News

Sep 12, 2023

Maintenance Costs Driving Retail Adoption of LEDs

By Published A recent Wall Street Journal article showed that lower maintenance

By

Published

A recent Wall Street Journal article showed that lower maintenance costs are driving companies like Walmart, GNC, and Caesars Entertainment to retrofit their specialized lighting fixtures to LEDs. Due to the long life span of LED's, the maintenance cost for the fixture is dramatically decreased, putting the total cost savings on par with other light sources.

"If you think about a 20- to 40-foot tall parking lot light pole, you need a bucket truck and electrician to replace those lamps every two years. Now, these will last us 10 to 12 years," said Charles Zimmerman, Walmart's vice president for international design and construction. "The big payback number is on the maintenance."

A case study conducted in 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy on a Walmart parking lot in Leavenworth, Kansas showed that energy savings for LEDs were not enough to offset the higher purchase price. In the future, as LED prices decrease, this will change. However, for now, it's lower maintenance expenses that are allowing companies to recoup the upfront costs.

"Instead of replacing a bulb seven times a year, now you’re talking about not touching a bulb for four or five years," said Eric Dominguez, Caesars Entertainment's director of energy services.

Story and image source: WSJ: The Math Changes on Bulbs

is a writer for Precision Paragon, an energy efficient commercial lighting manufacturer and a leading source for lighting retrofit solutions.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

Parkland is pilot-testing a new energy storage system to go with its "EV Charging Station Of The Future."

Walmart says it plans to install fast EV chargers at its stores -- including Sam's Club -- all across America.

The top five corporate solar users in America, according to the research that tracks and analyzes commercial solar adoption, are Meta, Amazon, Apple, Walmart,...

Everyone is talking about the electric vehicle race between Amazon and Walmart, but the US Postal Service is also coming on strong.