t burn out.  An LED’s bulb produces low heat levels, is durable and energy efficient which makes it possible to outlast other light bulb types by thousands of hours.

3 – Increased Brightness and Intensity

Because LED lighting is capable of emitting such a high level of brightness, it can offer increase lighting power over halogen meaning that not only does it require less power to turn on an LED light.  You actually need less LED lights to achieve the same room lighting. Which can save you even more in running costs.

4 – Reduced heat output

It is well known that older lighting solutions gave off more heat than light energy.  LED lights are able to operate at a significantly lower temperature and what little heat they do give off is actually dissipated in a special heat sink. And because LEDs do not emit infrared radiation, they are ideal for lighting heat sensitive areas such is in food production facilities, Museums and medical facilities.

5 – Reliability

LED lighting is a far more reliable lighting option. Not just because of the increased lighting hours that they provide.  But because they can operate in colder temperatures (ideal for walk in freezers) and are more durable to impact and vibrations because they have no filament or fragile parts they are a more reliable option for busy commercial and industrial facilities that need reliable lighting solutions through all hours of the day.

6 – Increased colour rendering

LED lighting has a strong Colour Rendering Index (CRI) which is a measurement of lights ability to reveal the colours of objects compared to an ideal light source aka natural light from the sun.  LED lighting with a high CRI makes them an ideal solution for night time security lighting where they can illuminate more objects in a surrounding area thanks to a higher CRI.

7 – Design Flexibility

LED lighting can be bunched into a unit to replace larger bulbs or be arranged in isolation in smaller devices.  They can be strung out in a sequence and come in a wide range of colours.  In fact, LEDs are available in a wide range of Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) values ranging from Cool to warm, yellow, white light and so much more.  This design freedom means that they can be used to great effect by interior designers, retail stores, museums and so much more.

8 – Instant results

While CFLs take a few moments to warm up and an incandescent bulb works by heating a filament to a temperature that produces light, LEDs are instantaneous and operate at full brightness the moment you flip the switch.

Find out more

Providing Manned 24 hour Call-out Service nationwide, we are the first choice for some of the country’s leading businesses when it comes to electrical services. From Electrical Installations to Planned Maintenance Contracts, quality service and peace of mind are the principles on which the Fulton family founded the company and its electrical services all those years ago, and it’s just as important today.

If you would like to find out more about LED lighting and upgrading your commercial, retail or industrial facilities lighting to LED, please contact us today.