LED Street Lights Cut LCC Power Bill By 72%

LED Street Lights Cut LCC Power Bill By 72%

Case Study: Launceston City Council Installs First LED Street Lights

The Client
The Launceston City Council provides services to over 65,000 residents in the municipality.  The future direction and focus of the council is guided by the Greater Launceston Plan.

The two key themes of the GLP are community needs and values, and recognising the importance of sustainability.  As part of the comittment to deliver services in a responsible and sustainable manner the council has engaged the services of Jim Taylor as the City Of Launceston Sustainability Officer.

The Challenge
There are over 5,000 street lights in the Launceston area, which run from 8 to 14 hours a day, depending on the time of year.  This generates a hefty power bill for the council and Jim has been investigating ways to reduce the cost of running these lights.

Any alternative must have low running costs and be as low maintenance as possible.  Being pole top fittings there is a considerable cost and use of resources just to access a light fitting for repair.  Also, the change from old to new light fittings should be as simple as possible.

The Solution
Jim decided to test the Sylvania StreetLED 22w LED street light fitting to replace the existing 80w mercury-vapour fittings.

Mance Electrical assisted by installing 6 of the new fittings to light poles in the car park at the bottom of Park Street, near the Tamar Yacht Club.  These are the first LED street lights to be installed in the Launceston Municipality.

The Results
Installation of the lights was trouble free, due to the well designed mounting system.  The light output of the new LEDs is clear and bright and compares favourably with the old mercury vapour lights.

Power consumption is a massive 72% less than the original fittings.

With over 5,000 street lights in Launceston the potential cost savings are substantial.

For advice on converting your existing lights to LED phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

Contact us for more information

Your NBN Connection – What To Expect

Your NBN Connection – What To Expect

NBN Questions Answered

Many homes in Launceston have already been connected to the NBN and are now enjoying the benefits of broadband internet.  If you haven’t been connected yet, what should you expect?

Your NBN connection can happen in up to 3 separate stages, and possibly be carried out by 3 different crews.

The First Stage is the installation of the fibre optic cable from the pit in the footpath outside, usually through an existing undergound conduit, to your home.  Depending on the construction of your home the cable may end up underneath your house or against the wall of your house if it is built on a concrete slab.

If the fibre optic cable can’t be installed through the existing conduit the contractor may have to dig up some of your lawn or even cut a concrete path in order to put the new cable through.  Any disturbance caused by this work will be rectified by the contractor.

The Second Stage is the installation and connection of the outside connection box.  The connection box is installed on an outside wall of the house.  If there is access under the house there is some flexibility as to where the box will be located but it must be easily accessible for maintenance.

If your home is built on a slab the box will be placed close to where the conduit finishes at the wall of the house.

The Third Stage is the installation of the indoor equipment.  This is the stage that causes the most conflict between the contractor and home owner.

The contractor is paid a fixed rate and wants the job completed as quickly as possible.  The home owner wants their indoor connection point in a convenient and central location.

For example the underground conduit probably ends at the wall nearest the street and the contractor would like to just drill a hole in the wall and put the indoor equipment connection directly on the other side of the wall.  The homeowner would prefer to have their connection point somewhere central in the house, not inside the wardrobe of the furthest bedroom.

The contractor is required to negotiate with the home owner over this matter and must reach agreement over the location.  Contractors prefer to do the quickest and easiest job, but can be they can claim for the additional cost of the extra work involved in moving the gear to a more convenient location.

There is scope for flexibility in all parts of the installation process so if you are not happy with what is being proposed there is room for negotiation.

If there is easy access under your house you can probably get the indoor connection gear installed close to your existing phone point.

Wherever your connection box goes, you will need a double power point available.  One power socket is required for the NBN box and one for your wireless modem if you have one.

To connect to the NBN you need to sign up with an internet provider.  There are many retail offerings for this service and some vendors offer deals if you combine your mobile and home services as well.

Important Note – If you have a monitored alarm system that uses your existing copper phone line then you will need to contact you alarm monitoring service before changing to the NBN.  Alarm systems don’t work well on the NBN and you will need some new equipment in order to guarantee your alarm will dial out correctly.

If you have any questions regarding your NBN installation please give us a call.   If you need a new power point or phone extension points as a result of your NBN connection phone us on 6331 47114.

Phone Mance Electrical Launceston on 6331 4711

“What’s The Best Light For A Giant Inflatable Rabbit?”

“What’s The Best Light For A Giant Inflatable Rabbit?”

Well, of course, we’ve often wondered that ourselves, so when Launceston artist Amanda Parer asked us that question we immediately said “55 watt LED floodlights.”

Amanda’s rabbits were inflated one at a time in our workshop to test the best combination of lights.   The impressive sculptures were first displayed at Launceston’s Junction Arts Festival in September last year.

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The big bunnies then traveled to Sydney for the Vivid Festival of Light, where these photos were taken.

The glowing rodents are currently on show in London at the Southbank Centre Winter Festival, until the 11th of January.  From there it’s just a short hop over to Belgium for the Light Festival Ghent at the end of the month.

Amanda has also been invited to display her creations in Riyahd, in Saudi Arabia.

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LED floodlights were the best choice for inside the rabbits because they provide an awesome amount of light while producing very little heat.  A traditional halogen floodlight would have definitely resulted in burnt bunnies.

Another benefit of LED floodlights is the greatly reduced power consumption.  With 10 floodlights and 5 fans to run, power supply could have been an issue with other lights.

Click here to see more of Amanda’s work.  If you need LED floodlights for any purpose, including large inflatable structures of any kind (not only rabbits), please give us a call at Mance Electrical Launceston, on 6331 4711.

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Underground Mains Cables Install

1.2 Kilometres Of Underground Mains Cables Installed At Hanson Quarry Launceston

A good effort by the guys to get such a long run of cable in so quickly and without any hassles.  Watch this short video to see one day’s work in a minute and 36 seconds.

 

We Don’t Always Get It Right

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A client who lives on the mainland asked us to install a smoke alarm in their Launceston rental property.  We sent one of the young guys to do the job and then posted the client an invoice for the work.  The client rang a couple of months later to say they had received the invoice but asked when were we going to install the smoke alarm?

I explained it had been installed already.  The property owner informed me the tenant reported no smoke alarm.  So, I checked our jobcard and time sheet and though the staff member concerned had since left to work in Queensland, all the paperwork suggested the job was completed as requested.

I then phoned the tenant who insisted they didn’t have a smoke detector anywhere in the house and nobody had attempted to install one.   I sent another tradesman to the property, (with another smoke detector,  just in case)  and sure enough he reported back there was no smoke detector anywhere to be seen.

So, somewhere out there is a lucky householder who had a pleasant young man turn up at their door and announce he had arrived to install a smoke alarm, which he then did, free of charge, courtesy of Mance Electrical.  We never did find out where the first one was installed but finally completed the original job for our client.

On Target For Big Savings

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Last weekend we assisted the guys from Think Big Printing to install some new LED signage on the outside of the Launceston Target store.  The new signs are part of Target’s rebranding program.

By switching from neon to LED lighting, they are saving energy and also reducing maintenance costs as the LED lights should require very little attention over the next few years.  Good quality LED lights are available for most applications now, from high powered street lights  right down to the smallest lamps you can use in your home.

Converting your home lighting to LEDs is probably one of the quickest and easiest ways you can save power and start saving money straight away.  If you’d like to know more please give us a call or ask a question using the comments section below.

 

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